Structural evolution and tectonic context of the Mfongosi Group, Natal thrust front, Tugela terrane, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basson, I. J.; Watkeys, M. K.; Phillips, D.

2005-11-01

The Mesoproterozoic Natal Metamorphic Province of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa is an assemblage of several tectonic units, including accreted oceanic island arcs, obducted oceanic crust and deformed basin material. The highly deformed Mfongosi Group occurs at the leading edge of collision (the Natal thrust front), against and directly overlying the southern margin of the Kaapvaal Craton. Structures within the Mfongosi Group record "local" D1 and D2 events, the first of which was "oblique obduction", with predominantly N- to NNE-verging thrusting ( D1). This was followed by sinistral transpression combined with vertical constriction, forming SW-plunging kink folds and SW-plunging prolate pillow basalts ( D2). The third and final event ( D3) was E-W to ESE-WNW extension in a post-thrusting phase, defined by fibrous antitaxial quartz-calcite veining. The westernmost portion of the Mfongosi Group, the Ngubevu area, shows significantly higher finite strains (up to Rf = 12) compared to central Mfongosi and eastern Nkandlha areas ( Rf = 1.5 and less), suggesting highly oblique, largely NE-directed initial collision. Deformation of the NTF in the context of nappe emplacement is constrained by 40Ar/ 39Ar dating of post-cataclastic nematoblastic/porphyroblastic hornblende of the Manyane amphibolite close to the thrust between the Tugela nappe and the Mfongosi Group in the Mfongosi area. Hornblende overgrew the products of low-temperature deformation during the "local" D1 and D2. A minimum age of 1171 ± 16 Ma (95% conf., including J-error; weighted by √MSWD; MSWD = 4.3) is obtained for the tectonic juxtaposition of the Tugela nappe against the southern portions of the "Mfongosi Basin". This "local" D1 and D2 of the Mfongosi Group pre-dates the regional "oblique D1" and "left-lateral D2" previously determined for the central and southern terranes of the Natal Metamorphic Province by other researchers. Comparison of the 1171 ± 16 Ma age, with ages for shearing and

The Oligocene carbonate platform of the Zagros Basin, SW Iran: An assessment of highly-complex geological heritage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habibi, Tahereh; Ruban, Dmitry A.

2017-05-01

North Africa and the Middle East possess rich geological heritage, but the latter is yet to be fully identified and described. The Oligocene carbonate platform of the Zagros Basin in southwest Iran, which corresponds to the lower part of the Asmari Formation, has significant potential for geoconservation and geotourism. The types of the geological heritage, their value, and the possible geosites have been assessed. The studied deposits are interesting because of lithology (carbonate rocks), fossils (larger foraminifera, other microfossils, diverse marine invertebrates, fish microremains, and trace fossils), biostratigraphical developments, facies (homoclinal carbonate ramp) and signature of global events (glacioeustatic fluctuations), and outstanding hydrocarbon resources. The five main geological heritage types are sedimentary, palaeontological, stratigraphical, palaeogeographical, and economical, from which the palaeontological, palaeogeographical, and economical types are of global rank. The Khollar and Kavar sections in the Fars Province of Iran are recommended as geosites suitable for research, education, and tourism. The high complexity of the geological heritage linked to the Oligocene carbonate platform of the Zagros Basin implies the phenomenon of geodiversity should be understood with regard to the relationships between types and their values.

Explaining LIGO's observations via isolated binary evolution with natal kicks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wysocki, Daniel; Gerosa, Davide; O'Shaughnessy, Richard; Belczynski, Krzysztof; Gladysz, Wojciech; Berti, Emanuele; Kesden, Michael; Holz, Daniel E.

2018-02-01

We compare binary evolution models with different assumptions about black-hole natal kicks to the first gravitational-wave observations performed by the LIGO detectors. Our comparisons attempt to reconcile merger rate, masses, spins, and spin-orbit misalignments of all current observations with state-of-the-art formation scenarios of binary black holes formed in isolation. We estimate that black holes (BHs) should receive natal kicks at birth of the order of σ ≃200 (50 ) km /s if tidal processes do (not) realign stellar spins. Our estimate is driven by two simple factors. The natal kick dispersion σ is bounded from above because large kicks disrupt too many binaries (reducing the merger rate below the observed value). Conversely, the natal kick distribution is bounded from below because modest kicks are needed to produce a range of spin-orbit misalignments. A distribution of misalignments increases our models' compatibility with LIGO's observations, if all BHs are likely to have natal spins. Unlike related work which adopts a concrete BH natal spin prescription, we explore a range of possible BH natal spin distributions. Within the context of our models, for all of the choices of σ used here and within the context of one simple fiducial parameterized spin distribution, observations favor low BH natal spin.

Birth-Weight, Pregnancy Term, Pre-Natal and Natal Complications Related to Child's Dental Anomalies.

PubMed

Prokocimer, T; Amir, E; Blumer, S; Peretz, B

2015-01-01

This cross-sectional study was aimed at determining whether certain pre-natal and natal conditions can predict specific dental anomalies. The conditions observed were: low birth-weight, preterm birth, pre-natal & natal complications. The dental anomalies observed were: enamel defects, total number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (total DMFT), disturbances in the tooth shape and disturbances in the number of teeth. Out of more than 2000 medical files of children aged 2-17 years old which were reviewed, 300 files met the selection criteria. Information recorded from the files included: age, gender, health status (the ASA physical status classification system by the American Society of Anesthesiologists), birth week, birth weight, total DMFT, hypomineralization, abnormal tooth shape, abnormal number of teeth and hypoplasia. Twenty one children out of 300 (7%) were born after a high-risk pregnancy, 25 children (8.3%) were born after high-risk birth, 20 children (6.7%) were born preterm - before week 37, and 29 children (9.7%) were born with a low birth weight (LBW) - 2500 grams or less. A relationship between a preterm birth and LBW to hypomineralization was found. And a relationship between a preterm birth and high-risk pregnancy to abnormal number of teeth was found. No relationship was found between birth (normal/high-risk) and the other parameters inspected. Preterm birth and LBW may predict hypomineralization in both primary and permanent dentitions. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that preterm birth and high-risk pregnancy may predict abnormal number of teeth in both dentitions.

Principles and Best Practices Emerging from Data Basin: A Data Platform Supporting Scientific Research and Landscape Conservation Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comendant, T.; Strittholt, J. R.; Ward, B. C.; Bachelet, D. M.; Grossman, D.; Stevenson-Molnar, N.; Henifin, K.; Lundin, M.; Marvin, T. S.; Peterman, W. L.; Corrigan, G. N.; O'Connor, K.

2013-12-01

A multi-disciplinary team of scientists, software engineers, and outreach staff at the Conservation Biology Institute launched an open-access, web-based spatial data platform called Data Basin (www.databasin.org) in 2010. Primarily built to support research and environmental resource planning, Data Basin provides the capability for individuals and organizations to explore, create, interpret, and collaborate around their priority topics and geographies. We used a stakeholder analysis to assess the needs of data consumers/produces and help prioritize primary and secondary audiences. Data Basin's simple and user-friendly interface makes mapping and geo-processing tools more accessible to less technical audiences. Input from users is considered in system planning, testing, and implementation. The team continually develops using an agile software development approach, which allows new features, improvements, and bug fixes to be deployed to the live system on a frequent basis. The data import process is handled through administrative approval and Data Basin requires spatial data (biological, physical, and socio-economic) to be well-documented. Outreach and training is used to convey the scope and appropriate use of the scientific information and available resources.

Rare Earth Elements of the Permian-Triassic Conodonts from Shelf Basin to Shallow Platform: Implications for Oceanic Redox Conditions immediately After the End-Permian Mass Extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Y.; Zhao, L.; Chen, Z.; Chen, J.; Chen, Y.

2013-12-01

Rare-earth elements (REEs) can provide information regarding the influence of weathering fluxes and hydrothermal inputs on seawater chemistry as well as processes that fractionate REEs between solid and aqueous phases. Of these, cerium (Ce) distributions may provide information about variations in dissolved oxygen in seawater, and thus assess the redox conditions. The short residence times of REEs in seawater (~300-1,000 yr) can result in unique REE signatures in local watermasses. REE patterns preserved in biogenic apatite such as conodonts are ideal proxies for revealing original seawater chemistry. Here, we measured the REE content of in-situ, single albid crowns using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) in combination with an ArF (λ=193 nm) excimer laser (Lambda Physiks GeoLas 2005) and quadrupole ICP-MS (Agilent 7500a). LA-ICP-MS is ideally suited for analyzing conodonts due to its ability to measure compositional variation within single conodont elements. It has the capability to determine, with high spatial resolution, continuous compositional depth profiles through the concentric layered structure of component histologies. To evaluate paleoceanographic conditions immediately after the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) mass extinction in various depositional settings, we sampled a nearly contemporaneous strata unit, the P-Tr boundary bed, just above the extinction horizon from six sections in South China. They represent various depositional settings from shelf basin (Chaohu and Daxiakou sections), lower part of ramp (Meishan section), normal shallow platform (Yangou section), and platform microbialite (Chongyang and Xiushui sections). The sampled unit is constrained by conodonts Hindeodus changxingensis, H. parvus, and H. staeschei Zones in Meishan. REE results obtained from conodont albid crowns show that the seawater in lower ramp and shelf basin settings contains much higher REE concentrations than that in shallow platform. Ce

Dating the Barremian-Aptian shallow platform deposits at the eastern part of the Kopet Dagh sedimentary basin, NE Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chenarani, Atefeh; Hosseini, Seyedabolfazl; Vahidi Nia, Mohammad

2016-04-01

The Kopet Dagh sedimentary basin covers the northeastern part of Iran, most parts of Turkmenistan and north of Afghanistan which contains several giant gas fields. The extension of this basin in the Iranian part is around 55km2(Afshar Harb, 1994). The Kopet Dagh basin is marked by having very thick sedimentary rocks and lack of volcanic activity. During the Lower Cretaceous, the Tirgan Formation was deposited in a shallow platform setting and lithologically includes in thick-bedded orbitolinid limestones. This study focuses on the biostratigraphy and age determination of these shallow-water deposits using benthic foraminifera and calcareous green algae. In the studied outcrop, the Tirgan Formation has a thickness of 180 m and includes in limestone beds with some marly intervals. It is overlain by the Sarcheshmeh Formation and rests on the Shurijeh Formation. Both contacts are believed to be transitional and lack of discontinuity. A total of 56 thin-sections were used in this study. This study led to determine 28 genera and 14 species of benthic foraminifera along with 13 genera and 5 species of calcareous green algae. Based on the obtained biostratigraphy data, a late Barremian-early Aptian age is suggested for these deposits. We also defined the precise boundary between the Barremian and Aptian which is reported for the first time from this area. Keywords: Barremian-Aptian, Shallow platform, Kopet Dagh, Iran. Reference: Afshar Harb, A., 1994. Geology of Iran: Geology of the Kopet Dagh. Geological survey of Iran, Report No. 11, 275 pp.

Natal Host Plants Can Alter Herbivore Competition.

PubMed

Pan, Huipeng; Preisser, Evan L; Su, Qi; Jiao, Xiaoguo; Xie, Wen; Wang, Shaoli; Wu, Qingjun; Zhang, Youjun

2016-01-01

Interspecific competition between herbivores is widely recognized as an important determinant of community structure. Although researchers have identified a number of factors capable of altering competitive interactions, few studies have addressed the influence of neighboring plant species. If adaptation to/ epigenetic effects of an herbivore's natal host plant alter its performance on other host plants, then interspecific herbivore interactions may play out differently in heterogeneous and homogenous plant communities. We tested wether the natal host plant of a whitefly population affected interactions between the Middle-east Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) and Mediterranean (MED) cryptic species of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci by rearing the offspring of a cabbage-derived MEAM1 population and a poinsettia-derived MED population together on three different host plants: cotton, poinsettia, and cabbage. We found that MED dominated on poinsettia and that MEAM1 dominated on cabbage, results consistent with previous research. MED also dominated when reared with MEAM1 on cotton, however, a result at odds with multiple otherwise-similar studies that reared both species on the same natal plant. Our work provides evidence that natal plants affect competitive interactions on another plant species, and highlights the potential importance of neighboring plant species on herbivore community composition in agricultral systems.

Natal Host Plants Can Alter Herbivore Competition

PubMed Central

Pan, Huipeng; Preisser, Evan L.; Su, Qi; Jiao, Xiaoguo; Xie, Wen; Wang, Shaoli; Wu, Qingjun

2016-01-01

Interspecific competition between herbivores is widely recognized as an important determinant of community structure. Although researchers have identified a number of factors capable of altering competitive interactions, few studies have addressed the influence of neighboring plant species. If adaptation to/ epigenetic effects of an herbivore’s natal host plant alter its performance on other host plants, then interspecific herbivore interactions may play out differently in heterogeneous and homogenous plant communities. We tested wether the natal host plant of a whitefly population affected interactions between the Middle-east Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) and Mediterranean (MED) cryptic species of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci by rearing the offspring of a cabbage-derived MEAM1 population and a poinsettia-derived MED population together on three different host plants: cotton, poinsettia, and cabbage. We found that MED dominated on poinsettia and that MEAM1 dominated on cabbage, results consistent with previous research. MED also dominated when reared with MEAM1 on cotton, however, a result at odds with multiple otherwise-similar studies that reared both species on the same natal plant. Our work provides evidence that natal plants affect competitive interactions on another plant species, and highlights the potential importance of neighboring plant species on herbivore community composition in agricultral systems. PMID:28030636

Natal and breeding philopatry in a black brant, Branta bernicla nigricans, metapopulation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindberg, Mark S.; Sedinger, James S.; Derksen, Dirk V.; Rockwell, Robert F.

1998-01-01

We estimated natal and breeding philopatry and dispersal probabilities for a metapopulation of Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) based on observations of marked birds at six breeding colonies in Alaska, 1986–1994. Both adult females and males exhibited high (>0.90) probability of philopatry to breeding colonies. Probability of natal philopatry was significantly higher for females than males. Natal dispersal of males was recorded between every pair of colonies, whereas natal dispersal of females was observed between only half of the colony pairs. We suggest that female-biased philopatry was the result of timing of pair formation and characteristics of the mating system of brant, rather than factors related to inbreeding avoidance or optimal discrepancy. Probability of natal philopatry of females increased with age but declined with year of banding. Age-related increase in natal philopatry was positively related to higher breeding probability of older females. Declines in natal philopatry with year of banding corresponded negatively to a period of increasing population density; therefore, local population density may influence the probability of nonbreeding and gene flow among colonies.

Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the middle Eocene Guara carbonate platform near Arguis, South-West Pyrenean foreland: Implications for basin physiography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huyghe, D.; Castelltort, S.; Serra-Kiel, J.; Filleaudeau, P.-Y.; Emmanuel, L.; Mouthereau, F.; Renard, M.

2009-04-01

The Pyrenees results from the collision between Spain and Europe and developed between the upper Cretaceous (Santonian) and the Miocene. Its foreland basins are characterised by a thick fill of detrital and carbonate sediments. The diversity of Eocene deposits in the southern Pyrenean foreland basin is of particular use in facies sedimentology due to their exceptional outcropping quality and well established stratigraphic framework and has been taken as type examples of many different sedimentary environments. Most studies have concerned facies sedimentology of detrital series in turbiditic environments, meandering and braided rivers, alluvial fans, and deltas. In contrast, the Eocene carbonate series have attracted less attention. The marine Guara limestones are a formation of lower to middle Eocene age deposited on the southern border of the western Pyrenean foreland basin (Jaca basin). They were deposited as a retrogradational carbonate platform dominated by large benthic foraminifers near or at the flexural forebulge of the foreland basin as the Pyrenean orogen developed. This formation represents the last episode of carbonate platform in the Pyrenees and remains poorly studied. In the present work our aim is to provide a detailed facies analysis and physiographic reconstructions of the Guara carbonate platform. This is crucial to unravel the respective influences of tectonics, climate and rheology of the lithosphere on the foreland basin tectonic and stratigraphic development, and it brings new constraints on the paleoenvironments and paleogeography during the Lutetian, i.e. at the beginning of the major phase of activity of the Pyrenean orogenesis. Two outcrops were studied in the Sierras Marginales at the localities of Arguis and Lusera. The Lusera section once restored in its initial position is located to the North of the Arguis section in a basinward direction such that comparing time-equivalent facies between these two sections helps us reconstructing

Seismic sequence stratigraphy and platform to basin reservoir structuring of Lower Cretaceous deposits in the Sidi Aïch-Majoura region (Central Tunisia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azaïez, Hajer; Bédir, Mourad; Tanfous, Dorra; Soussi, Mohamed

2007-05-01

In central Tunisia, Lower Cretaceous deposits represent carbonate and sandstone reservoir series that correspond to proven oil fields. The main problems for hydrocarbon exploration of these levels are their basin tectonic configuration and their sequence distribution in addition to the source rock availability. The Central Atlas of Tunisia is characterized by deep seated faults directed northeast-southwest, northwest-southeast and north-south. These faults limit inherited tectonic blocks and show intruded Triassic salt domes. Lower Cretaceous series outcropping in the region along the anticline flanks present platform deposits. The seismic interpretation has followed the Exxon methodologies in the 26th A.A.P.G. Memoir. The defined Lower Cretaceous seismic units were calibrated with petroleum well data and tied to stratigraphic sequences established by outcrop studies. This allows the subsurface identification of subsiding zones and thus sequence deposit distribution. Seismic mapping of these units boundary shows a structuring from a platform to basin blocks zones and helps to understand the hydrocarbon reservoir systems-tract and horizon distribution around these domains.

Natal location influences movement and survival of a spatially structured population of snail kites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Martin, J.; Kitchens, W.M.; Hines, J.E.

2007-01-01

Despite the accepted importance of the need to better understand how natal location affects movement decisions and survival of animals, robust estimates of movement and survival in relation to the natal location are lacking. Our study focuses on movement and survival related to the natal location of snail kites in Florida and shows that kites, in addition to exhibiting a high level of site tenacity to breeding regions, also exhibit particular attraction to their natal region. More specifically, we found that estimates of movement from post-dispersal regions were greater toward natal regions than toward non-natal regions (differences were significant for three of four regions). We also found that estimates of natal philopatry were greater than estimates of philopatry to non-natal regions (differences were statistically significant for two of four regions). A previous study indicated an effect of natal region on juvenile survival; in this study, we show an effect of natal region on adult survival. Estimates of adult survival varied among kites that were hatched in different regions. Adults experienced mortality rates characteristic of the region occupied at the time when survival was measured, but because there is a greater probability that kites will return to their natal region than to any other regions, their survival was ultimately influenced by their natal region. In most years, kites hatched in southern regions had greater survival probabilities than did kites hatched in northern regions. However, during a multiregional drought, one of the northern regions served as a refuge from drought, and during this perturbation, survival was greater for birds hatched in the north. Our study shows that natal location may be important in influencing the ecological dynamics of kites but also highlights the importance of considering temporal variation in habitat conditions of spatially structured systems when attempting to evaluate the conservation value of habitats.

Developmental post-natal stress can alter the effects of pre-natal stress on the adult redox balance.

PubMed

Marasco, Valeria; Spencer, Karen A; Robinson, Jane; Herzyk, Pawel; Costantini, David

2013-09-15

Across diverse vertebrate taxa, stressful environmental conditions during development can shape phenotypic trajectories of developing individuals, which, while adaptive in the short-term, may impair health and survival in adulthood. Regardless, the long-lasting benefits or costs of early life stress are likely to depend on the conditions experienced across differing stages of development. Here, we used the Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) to experimentally manipulate exposure to stress hormones in developing individuals. We tested the hypothesis that interactions occurring between pre- and post-natal developmental periods can induce long-term shifts on the adult oxidant phenotype in non-breeding sexually mature individuals. We showed that early life stress can induce long-term alterations in the basal antioxidant defences. The magnitude of these effects depended upon the timing of glucocorticoid exposure and upon interactions between the pre- and post-natal stressful stimuli. We also found differences among tissues with stronger effects in the erythrocytes than in the brain in which the long-term effects of glucocorticoids on antioxidant biomarkers appeared to be region-specific. Recent experimental work has demonstrated that early life exposure to stress hormones can markedly reduce adult survival (Monaghan et al., 2012). Our results suggest that long-term shifts in basal antioxidant defences might be one of the potential mechanisms driving such accelerated ageing processes and that post-natal interventions during development may be a potential tool to shape the effects induced by pre-natally glucococorticoid-exposed phenotypes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Slope and basinal deposits adjacent to isolated carbonate platforms in the Indian Ocean: Sedimentology, geomorphology, and a new 1.2 Ma record of highstand shedding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Counts, J. W.; Jorry, S.; Jouet, G.

2017-12-01

Newly analyzed bathymetric, seismic, and core data from carbonate-topped seamounts in the Mozambique Channel reveals a variety of depositional processes and products operating on platform slopes and adjacent basins. Mass transport complexes (including turbidites and debrites), leveed channel systems with basin-floor fans, and contourites are imaged in high resolution in both seafloor maps and cross-section, and show both differences and similarities compared with platform slopes in the Bahamas and elsewhere. In some, though not all, platforms, increased sedimentation can be observed on the leeward margins, and slope rugosity may be asymmetric with respect to prevailing wind direction. Deposition is also controlled by glacial-interglacial cycles; cores taken from the lower slopes (3000+ m water depth) of carbonate platforms reveal a causative relationship between sea level and aragonite export to the deep ocean. δ18O isotopes from planktonic and benthic foraminifera of two 27-meter cores, reveal a high-resolution, continuous depositional record of carbonate sediment dating back to 1.2 Ma. Sea level rise, as determined by correlation with the LR04 benthic stack, is coincident with increased aragonite flux from platform tops. Gravity flow deposits are also affected by platform flooding—the frequency of turbidite/debrite deposits on pinnacle slopes increases during highstand, although such deposits are also present during glacial episodes. The results reported here are the first record of highstand shedding in the southern Indian Ocean, and provide the longest Quaternary sediment record to date in the region, including the Mid-Brunhes transition (MIS 11) that serves as an analog for the current climate conditions. In addition, this is the first study to describe sedimentation on the slopes of these platforms, providing an important point of comparison that has the potential to influence source-to-sink carbonate facies models.

Evolution of sedimentary architecture in retro-foreland basin: Aquitaine basin example from Paleocene to lower Eocene.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortega, Carole; Lasseur, Eric; Guillocheau, François; Serrano, Olivier; Malet, David

2017-04-01

The Aquitaine basin located in south western Europe, is a Pyrenean retro-foreland basin. Two main phases of compression are recorded in this retro-foreland basin during the Pyrenean orogeny. A first upper Cretaceous phase corresponding to the early stage of the orogeny, and a second one usually related to a Pyrenean paroxysmal phase during the middle Eocene. During Paleocene to lower Eocene deformations are less pronounced, interpreted as a tectonically quiet period. The aim of the study is to better constrain the sedimentary system of the Aquitaine basin during this period of Paleocene-lower Eocene, in order to discuss the evolution of the sedimentary architecture in response of the Pyrenean compression. This work is based on a compilation of a large set of subsurface data (wells logs, seismic lines and cores logs) represented by isopachs and facies map. Three main cycles were identified during this structural quiet period: (1) The Danian cycle, is recorded by the aggradation of carbonate reef-rimmed platform. This platform is characterized by proximal facies (oncoid carbonate and mudstone with thalassinoides) to the north, which leads to distal deposit facies southern (pelagic carbonate with globigerina and slump facies) and present a significant thickness variation linked to the platform-slope-basin morphology. (2) The upper Selandian-Thanetian cycle follows a non-depositional/erosional surface associated with a Selandian hiatus. The base of this cycle marked the transition between the last reef rimmed platform and a carbonate ramp. The transgressive cycle is characterized by proximal lagoon facies to the north that leads southward to distal hemipelagic facies interfingered by turbiditic Lowstand System Tracks (LST). The location of these LST is strongly controlled by inherited Danian topography. The regressive cycle ends with a major regression associated with an erosional surface. This surface is linked with a network of canyons in the north, an important

Post-natal growth in the rat pineal gland: a stereological study.

PubMed

Erbagci, H; Kizilkan, N; Ozbag, D; Erkilic, S; Kervancioglu, P; Canan, S; Gumusburun, E

2012-10-01

The purpose was to observe the changes in a rat pineal gland using stereological techniques during lactation and post-weaning periods. Thirty Wistar albino rats were studied during different post-natal periods using light microscopy. Pineal gland volume was estimated using the Cavalieri Method. Additionally, the total number of pinealocytes was estimated using the optical fractionator technique. Pineal gland volume displayed statistically significant changes between lactation and after weaning periods. A significant increase in pineal gland volume was observed from post-natal day 10 to post-natal day 90. The numerical density of pinealocytes became stabilized during lactation and decreased rapidly after weaning. However, the total number of pinealocytes continuously increased during post-natal life of all rats in the study. However, this increment was not statistically significant when comparing the lactation and after weaning periods. The increase in post-natal pineal gland volume may depend on increment of immunoreactive fibres, capsule thickness or new synaptic bodies. © 2012 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Post-natal myogenic and adipogenic developmental

PubMed Central

Konings, Gonda; van Weeghel, Michel; van den Hoogenhof, Maarten MG; Gijbels, Marion; van Erk, Arie; Schoonderwoerd, Kees; van den Bosch, Bianca; Dahlmans, Vivian; Calis, Chantal; Houten, Sander M; Misteli, Tom

2011-01-01

A-type lamins are a major component of the nuclear lamina. Mutations in the LMNA gene, which encodes the A-type lamins A and C, cause a set of phenotypically diverse diseases collectively called laminopathies. While adult LMNA null mice show various symptoms typically associated with laminopathies, the effect of loss of lamin A/C on early post-natal development is poorly understood. Here we developed a novel LMNA null mouse (LMNAGT−/−) based on genetrap technology and analyzed its early post-natal development. We detect LMNA transcripts in heart, the outflow tract, dorsal aorta, liver and somites during early embryonic development. Loss of A-type lamins results in severe growth retardation and developmental defects of the heart, including impaired myocyte hypertrophy, skeletal muscle hypotrophy, decreased amounts of subcutaneous adipose tissue and impaired ex vivo adipogenic differentiation. These defects cause death at 2 to 3 weeks post partum associated with muscle weakness and metabolic complications, but without the occurrence of dilated cardiomyopathy or an obvious progeroid phenotype. Our results indicate that defective early post-natal development critically contributes to the disease phenotypes in adult laminopathies. PMID:21818413

War rape, natality and genocide.

PubMed

Schott, Robin May

2011-01-01

Feminist philosophy can make an important contribution to the field of genocide studies, and issues relating to gender and war are gaining new attention. In this article I trace legal and philosophical analyses of sexual violence against women in war. I analyze the strengths and limitations of the concept of social death—introduced into this field by Claudia Card—for understanding the genocidal features of war rape, and draw on the work of Hannah Arendt to understand the central harm of genocide as an assault on natality. The threat to natality posed by the harms of rape, forced pregnancy and forced maternity lie in the potential expulsion from the public world of certain groups—including women who are victims, members of the 'enemy' group, and children born of forced birth.

Controls on facies and sequence stratigraphy of an upper Miocene carbonate ramp and platform, Melilla basin, NE Morocco

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cunningham, K.J.; Collins, Luke S.

2002-01-01

Upwelling of cool seawater, paleoceanographic circulation, paleoclimate, local tectonics and relative sea-level change controlled the lithofacies and sequence stratigraphy of a carbonate ramp and overlying platform that are part of a temporally well constrained carbonate complex in the Melilla basin, northeastern Morocco. At Melilla, from oldest to youngest, a third-order depositional sequence within the carbonate complex contains (1) a retrogradational, transgressive, warm temperate-type rhodalgal ramp; (2) an early highstand, progradational, bioclastic platform composed mainly of a temperate-type, bivalve-rich molechfor facies; and (3) late highstand, progradational to downstepping, subtropical/tropical-type chlorozoan fringing Porites reefs. The change from rhodalgal ramp to molechfor platform occurred at 7.0??0.14 Ma near the Tortonian/Messinian boundary. During a late stage in the development of the bioclastic platform a transition from temperate-type molechfor facies to subtropical/tropical-type chlorozoan facies occurred and is bracketed by chron 3An.2n (??? 6.3-6.6 Ma). Comparison to a well-dated carbonate complex in southeastern Spain at Cabo de Gata suggests that upwelling of cool seawater influenced production of temperate-type limestone within the ramp and platform at Melilla during postulated late Tortonian-early Messinian subtropical/tropical paleoclimatic conditions in the western Paleo-Mediterranean region. The upwelling of cool seawater across the bioclastic platform at Melilla could be related to the beginning of 'siphoning' of deep, cold Atlantic waters into the Paleo-Mediterranean Sea at 7.17 Ma. The facies change within the bioclastic platform from molechfor to chlorozoan facies may be coincident with a reduction of the siphoning of Atlantic waters and the end of upwelling at Melilla during chron 3An.2n. The ramp contains one retrogradational parasequence and the bioclastic platform three progradational parasequences. Minor erosional surfaces

Social factors influencing natal dispersal in male white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus).

PubMed

Jack, Katharine M; Sheller, Claire; Fedigan, Linda M

2012-04-01

White-faced capuchin males disperse from their natal group at around 4.5 years of age, but there is much variation in dispersal timing: our youngest confirmed disperser was 19 months and the oldest 11 years old. In this study, we investigate possible factors influencing dispersal decisions in this species. Between 1983 and 2010, 64 males were born into three study groups in Santa Rosa National Park, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, and Costa Rica. As of August 2010, 21 died or were presumed dead (<14 months), 13 remained natal residents, and 30 were presumed dispersers. We used backward logistic regression to identify proximate factors that predict the occurrence of male natal dispersal. The occurrence of a takeover (significant positive association) and group size (nonsignificant negative association) were included in the model. Male age, number of maternal brothers, and number of adult males were not significant predictors of natal dispersal. The resultant model correctly classified 97% of dispersed and 89% of resident natal males, for an overall success rate of 95%. The occurrence of a group takeover was the strongest predictor of male dispersal, with natal males being 18.7 times more likely to disperse in the context of a group takeover than during peaceful times. A linear regression model showed that the tenure length of a male's probable father influences the age of natal dispersal, explaining 15% of the observed variation in age. However, when our oldest disperser was removed (an outlier) this effect disappeared. Collectively, these results indicate that group instability, as evidenced by the occurrence of a takeover, shorter tenure length of a natal male's father, and smaller group size, triggers natal dispersal in this species while the converse leads to a delay. These data add to our growing evidence of the enormous impact that takeovers have on the behavioral ecology of this species. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[The organization of medical stomatological care of women in post-natal period].

PubMed

Kulikova, N G; Omeltchuk, N N; Zalenskiy, V A; Tkachenko, A S

2014-01-01

The article presents the following new data. The medical social aspects of women with stomatological pathology during post-natal period are characterized by age gender, professional, educational and organizational aspects. The issues of impact of characteristics of medical stomatological care of women in post-natal period are considered. The results of survey of women in post-natal period using questionnaire targeted to detection of stomatological diseases are presented.

Failure of pre-natal ultrasonography to prevent urinary infection associated with underlying urological abnormalities.

PubMed

Lakhoo, K; Thomas, D F; Fuenfer, M; D'Cruz, A J

1996-06-01

To analyse the reasons underlying the failure of routine pre-natal ultrasonography to prevent the subsequent development of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children with predisposing urological abnormalities. This retrospective study comprised 39 children (22 females and 17 males) who had at least one documented UTI, the presence of an anatomical anomaly of the urinary tract recognized as predisposing to UTI and had undergone ultrasonography of the urinary tract undertaken in fetal life as part of routine maternal ante-natal ultrasonography. Four categories of patients were defined: Group A, those with normal findings on pre-natal ultrasonography and no urological abnormality detected; Group B, those with a urological abnormality detected but where there was a subsequent failure of communication among clinicians; Group C, those with a urological abnormality but who received inappropriate or sub-optimal post-natal management and; Group D, those with a urological abnormality but who had a UTI despite appropriate post-natal management. In each case, the most severe documented episode of UTI was categorized as: Grade I, asymptomatic bacteriuria; Grade II, mild/moderate symptomatic UTI and; Grade III, severe symptomatic UTI necessitating hospital admission. Group A comprised 22 (56%), Group B three (9%), Group C two (5%) and Group D 12 children (31%). Of the 22 children in Group A, nine experienced a UTI of sufficient severity to necessitate hospital admission. Of the 12 children in Group D only one required hospital admission. The failure of pre-natal ultrasonography to identify the underlying predisposing urological abnormality was the most important factor contributing to subsequent UTI in post-natal life. Failure of communication and inappropriate post-natal management were numerically unimportant. In some children, UTI occurred despite pre-natal detection of their underlying anomaly and appropriate post-natal management. However, in this group the UTI was less

Natal and breeding philopatry of female Steller sea lions in southeastern Alaska.

PubMed

Hastings, Kelly K; Jemison, Lauri A; Pendleton, Grey W; Raum-Suryan, Kimberly L; Pitcher, Kenneth W

2017-01-01

Information on drivers of dispersal is critical for wildlife conservation but is rare for long-lived marine mammal species with large geographic ranges. We fit multi-state mark-recapture models to resighting data of 369 known-aged Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) females marked as pups on their natal rookeries in southeastern Alaska from 1994-2005 and monitored from 2001-15. We estimated probabilities of females being first observed parous at their natal site (natal philopatry), and of not moving breeding sites among years (breeding philopatry) at large (> 400 km, all five rookeries in southeastern Alaska) and small (< 4 km, all islands within the largest rookery, Forrester Island Complex, F) spatial scales. At the rookery scale, natal philopatry was moderately high (0.776-0.859) for most rookeries and breeding philopatry was nearly 1, with < 3% of females switching breeding rookeries between years. At more populous islands at F, natal philopatry was 0.500-0.684 versus 0.295-0.437 at less populous islands, and breeding philopatry was 0.919-0.926 versus 0.604-0.858. At both spatial scales, the probability of pupping at a non-natal site increased with population size of, and declined with distance from, the destination site. Natal philopatry of < 1 would increase gene flow, improve population resilience, and promote population recovery after decline in a heterogeneous environment. Very high breeding philopatry suggests that familiarity with neighboring females and knowledge of the breeding site (the topography of pupping sites and nearby foraging locations) may be a critical component to reproductive strategies of sea lions.

Growth and demise of a Paleogene isolated carbonate platform of the Offshore Indus Basin, Pakistan: effects of regional and local controlling factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shahzad, Khurram; Betzler, Christian; Ahmed, Nadeem; Qayyum, Farrukh; Spezzaferri, Silvia; Qadir, Anwar

2018-03-01

Based on high-resolution seismic and well datasets, this paper examines the evolution and drowning history of a Paleocene-Eocene carbonate platform in the Offshore Indus Basin of Pakistan. This study uses the internal seismic architecture, well log data as well as the microfauna to reconstruct factors that governed the carbonate platform growth and demise. Carbonates dominated by larger benthic foraminifera assemblages permit constraining the ages of the major evolutionary steps and show that the depositional environment was tropical within oligotrophic conditions. With the aid of seismic stratigraphy, the carbonate platform edifice is resolved into seven seismic units which in turn are grouped into three packages that reflect its evolution from platform initiation, aggradation with escarpment formation and platform drowning. The carbonate factory initiated as mounds and patches on a Cretaceous-Paleocene volcanic complex. Further, the growth history of the platform includes distinct phases of intraplatform progradation, aggradation, backstepping and partial drownings. The youngest succession as late-stage buildup records a shift from benthic to pelagic deposition and marks the final drowning in the Early Eocene. The depositional trend of the platform, controlled by the continuing thermal subsidence associated with the cooling of volcanic margin lithosphere, was the major contributor of the accommodation space which supported the vertical accumulation of shallow water carbonate succession. Other factors such as eustatic changes and changes in the carbonate producers as a response to the Paleogene climatic perturbations played secondary roles in the development and drowning of these buildups.

Natal and breeding philopatry of female Steller sea lions in southeastern Alaska

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Information on drivers of dispersal is critical for wildlife conservation but is rare for long-lived marine mammal species with large geographic ranges. We fit multi-state mark-recapture models to resighting data of 369 known-aged Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) females marked as pups on their natal rookeries in southeastern Alaska from 1994–2005 and monitored from 2001–15. We estimated probabilities of females being first observed parous at their natal site (natal philopatry), and of not moving breeding sites among years (breeding philopatry) at large (> 400 km, all five rookeries in southeastern Alaska) and small (< 4 km, all islands within the largest rookery, Forrester Island Complex, F) spatial scales. At the rookery scale, natal philopatry was moderately high (0.776–0.859) for most rookeries and breeding philopatry was nearly 1, with < 3% of females switching breeding rookeries between years. At more populous islands at F, natal philopatry was 0.500–0.684 versus 0.295–0.437 at less populous islands, and breeding philopatry was 0.919–0.926 versus 0.604–0.858. At both spatial scales, the probability of pupping at a non-natal site increased with population size of, and declined with distance from, the destination site. Natal philopatry of < 1 would increase gene flow, improve population resilience, and promote population recovery after decline in a heterogeneous environment. Very high breeding philopatry suggests that familiarity with neighboring females and knowledge of the breeding site (the topography of pupping sites and nearby foraging locations) may be a critical component to reproductive strategies of sea lions. PMID:28591130

The early cretaceous evolution of carbonate platforms from northern Oman

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

Masse, J.P.; Borgomano, J.; Maskiry, S.Al.

1993-09-01

In northern Oman (Jebel Akhdar and foothills) Hauterivian to early Aptian shallow carbonate platforms are widely extending and pass laterally to slope and basin environments in the Nakhl zone. Progradational geometries are identified in that zone where significant correlation between thickness and sediment types supports a prominent tectonic control. The platform records four main sedimentary breaks (drowning events). Early Barremian (lower Lekhwair Formation), Late Barremian (basal Kharaib Formation), lowermost early Aptian (upper Kharaib Formation) and middle Aptian (Shuaiba-Al Hassanat formations boundary). The late Aptian-early Albian hiatus (pre-Nahr Umr unconformity) is regarded as an early Albian tectonically driven erosion. In themore » Nakhl zone, coral-rudist limestones of late Aptian-early Albian (lower Al Hassanat Formation) document an east-west ribbon platform, the southward extension of which was obscured by the middle Albian erosions and rudist limestones of middle to late Albian (upper Al Hassanat Formation), a lateral equivalent of the Nahr Umr circa littoral shaly sediments, document an east-west-trending linear platform. The foregoing points out a northward progradation coeval with a southward transgressive major trend for the Hauterivian-early Aptian interval, a faulted margin corresponding with the Nakhl zone active during the Aptian-Albian, a late Aptian ribbon platform coeval with the Bab basin initiation southward, a regional uplifting and truncation during the early-Albian (Austrian phase), whereas shallow-water carbonates are still forming at the edge of the former platform, and an active linear platform at the northern edge of the Nahr Umr basin, the corresponding drowning contemporaneous with the onset of the Cenomanian platform eastward.« less

Project Pró-natal: population-based study of perinatal and infant mortality in natal, Northeast Brazil.

PubMed

Ramos, A M; Maranhão, T D; Macedo, A S; Pollock, J I; Emond, A M

2000-01-01

The Pró-Natal project is a collaborative initiative that aims to improve maternal and infant health in a deprived community in Natal, Northeast Brazil. To assess the perinatal and infant mortality in this population of 40,000, we have collected over a 2-year period a consecutive series of 39 autopsy examinations on deaths under 1 year of age. During this period there were 2212 live births in the study population. The 14 perinatal deaths are described using the Wrigglesworth classification, and the 25 infant deaths, using a clinicopathological system. The contribution of normally formed stillbirths was small (14%), which probably reflects the underreporting of stillbirths in this community. The most common cause of death in the live births was complications of prematurity (43%). Specific causes (22%) of perinatal deaths were predominantly infections, including one case of congenital syphilis. Perinatal asphyxia was diagnosed in 14%, and there was one case (7%) of a chromosome abnormality. Infant deaths were predominantly due to respiratory (45%) and gastrointestinal infections (28%), with chronic malnutrition as an underlying cause in 80% of cases. Prenatal care could theoretically have prevented three of the perinatal deaths, and a further six deaths could have been avoided by improved management of labor and the immediate neonatal period. Prevention of malnutrition and improved treatment of acute infections would contribute to a reduction in infant mortality in this population. The Pró-Natal project will use these data to design preventative interventions to reduce perinatal and infant mortality in this community.

Natal movement in juvenile Atlantic salmon: a body size-dependent strategy?

Treesearch

Sigurd Einum; Anders G. Finstad; Grethe Robertsen; Keith H. Nislow; Simon McKelvey; John D. Armstrong

2012-01-01

If competitive ability depends on body size, then the optimal natal movement from areas of high local population density can also be predicted to be size-dependent. Specifically, small, competitively-inferior individuals would be expected to benefit most from moving to areas of lower local density. Here we evaluate whether individual variation in natal movement...

Near real time water resources data for river basin management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paulson, R. W. (Principal Investigator)

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Twenty Data Collection Platforms (DCP) are being field installed on USGS water resources stations in the Delaware River Basin. DCP's have been successfully installed and are operating well on five stream gaging stations, three observation wells, and one water quality monitor in the basin. DCP's have been installed at nine additional water quality monitors, and work is progressing on interfacing the platforms to the monitors. ERTS-related water resources data from the platforms are being provided in near real time, by the Goddard Space Flight Center to the Pennsylvania district, Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey. On a daily basis, the data are computer processed by the Survey and provided to the Delaware River Basin Commission. Each daily summary contains data that were relayed during 4 or 5 of the 15 orbits made by ERTS-1 during the previous day. Water resources parameters relays by the platforms include dissolved oxygen concentrations, temperature, pH, specific conductance, well level, and stream gage height, which is used to compute stream flow for the daily summary.

Chicxulub impact basin: Gravity characteristics and implications for basin morphology and deep structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sharpton, Virgil L.; Burke, Kevin; Hall, Stuart A.; Lee, Scott; Marin, Luis E.; Suarez, Gerardo; Quezada-Muneton, Juan Manuel; Urrutia-Fucugauchi, Jaime

1993-01-01

The K-T-aged Chicxulub Impact Structure is buried beneath the Tertiary carbonate rocks of the Northern Yucatan Platform. Consequently its morphology and structure are poorly understood. Reprocessed Bouguer (onshore) and Free Air (offshore) gravity data over Northern Yucatan reveal that Chicxulub may be a 200-km-diameter multi-ring impact basin with at least three concentric basin rings. The positions of these rings follow the square root of 2 spacing rule derived empirically from analysis of multi-ring basins on other planets indicating that these rings probably correspond to now-buried topographic basin rings. A forward model of the gravity data along a radial transect from the southwest margin of the structure indicates that the Chicxulub gravity signature is compatible with this interpretation. We estimate the basin rim diameter to be 204 +/- 16 km and the central peak ring diameter (D) is 104 +/- 6 km.

A genetic test of the natal homing versus social facilitation models for green turtle migration.

PubMed

Meylan, A B; Bowen, B W; Avise, J C

1990-05-11

Female green turtles exhibit strong nest-site fidelity as adults, but whether the nesting beach is the natal site is not known. Under the natal homing hypothesis, females return to their natal beach to nest, whereas under the social facilitation model, virgin females follow experienced breeders to nesting beaches and after a "favorable" nesting experience, fix on that site for future nestings. Differences shown in mitochondrial DNA genotype frequency among green turtle colonies in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean are consistent with natal homing expectations and indicate that social facilitation to nonnatal sites is rare.

[Work-related accidents on oil drilling platforms in the Campos Basin, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil].

PubMed

Freitas, C M; Souza, C A; Machado, J M; Porto, M F

2001-01-01

The offshore oil industry is characterized by complex systems in relation to technology and organization of work. Working conditions are hazardous, resulting in accidents and even occasional full-scale catastrophes. This article is the result of a study on work-related accidents in the offshore platforms in the Campos Basin, Rio de Janeiro State. The primary objective was to provide technical back-up for both workers' representative organizations and public authorities. As a methodology, we attempt to go beyond the immediate causes of accidents and emphasize underlying causes related to organizational and managerial aspects. The sources were used in such a way as to permit classification in relation to the type of incident, technological system, operation, and immediate and underlying causes. The results show the aggravation of safety conditions and the immediate need for public authorities and the offshore oil industry in Brazil to change the methods used to investigate accidents in order to identify the main causes in the organizational and managerial structure of companies.

Siberian Platform: Geology and Natural Bitumen Resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Meyer, Richard F.; Freeman, P.A.

2006-01-01

Summary: The Siberian platform is located between the Yenisey River on the west and the Lena River on the south and east. The Siberian platform is vast in size and inhospitable in its climate. This report is concerned principally with the setting, formation, and potential volumes of natural bitumen. In this report the volumes of maltha and asphalt referred to in the Russian literature are combined to represent natural bitumen. The generation of hydrocarbons and formation of hydrocarbon accumulations are discussed. The sedimentary basins of the Platform are described in terms of the Klemme basin classification system and the conditions controlling formation of natural bitumen. Estimates of in-place bitumen resources are reviewed and evaluated. If the bitumen volume estimate is confined to parts of identified deposits where field observations have verified rock and bitumen grades values, the bitumen resource amounts to about 62 billion barrels of oil in-place. However, estimates of an order of magnitude larger can be obtained if additional speculative and unverified rock volumes and grade measures are included.

Field Operations For The "Intelligent River" Observation System: A Basin-wide Water Quality Observation System In The Savannah River Basin And Platform Supporting Related Diverse Initiatives.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutton, A.; Koons, M.; O'Brien-Gayes, P.; Moorer, R.; Hallstrom, J.; Post, C.; Gayes, P. T.

2017-12-01

The Intelligent River (IR) initiative is an NSF sponsored study developing new data management technology for a range of basin-scale applications. The technology developed by Florida Atlantic and Clemson University established a network of real-time reporting water quality sondes; from the mountains to the estuary of the Savannah River basin. Coastal Carolina University led the field operations campaign. Ancillary studies, student projects and initiatives benefitted from the associated instrumentation, infrastructure and operational support of the IR program. This provided a vehicle for students to participate in fieldwork across the watershed and pursue individual interests. Student projects included: 1) a Multibeam sonar survey investigating channel morphology in the area of an IR sensor station and 2) field tests of developing techniques for acquiring and assimilating flood velocity data into model systems associated with a separate NSF Rapid award. The multibeam survey within the lower Savannah basin exhibited a range of complexity in bathymetry, bedforms and bottom habitat in the vicinity of one of the water quality stations. The complex morphology and bottom habitat reflect complex flow patterns, localized areas of depositional and erosive tendencies providing a valuable context for considering point-source water quality time series. Micro- Lagrangian drifters developed by ISENSE at Florida Atlantic University, a sled mounted ADCP, and particle tracking from imagery collected by a photogrammetric drone were tested and used to develop methodology for establishing velocity, direction and discharge levels to validate, initialize and assimilate data into advance models systems during future flood events. The prospect of expanding wide scale observing systems can serve as a platform to integrate small and large-scale cooperative studies across disciplines as well as basic and applied research interests. Such initiatives provide opportunities for embedded education

Hilton College Farm School, Natal, South Africa.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beveridge, Sue

1989-01-01

The Hilton College Farm School is a primary school providing for the educational needs of children in a rural area of Natal, South Africa. Described are the school's historical development, funding sources, staffing, and development of an affiliated pre-primary school. (JDD)

Temporal correlation between dyke swarms and crustal extension in the middle Palaeozoic Vilyui rift basin, Siberian platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polyansky, Oleg P.; Prokopiev, Andrei V.; Koroleva, Olga V.; Tomshin, Mikhail D.; Reverdatto, Vladimir V.; Selyatitsky, Alexander Yu.; Travin, Alexei V.; Vasiliev, Dmitry A.

2017-06-01

This paper presents results from new 40Ar/39Ar isotope dating of nine mafic dykes from three large dyke swarms (Vilyui-Markha, Kontai-Dzherba, and Chara-Sinsk) of the Yakutsk-Vilyui large igneous province (LIP), in addition to a reconstruction of the subsidence history of the middle Palaeozoic Vilyui paleorift basin (eastern Siberian platform). All previously published 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb dates are summarized. Statistical analysis of the dyke ages reveals repeated magmatic events in the study area. Two major pulses of mafic magmatism are identified: one at the Frasnian-Famennian boundary, with a main peak at ca. 374.1 Ma, and another in the latest Devonian with a peak at ca. 363.4 Ma. The time of maximum intensity of dyke intrusion coincides (within uncertainty) with rapid subsidence in the Vilyui basin. The minimum total volume of middle Palaeozoic magmatism produced in the Yakutsk-Vilyui LIP is 100-215 K km3, which is much less than earlier estimates. Most of the mafic material within the Yakutsk-Vilyui LIP is related to the Vilyui basin and associated dyke swarms. Backstripping analysis of sedimentation in depressions of the Vilyui basin was carried out. Estimates were obtained for the spatial distribution of the stretching factor of the crust and mantle lithosphere, averaging 1.17 and 1.44, respectively. The amount of extension due to dyke intrusion is estimated to be 6%. Backstripping analysis of sedimentation in the Vilyui basin was used to assess the effect of both intraplate far-field forces and upwelling magma flows initiated by a mantle plume. A numerical thermomechanical model was developed to investigate the relations between two possible mechanisms by which the Vilyui rift was initiated: intraplate extension (passive rifting) and the ascent of a mantle magmatic diapir (active rifting). A model considering both of these mechanisms shows the contribution of the far-field extension forces and the effect of convective flows around the mantle plume, assuming

Passive margins: U.S. Geological Survey Line 19 across the Georges Bank basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Klitgord, Kim D.; Schlee, John S.; Grow, John A.; Bally, A.W.

1987-01-01

Georges Bank is a shallow part of the Atlantic continental shelf southeast of New England (Emery and Uchupi, 1972, 1984). This bank, however, is merely the upper surface of several sedimentary basins overlying a block-faulted basement of igneous and metamorphic crystalline rock. Sedimentary rock forms a seaward-thickening cover that has accumulated in one main depocenter and several ancillary depressions, adjacent to shallow basement platforms of paleozoic and older crystalline rock. Georges Bank basin contains a thickness of sedimentary rock greater than 10 km, whereas the basement platforms that flank the basin are areas of thin sediment accumulation (less than 5 km).

Neutrino trigger of the magnetorotational mechanism of a natal-pulsar kick

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

Kuznetsov, A. V., E-mail: avkuzn@uniyar.ac.ru; Mikheev, N. V., E-mail: mikheev@uniyar.ac.ru

2013-10-15

A mechanism generating a natal-neutron-star kick and involving only standard neutrinos is discussed. In this mechanism, the neutrino effect on the plasma of the supernova-core envelope in a magnetorotational explosion accompanied by the generation of a strong toroidal magnetic field leads to a redistribution of the magnetic field B in the 'upper' and 'lower' hemispheres of the supernova-core envelope. The emerging asymmetry of the magnetic-field pressure may generate a natal-pulsar kick.

Affinity for natal environments by dispersers impacts reproduction and explains geographical structure of a highly mobile bird.

PubMed

Fletcher, Robert J; Robertson, Ellen P; Wilcox, Rebecca C; Reichert, Brian E; Austin, James D; Kitchens, Wiley M

2015-09-07

Understanding dispersal and habitat selection behaviours is central to many problems in ecology, evolution and conservation. One factor often hypothesized to influence habitat selection by dispersers is the natal environment experienced by juveniles. Nonetheless, evidence for the effect of natal environment on dispersing, wild vertebrates remains limited. Using 18 years of nesting and mark-resight data across an entire North American geographical range of an endangered bird, the snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis), we tested for natal effects on breeding-site selection by dispersers and its consequences for reproductive success and population structure. Dispersing snail kites were more likely to nest in wetlands of the same habitat type (lacustrine or palustrine) as their natal wetland, independent of dispersal distance, but this preference declined with age and if individuals were born during droughts. Importantly, dispersing kites that bred in natal-like habitats had lower nest success and productivity than kites that did not. These behaviours help explain recently described population connectivity and spatial structure across their geographical range and reveal that assortative breeding is occurring, where birds are more likely to breed with individuals born in the same wetland type as their natal habitat. Natal environments can thus have long-term and large-scale effects on populations in nature, even in highly mobile animals. © 2015 The Author(s).

Geomagnetic imprinting: A unifying hypothesis of long-distance natal homing in salmon and sea turtles.

PubMed

Lohmann, Kenneth J; Putman, Nathan F; Lohmann, Catherine M F

2008-12-09

Several marine animals, including salmon and sea turtles, disperse across vast expanses of ocean before returning as adults to their natal areas to reproduce. How animals accomplish such feats of natal homing has remained an enduring mystery. Salmon are known to use chemical cues to identify their home rivers at the end of spawning migrations. Such cues, however, do not extend far enough into the ocean to guide migratory movements that begin in open-sea locations hundreds or thousands of kilometers away. Similarly, how sea turtles reach their nesting areas from distant sites is unknown. However, both salmon and sea turtles detect the magnetic field of the Earth and use it as a directional cue. In addition, sea turtles derive positional information from two magnetic elements (inclination angle and intensity) that vary predictably across the globe and endow different geographic areas with unique magnetic signatures. Here we propose that salmon and sea turtles imprint on the magnetic field of their natal areas and later use this information to direct natal homing. This novel hypothesis provides the first plausible explanation for how marine animals can navigate to natal areas from distant oceanic locations. The hypothesis appears to be compatible with present and recent rates of field change (secular variation); one implication, however, is that unusually rapid changes in the Earth's field, as occasionally occur during geomagnetic polarity reversals, may affect ecological processes by disrupting natal homing, resulting in widespread colonization events and changes in population structure.

Geomagnetic imprinting: A unifying hypothesis of long-distance natal homing in salmon and sea turtles

PubMed Central

Lohmann, Kenneth J.; Putman, Nathan F.; Lohmann, Catherine M. F.

2008-01-01

Several marine animals, including salmon and sea turtles, disperse across vast expanses of ocean before returning as adults to their natal areas to reproduce. How animals accomplish such feats of natal homing has remained an enduring mystery. Salmon are known to use chemical cues to identify their home rivers at the end of spawning migrations. Such cues, however, do not extend far enough into the ocean to guide migratory movements that begin in open-sea locations hundreds or thousands of kilometers away. Similarly, how sea turtles reach their nesting areas from distant sites is unknown. However, both salmon and sea turtles detect the magnetic field of the Earth and use it as a directional cue. In addition, sea turtles derive positional information from two magnetic elements (inclination angle and intensity) that vary predictably across the globe and endow different geographic areas with unique magnetic signatures. Here we propose that salmon and sea turtles imprint on the magnetic field of their natal areas and later use this information to direct natal homing. This novel hypothesis provides the first plausible explanation for how marine animals can navigate to natal areas from distant oceanic locations. The hypothesis appears to be compatible with present and recent rates of field change (secular variation); one implication, however, is that unusually rapid changes in the Earth's field, as occasionally occur during geomagnetic polarity reversals, may affect ecological processes by disrupting natal homing, resulting in widespread colonization events and changes in population structure. PMID:19060188

Sedimentary architecture of a Plio-Pleistocene proto-back-arc basin: Wanganui Basin, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Proust, Jean-Noël; Lamarche, Geoffroy; Nodder, Scott; Kamp, Peter J. J.

2005-11-01

The sedimentary architecture of active margin basins, including back-arc basins, is known only from a few end-members that barely illustrate the natural diversity of such basins. Documenting more of these basins types is the key to refining our understanding of the tectonic evolution of continental margins. This paper documents the sedimentary architecture of an incipient back-arc basin 200 km behind the active Hikurangi subduction margin, North Island, New Zealand. The Wanganui Basin (WB) is a rapidly subsiding, Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary basin located at the southern termination of the extensional back-arc basin of the active Central Volcanic Region (TVZ). The WB is asymmetric with a steep, thrust-faulted, outer (arc-ward) margin and a gentle inner (craton-ward) margin. It contains a 4-km-thick succession of Plio-Pleistocene sediments, mostly lying offshore, composed of shelf platform sediments. It lacks the late molasse-like deposits derived from erosion of a subaerial volcanic arc and basement observed in classical back-arc basins. Detailed seismic stratigraphic interpretations from an extensive offshore seismic reflection data grid show that the sediment fill comprises two basin-scale mega-sequences: (1) a Pliocene (3.8 to 1.35 Ma), sub-parallel, regressive "pre-growth" sequence that overtops the uplifted craton-ward margin above the reverse Taranaki Fault, and (2) a Pleistocene (1.35 Ma to present), divergent, transgressive, "syn-growth" sequence that onlaps: (i) the craton-ward high to the west, and (ii) uplifted basement blocks associated with the high-angle reverse faults of the arc-ward margin to the east. Along strike, the sediments offlap first progressively southward (mega-sequence 1) and then southeastward (mega-sequence 2), with sediment transport funnelled between the craton- and arc-ward highs, towards the Hikurangi Trough through the Cook Strait. The change in offlap direction corresponds to the onset of arc-ward thrust faulting and the rise of

Strontium isotopes delineate fine-scale natal origins and migration histories of Pacific salmon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brennan, Sean R.; Zimmerman, Christian E.; Fernandez, Diego P.; Cerling, Thure E.; McPhee, Megan V.; Wooller, Matthew J.

2015-01-01

Highly migratory organisms present major challenges to conservation efforts. This is especially true for exploited anadromous fish species, which exhibit long-range dispersals from natal sites, complex population structures, and extensive mixing of distinct populations during exploitation. By tracing the migratory histories of individual Chinook salmon caught in fisheries using strontium isotopes, we determined the relative production of natal habitats at fine spatial scales and different life histories. Although strontium isotopes have been widely used in provenance research, we present a new robust framework to simultaneously assess natal sources and migrations of individuals within fishery harvests through time. Our results pave the way for investigating how fine-scale habitat production and life histories of salmon respond to perturbations—providing crucial insights for conservation.

Nesting fidelity and molecular evidence for natal homing in the freshwater turtle, Graptemys kohnii

PubMed Central

Freedberg, Steven; Ewert, Michael A; Ridenhour, Benjamin J; Neiman, Maurine; Nelson, Craig E

2005-01-01

Numerous studies of sea turtle nesting ecology have revealed that females exhibit natal homing, whereby they imprint on the nesting area from which they hatch and subsequently return there to nest as adults. Because freshwater turtles comprise the majority of reptiles known to display environmental sex determination (ESD), the study of natal homing in this group may shed light on recent evolutionary models of sex allocation that are predicated on natal homing in reptiles with ESD. We examined natal homing in Graptemys kohnii, a freshwater turtle with ESD, using mitochondrial sequencing, microsatellite genotyping and mark and recapture of 290 nesting females. Females showed high fidelity to nesting areas, even after being transplanted several kilometres away. A Mantel test revealed significant genetic isolation by distance with respect to nesting locations (r=0.147; p<0.05), suggesting that related females nest in close proximity to one another. The patterns of fidelity and genotype distributions are consistent with homing at a scale that may affect population sex ratios. PMID:16006324

Shelf architectures of an isolated Late Cretaceous carbonate platform margin, Galala Mountains (Eastern Desert, Egypt)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scheibner, C.; Marzouk, A. M.; Kuss, J.

2001-12-01

An asymmetrical carbonate platform margin to basin transect has been investigated in the Upper Campanian-Maastrichtian succession of the Galala Mountains, northern Egypt. Identification of systems tracts and their lateral correlation was possible in slope sections only, whereas the monotonous chalk-marl alternations of the basinal sections could not be subdivided with respect to sequence stratigraphic terminology. The platform asymmetry is expressed by varying large-scale depositional architectures exhibiting a rimmed platform with a sigmoidal slope curvature in south-easterly dip-sections and a ramp with a linear slope curvature in south-westerly dip-sections. The rimmed platform is subdivided into a gentle upper slope and a steep lower slope. The platform formed as a result of the initial topography that was controlled by the tectonic uplift of the Northern Galala/Wadi Araba Syrian Arc structure. The calculated angles of the steep lower slope of the rimmed part range from 5 to 8°, whereas the ramp part has an angle of less than 0.1°.

Volume Based Curvature Attributes Illuminate Stress Effects in Contiguous Fault Blocks, Central Basin Platform, West Texas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blumentritt, C. H.; Marfurt, K. J.

2005-05-01

We compute curvatures for 3-D seismic volumes covering 200+ mi2 of the Central Basin Platform in West Texas and find that these attributes illumination lineations not seen on other displays of the seismic data. We analyze the preferred orientations of these lineations defined by well imaged faults and fault zones and find that the patterns vary according to the nature of the faults bounding the blocks, mostly strike-slip, high angle reverse, or oblique slip. We perform the analysis in the pre-Mississippian section which is decoupled from the overburden by a Permian age unconformity. Our technique differs from that of previous workers in that we compute curvatures on each sample of a seismic volume using a moving subvolume rather than along surfaces interpreted from the data. In this way, we minimize high frequency variations in the results that arise from picking errors in the interpretation or noise in the data. We are able to extract and display values of curvature along time or depth slices, along horizon slices, and along poorly imaged horizons.

Natal Tooth Associated with Fibrous Hyperplasia – A Rare Case Report

PubMed Central

Munjal, Deepti; Dhingra, Renuka; Malik, Narender Singh; Sidhu, Gagandeep Kaur

2015-01-01

Eruption of tooth at about 6 months of age is a significant stage in child’s life and is an emotional event for parents. However, a tooth present in the oral cavity of newborn can lead to a lot of delusions. Natal and neonatal teeth are of utmost importance not only for a dentist but also for a paediatrician due to parent’s anxiety, folklore superstitions and numerous associated complications with it. This paper reports a rare case, wherein a natal tooth has led to the development of a reactive fibrous hyperplasia in an 8-week-old infant. PMID:26023656

Petroleum geology of the major producing basins of Algeria

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

Attar, A.; Chaouch, A.

1988-08-01

The South Atlas flexure divides Algeria into two contrasting geologic provinces: (1) the Saharan Atlas and offshore region in the north, both of which are part of the Mediterranean basin, and (2) the Saharan platform on the south, part of the North African craton. The limits of the various sedimentary basins on the Saharan platform are tied to late Paleozoic (Hercynian) crustal reactivation. Comparable structurally controlled basins in northern Algeria are the products of Mesozoic-Recent tectonism. The spatial and temporal distribution of hydrocarbons in the Algerian Sahara can be understood in terms of the geologic evolution of the region. Analysismore » of areas of proven hydrocarbon reserves permits the following generalizations. (1) There is a concentration of oil and gas fields northeast of a northwest-southeast-trending line connecting Hassi R'Mel with In Amenas. Production is also established in the Sbaa basin and in northern Algeria, where recent discoveries have been made in, respectively, upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic reservoirs. (2) Hydrocarbon are present throughout the entire sedimentary column, but major production currently is restricted to the lower Paleozoic (Cambrian-Ordovician and Lower Devonian) and Triassic reservoirs.« less

Petroleum potential of the Reggane Basin, Algeria

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

Boudjema, A.; Hamel, M.; Mohamedi, A.

1990-05-01

The intracratonic Reggane basin is located on the Saharan platform, southwest of Algeria. The basin covers an area of approximately 140,000 km{sup 2}, extending between the Eglab shield in the south and the Ougarta ranges in the north. Although exploration started in the early 1950s, only a few wells were drilled in this basin. Gas was discovered with a number of oil shows. The sedimentary fill, mainly Paleozoic shales and sandstones, has a thickness exceeding 5,000 m in the central part of the basin. The reservoirs are Cambrian-Ordovician, Siegenian, Emsian, Tournaisian, and Visean sandstones with prospective petrophysical characteristics. Silurian Uppermore » Devonian and, to a lesser extent Carboniferous shales are the main source rocks. An integrated study was done to assess the hydrocarbon potential of this basin. Tectonic evolution source rocks and reservoirs distribution maturation analyses followed by kinetic modeling, and hydrogeological conditions were studied. Results indicate that gas accumulations could be expected in the central and deeper part of the basin, and oil reservoirs could be discovered on the basin edge.« less

Geodynamics and synchronous filling of rift-type basin evolved through compression tectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papdimitriou, Nikolas; Nader, Fadi; Gorini, Christian; Deschamps, Remy

2016-04-01

The Levant Basin falls in the category of frontier basins, and is bounded by the Eratosthenes seamount to the West, the Nile cone delta to the south, Cyprus to the north and Lebanon to the east. The Levant Basin was initially a rift type basin, which is located at a major plate boundary since the Late Triassic. It evolved later on through compression tectonics. The post-rift phase prevailed since the Late Jurassic and is expressed by the gradual initiation of a passive margin. A thick infill, mostly of deep water sediments (about 12 km thick) is accounted for the Levant Basin. The post-rift sediments are pinching-out along the slope of the well preserved (and imaged) eastern margin of the Eratosthenes seamount, which is essentially made up of Mesozoic platform carbonates (about 5 km). Thus, the Eratosthenes carbonate platform was adjacent to the deep marine facies of the Levant Basin until the late Cretaceous/Cenozoic. At that time, both the Eratosthenes seamount and the Levant Basin became part of a foreland basin along the Cyprus Arc zone as a result of the collision of the African and Eurasian plates. The objective of this contribution is to investigate the timing and the mechanisms of flexural subsidence as well as the sedimentary filling of Levant Basin (through a source-to-sink approach) in a well-deformed tectonic region. The interpretation of twenty-four 2D seismic profiles coupled with the available ODP wells, offshore Cyprus, aims to define the primary reflectors and seismic packages. Then, concepts of seismic stratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy are applied to achieve a better understanding of the tectonostratigraphy and sedimentary architecture of the Eratosthenes seamount (as an isolated carbonate platform) and its surroundings. Recent offshore discoveries south of the Eratosthenes seamount (e.g., Zhor) have confirmed the presence of gas accumulations exceeding 30Tcf in subsalt Lower Miocene carbonate buildups, making out the understanding of the

Riga-Fede Disease Associated with Natal Teeth: Two Different Approaches in the Same Case.

PubMed

Volpato, Luiz Evaristo Ricci; Simões, Cintia Aparecida Damo; Simões, Flávio; Nespolo, Priscila Alves; Borges, Álvaro Henrique

2015-01-01

Natal teeth are those present in the oral cavity at the child's birth. These teeth can cause ulcers on the ventral surface of the tongue, lip, and the mother's breast characterizing the Riga-Fede Disease. The treatment depends on the tooth's mobility and the risk of aspiration or swallowing; whether it is supernumerary or regular primary teeth; whether it is causing interference in breastfeeding; breast and oral soft tissue injuries; and the general state of child's health. A 1-month-old female infant was diagnosed with two natal teeth and an ulcerated lesion on the ventral surface of the tongue, leading to the clinical diagnosis of Riga-Fede Disease. The treatment performed consisted of the maintenance of the natal tooth that showed no increased mobility, adding a small increment of glass ionomer cement to its incisal edge, and orientation for hygiene with saline solution. Due to the increased mobility of the other natal tooth, surgical removal was performed. There was regular monitoring of the patient and complete wound healing was observed after 15 days. The proposed treatment was successful and the patient is still in follow-up without recurrence of the lesion after one year.

Within- and between-year dispersal of American Avocets among multiple western Great Basin wetlands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Plissner, Jonathan H.; Haig, Susan M.; Oring, L.W.

1999-01-01

Connectivity of discrete habitat patches may be described in terms of the movements of individual organisms among such patches. To examine connectivity of widely dispersed alkali lake systems, we recorded post-breeding and subsequent breeding locations of color-banded American Avocets (Recurvirostra americana) in the western U.S. Great Basin, from 1995-1997. Among individuals observed during the post-breeding/premigratory season, over half of the 188 breeding adults were observed at lakes other than their breeding locations, whereas 70% of 125 post-fledged young were observed only at their natal lake systems. Of 46 breeding adults observed in consecutive years, only eight (17%) dispersed between different lake systems. Only 8% of chicks were observed after their first year, and only 1.3% returned to the natal area in subsequent breeding seasons. Adult and recently fledged birds from the southernmost breeding site were regularly observed in post-breeding aggregations at lakes several hundred kilometers to the north, suggesting seasonal differences in habitat quality at the lake systems studied. These results indicate the importance of maintaining habitat for post-breeding movements.

Web-Based Water Accounting Scenario Platform to Address Uncertainties in Water Resources Management in the Mekong : A Case Study in Ca River Basin, Vietnam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Apirumanekul, C.; Purkey, D. R.; Pudashine, J.; Seifollahi-Aghmiuni, S.; Wang, D.; Ate, P.; Meechaiya, C.

2017-12-01

Rapid economic development in the Mekong Region is placing pressure on environmental resources. Uncertain changes in land-use, increasing urbanization, infrastructure development, migration patterns and climate risks s combined with scarce water resources are increasing water demand in various sectors. More appropriate policies, strategies and planning for sustainable water resource management are urgently needed. Over the last five years, Vietnam has experienced more frequent and intense droughts affecting agricultural and domestic water use during the dry season. The Ca River Basin is the third largest river basin in Vietnam with 35% of its area located in Lao PDR. The delta landscape comprises natural vegetation, forest, paddy fields, farming and urban areas. The Ca River Basin is experiencing ongoing water scarcity that impacts on crop production, farming livelihoods and household water consumption. Water scarcity is exacerbated by uncertainties in policy changes (e.g. changes in land-use, crop types), basin development (e.g. reservoir construction, urban expansion), and climate change (e.g. changes in rainfall patterns and onset of monsoon). The Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model, with inputs from satellite-based information and institutional data, is used to estimate water supply, water use and water allocation in various sectors (e.g. household, crops, irrigation and flood control) under a wide range of plausible future scenarios in the Ca River Basin. Web-Based Water Allocation Scenario Platform is an online implementation of WEAP model structured in terms of a gaming experience. The online game, as an educational tool, helps key agencies relevant to water resources management understand and explore the complexity of integrated system of river basin under a wide range of scenarios. Performance of the different water resources strategies in Ca River Basin (e.g. change of dam operation to address needs in various sectors, construction of dams, changes

Ozone density measurements in the troposphere and stratosphere of Natal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirchhoff, V. W. J. H.; Motta, A. G.

1983-01-01

Ozone densitities were measured in the troposphere and stratosphere of Natal using ECC sondes launches on balloons. The data analyzed so far show tropospheric densities and total ozone contents larger than expected.

Petroleum geology and total petroleum systems of the Widyan Basin and Interior Platform of Saudi Arabia and Iraq

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fox, James E.; Ahlbrandt, Thomas S.

2002-01-01

The Widyan Basin-Interior Platform Province (2023) ranks 17th in the world, exclusive of the United States, with 62.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent of total petroleum endowment (cumulative production plus remaining petroleum plus estimated mean undiscovered volumes). Mean estimates of undiscovered petroleum for the province, which includes both Paleozoic and Jurassic petroleum systems as well as portions of three additional total petroleum systems from adjacent provinces, are 21.22 billion barrels of oil, 94.75 trillion cubic feet of gas (15.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent), and 6.85 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. The Paleozoic total petroleum system is dominantly gas prone, whereas the volumetrically larger Jurassic total petroleum system is oil prone - resulting in the characterization of the province as an oil province. The discovery maturity for the province is a relatively low 31 percent, meaning that much of the province petroleum potential lies in the future.

Natal dispersal patterns are not associated with inbreeding avoidance in the Seychelles warbler.

PubMed

Eikenaar, C; Komdeur, J; Richardson, D S

2008-07-01

In this study, we test whether patterns of territory inheritance, social mate choice and female-biased natal dispersal act as inbreeding avoidance mechanisms in the cooperatively breeding Seychelles warbler. Our results show that Seychelles warblers do not reduce the likelihood of inbreeding by avoiding related individuals as mates. The occurrence of natural and experimentally induced territory inheritance did not depend on whether the remaining breeder was a parent of the potential inheritor or an unrelated breeder. Furthermore, dispersing individuals were no less related to their eventual mates than expected given the pool of candidates they could mate with. The female bias in natal dispersal distance observed in the Seychelles warbler does not facilitate inbreeding avoidance because, contrary to our prediction, there was no sex difference in the clustering of related opposite sex breeders around the natal territories of dispersers. As a result, the chance of females mating with relatives was not reduced by their greater dispersal distance compared with that of males.

Effects of long-term pre- and post-natal exposure to 2.45 GHz wireless devices on developing male rat kidney.

PubMed

Kuybulu, Ayça Esra; Öktem, Faruk; Çiriş, İbrahim Metin; Sutcu, Recep; Örmeci, Ahmet Rıfat; Çömlekçi, Selçuk; Uz, Efkan

2016-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate oxidative stress and apoptosis in kidney tissues of male Wistar rats that pre- and postnatally exposed to wireless electromagnetic field (EMF) with an internet frequency of 2.45 GHz for a long time. The study was conducted in three groups of rats which were pre-natal, post-natal. and sham exposed groups. Oxidative stress markers and histological evaluation of kidney tissues were studied. Renal tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) and total oxidant (TOS) levels of pre-natal group were high and total antioxidant (TAS) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels were low. Spot urine NAG/creatinine ratio was significantly higher in pre- and post-natal groups (p < 0.001). Tubular injury was detected in most of the specimens in post-natal groups. Immunohistochemical analysis showed low-intensity staining with Bax in cortex, high-intensity staining with Bcl-2 in cortical and medullar areas of pre-natal group (p values, 0.000, 0.002, 0.000, respectively) when compared with sham group. Bcl2/Bax staining intensity ratios of medullar and cortical area was higher in pre-natal group than sham group (p = 0.018, p = 0.011). Based on this study, it is thought that chronic pre- and post-natal period exposure to wireless internet frequency of EMF may cause chronic kidney damages; staying away from EMF source in especially pregnancy and early childhood period may reduce negative effects of exposure on kidney.

Equity and Excellence: The Emergence, Consolidation and Internalization of Education Development at the University of Natal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Odendaal, Marie; Deacon, Roger

2009-01-01

Education development in South Africa emerged during the transition from apartheid to democracy, in a context especially marked by political and financial pressures. This case study of the University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal) demonstrates how a strategy combining equity with excellence aimed to facilitate increased access to…

Machado de Assis's "Dom Casmurro" and "Soneto De Natal": The Calculated Mediocrity of a Mute Prophet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Christopher T.

2016-01-01

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis's poem "Soneto de Natal" and the chapter "Um soneto" from his novel "Dom Casmurro" exhibit striking points of intersection that describe the same process: the creation of a sonnet. In the novel, Bentinho abandons his attempt with only a first and last line. "Soneto de Natal"…

Sedimentary record of subsidence pulse at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary interval in the Slovenian Basin (eastern Southern Alps)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rožič, Boštjan; Jurkovšek, Tea Kolar; Rožič, Petra Žvab; Gale, Luka

2017-08-01

In the Alpine Realm the Early Jurassic is characterized by the disintegration and partial drowning of vast platform areas. In the eastern part of the Southern Alps (present-day NW Slovenia), the Julian Carbonate Platform and the adjacent, E-W extending Slovenian Basin underwent partial disintegration, drowning and deepening from the Pliensbachian on, whereas only nominal environmental changes developed on the large Dinaric (Friuli, Adriatic) Carbonate Platform to the south (structurally part of the Dinarides). These events, however, were preceded by an earlier - and as yet undocumented extensional event - that took place near the Triassic/Jurassic boundary. This paper provides evidence of an accelerated subsidence from four selected areas within the Slovenian Basin, which show a trend of eastwardly-decreasing deformation. In the westernmost (Mrzli vrh) section - the Upper Triassic platform-margin - massive dolomite is overlain by the earliest Jurassic toe-of-slope carbonate resediments and further, by basin-plain micritic limestone. Further east (Perbla and Liščak sections) the Triassic-Jurassic transition interval is marked by an increase in resedimented carbonates. We relate this to the increasing inclination and segmentation of the slope and adjacent basin floor. The easternmost (Mt. Porezen) area shows a rather monotonous, latest Triassic-Early Jurassic basinal sedimentation. However, changes in the thickness of the Hettangian-Pliensbachian Krikov Formation point to a tilting of tectonic blocks within the basin area. Lateral facies changes at the base of the formation indicate that the tilting occurred at and/or shortly after the Triassic/Jurassic boundary

Educational Leadership with an Ethics of Plurality and Natality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Iris

2015-01-01

This paper aims to impregnate the concept of educational leadership with new meanings and new possibilities. I draw on Hannah Arendt's ("The human condition." University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1958/1998) political thought, particularly, her concepts of "plurality" and "natality" alongside the distinction she made…

Association of marital status and years of schooling with perinatal outcome: the influence of pre-natal care as an intermediate variable.

PubMed

Faundes, A; Hardy, E; Diaz, J; Pinotti, J

1982-01-01

The association between mother's education and perinatal mortality, and between marital status and proportion of preterm deliveries was analyzed using data from 20,000 women and newborns delivered at the Hospital Barros Luco-Trudeau in Santiago, Chile. A highly significant correlation was found, but after being controlled by pre-natal care, that association disappeared for those mothers with good pre-natal care, remaining only as a part of the association for women who did not attend the pre-natal clinics or did not follow minimal standards of care. The definition used for "good pre-natal care" was much less demanding than WHO recommendation. We required a minimum of only 5 visits, starting before the 5th month of the pregnancy and with blood pressure and body weight registered at each visit. Pre-natal assistance was provided mostly by registered midwives, with occasional consultation by physicians. The efficiency of a low cost health activity, such as pre-natal care, in improving infant health is held in contrast with the inefficiency of high cost technology when applied to developing countries' health problems.

Persistent lingual ulceration (Riga-Fede disease) in an infant with Down syndrome and natal teeth: a case report.

PubMed

Senanayake, Manouri P; Karunaratne, Irantha

2014-08-22

Riga-Fede disease is a rare pediatric condition in which chronic lingual ulceration results from repetitive trauma. Neonatal teeth or underlying neuro-developmental disorders which include Down syndrome are described as causative factors, but to the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of both Down syndrome and natal teeth coexisting. The need for early extraction in the presence of two risk factors is highlighted in this case report. An 18-month-old Sinhalese male presented with an ulcerating lingual mass on the ventral surface of the tongue. The lesion had progressed over the past six months. He also had clinically diagnosed Down syndrome.The ulcer was non-tender, indurated, and had elevated margins. It was not bleeding and two natal teeth in lower central dentition were seen in apposition with the lesion. There was no regional lymphadenopathy but the ulcer was causing concerns as it mimicked a malignant lesion. A clinical diagnosis of Riga-Fede disease caused by raking movements of the tongue against anterior natal teeth by a child who was developmentally delayed and prone to suck on his tongue was made. The mother was reassured and the natal teeth were extracted. Early extraction of natal teeth is recommended only if there is a risk of aspiration or interference with breast feeding. Although Down syndrome is among the neuro-developmental conditions that lead to this lesion, its occurrence is usually at an older age. The presence of natal teeth together with Down syndrome caused the lesion to occur in infancy. Awareness of the benign nature of this rare condition by pediatricians and dental practitioners is important as it will allay anxiety and avoid unnecessary biopsy. This case also highlights the impact of two risk factors and needs consideration as an added indication for the early extraction of natal teeth.

A Case Report of Gender Dysphoria with Morbid Jealousy in a Natal Female

PubMed Central

Rao, G. Prasad; Aparna, B.

2017-01-01

Gender dysphoria is a new entity introduced in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder V to address the distress of the previously labeled gender identity disorder patients. It is less commonly seen in natal females, often starting in their childhood. Adults and adolescent natal females with early-onset gender dysphoria are almost always gynephilic. This case report is presented to discuss the interesting evolution of the symptoms in gender dysphoria case with difficulties in adjusting to the assigned sexual role, relationship problems, morbid jealousy, and severe depressive features with suicidal ideations. PMID:29284816

The Middle Jurassic basinal deposits of the Surmeh Formation in the Central Zagros Mountains, southwest Iran: Facies, sequence stratigraphy, and controls

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lasemi, Y.; Jalilian, A.H.

2010-01-01

The lower part of the Lower to Upper Jurassic Surmeh Formation consists of a succession of shallow marine carbonates (Toarcian-Aalenian) overlain by a deep marine basinal succession (Aalenian-Bajocian) that grades upward to Middle to Upper Jurassic platform carbonates. The termination of shallow marine carbonate deposition of the lower part of the Surmeh Formation and the establishment of deep marine sedimentation indicate a change in the style of sedimentation in the Neotethys passive margin of southwest Iran during the Middle Jurassic. To evaluate the reasons for this change and to assess the basin configuration during the Middle Jurassic, this study focuses on facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy of the basinal deposits (pelagic and calciturbidite facies) of the Surmeh Formation, referred here as 'lower shaley unit' in the Central Zagros region. The upper Aalenian-Bajocian 'lower shaley unit' overlies, with an abrupt contact, the Toarcian-lower Aalenian platform carbonates. It consists of pelagic (calcareous shale and limestone) and calciturbidite facies grading to upper Bajocian-Bathonian platform carbonates. Calciturbidite deposits in the 'lower shaley unit' consist of various graded grainstone to lime mudstone facies containing mixed deep marine fauna and platform-derived material. These facies include quartz-bearing lithoclast/intraclast grainstone to lime mudstone, bioclast/ooid/peloid intraclast grainstone, ooid grainstone to packstone, and lime wackestone to mudstone. The calciturbidite layers are erosive-based and commonly exhibit graded bedding, incomplete Bouma turbidite sequence, flute casts, and load casts. They consist chiefly of platform-derived materials including ooids, intraclasts/lithoclasts, peloids, echinoderms, brachiopods, bivalves, and open-ocean biota, such as planktonic bivalves, crinoids, coccoliths, foraminifers, and sponge spicules. The 'lower shaley unit' constitutes the late transgressive and the main part of the highstand

An intramontane pull-apart basin in tectonic escape deformation: Elbistan Basin, Eastern Taurides, Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yusufoğlu, H.

2013-04-01

The Elbistan Basin in the east-Central Anatolia is an intramontane structural depression in the interior part of the Anatolide-Tauride Platform. The Neogene fill in and around Elbistan Basin develops above the Upper Devonian to lower Tertiary basement and comprises two units separated by an angular unconformity: (1) intensely folded and faulted Miocene shallow marine to terrestrial and lacustrine sediments and (2) nearly flat-lying lignite-bearing lacustrine (lower unit) and fluvial (upper unit) deposits of Plio-Quaternary Ahmetçik Formation. The former is composed of Lower-Middle Miocene Salyan, Middle-upper Middle Miocene Gövdelidağ and Upper Miocene Karamağara formations whereas the latter one is the infill of the basin itself in the present configuration of the Elbistan Basin. The basin is bound by normal faults with a minor strike-slip component. It commenced as an intramontane pull-apart basin and developed as a natural response to Early Pliocene tectonic escape-related strike-slip faulting subsequent to post-collisional intracontinental compressional tectonics during which Miocene sediments were intensely deformed. The Early Pliocene time therefore marks a dramatic changeover in tectonic regime and is interpreted as the beginning of the ongoing last tectonic evolution and deformation style in the region unlike to previous views that it commenced before that time. Consequently, the Elbistan Basin is a unique structural depression that equates the extensional strike-slip regime in east-Central Anatolia throughout the context of the neotectonical framework of Turkey across progressive collision of Arabia with Eurasia. Its Pliocene and younger history differs from and contrasts with that of the surrounding pre-Pliocene basins such as Karamağara Basin, on which it has been structurally superimposed.

Neutron Star Natal Kick and Jets in Core Collapse Supernovae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bear, Ealeal; Soker, Noam

2018-03-01

We measure the angle between the neutron star (NS) natal kick direction and the inferred direction of jets according to the morphology of 12 core collapse supernova remnants (SNR), and find that the distribution is almost random, but missing small angles. The 12 SNRs are those for which we could both identify morphological features that we can attribute to jets and for which the direction of the NS natal kick is given in the literature. Unlike some claims for spin-kick alignment, here we rule out jet-kick alignment. We discuss the cumulative distribution function of the jet-kick angles under the assumption that dense clumps that are ejected by the explosion accelerate the NS by the gravitational attraction, and suggest that the jet feedback explosion mechanism might in principle account for the distribution of jet-kick angles.

Estimating tectonic history through basin simulation-enhanced seismic inversion: Geoinformatics for sedimentary basins

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tandon, K.; Tuncay, K.; Hubbard, K.; Comer, J.; Ortoleva, P.

2004-01-01

A data assimilation approach is demonstrated whereby seismic inversion is both automated and enhanced using a comprehensive numerical sedimentary basin simulator to study the physics and chemistry of sedimentary basin processes in response to geothermal gradient in much greater detail than previously attempted. The approach not only reduces costs by integrating the basin analysis and seismic inversion activities to understand the sedimentary basin evolution with respect to geodynamic parameters-but the technique also has the potential for serving as a geoinfomatics platform for understanding various physical and chemical processes operating at different scales within a sedimentary basin. Tectonic history has a first-order effect on the physical and chemical processes that govern the evolution of sedimentary basins. We demonstrate how such tectonic parameters may be estimated by minimizing the difference between observed seismic reflection data and synthetic ones constructed from the output of a reaction, transport, mechanical (RTM) basin model. We demonstrate the method by reconstructing the geothermal gradient. As thermal history strongly affects the rate of RTM processes operating in a sedimentary basin, variations in geothermal gradient history alter the present-day fluid pressure, effective stress, porosity, fracture statistics and hydrocarbon distribution. All these properties, in turn, affect the mechanical wave velocity and sediment density profiles for a sedimentary basin. The present-day state of the sedimentary basin is imaged by reflection seismology data to a high degree of resolution, but it does not give any indication of the processes that contributed to the evolution of the basin or causes for heterogeneities within the basin that are being imaged. Using texture and fluid properties predicted by our Basin RTM simulator, we generate synthetic seismograms. Linear correlation using power spectra as an error measure and an efficient quadratic

NATAL-74; Towards a Common Programming Language for CAL.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brahan, J. W.; Colpitts, B. A.

NATAL-74 is a programing language designed for Canadian computer aided learning (CAL) programs. The language has two fundamental elements: the UNIT provides the interface between the student and the subject matter, and the PROCEDURE element embodies teaching strategy. Desirable features of several programing languages have been adapted to cope…

Calculating summary statistics for population chemical biomonitoring in women of childbearing age with adjustment for age-specific natality.

PubMed

Axelrad, Daniel A; Cohen, Jonathan

2011-01-01

The effects of chemical exposures during pregnancy on children's health have been an increasing focus of environmental health research in recent years, leading to greater interest in biomonitoring of chemicals in women of childbearing age in the general population. Measurements of mercury in blood from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey are frequently reported for "women of childbearing age," defined to be of ages 16-49 years. The intent is to represent prenatal chemical exposure, but blood mercury levels increase with age. Furthermore, women of different ages have different probabilities of giving birth. We evaluated options to address potential bias in biomonitoring summary statistics for women of childbearing age by accounting for age-specific probabilities of giving birth. We calculated median and 95th percentile levels of mercury, PCBs, and cotinine using these approaches: option 1: women aged 16-49 years without natality adjustment; option 2: women aged 16-39 years without natality adjustment; option 3: women aged 16-49 years, adjusted for natality by age; option 4: women aged 16-49 years, adjusted for natality by age and race/ethnicity. Among the three chemicals examined, the choice of option has the greatest impact on estimated levels of serum PCBs, which are strongly associated with age. Serum cotinine levels among Black non-Hispanic women of childbearing age are understated when age-specific natality is not considered. For characterizing in utero exposures, adjustment using age-specific natality provides a substantial improvement in estimation of biomonitoring summary statistics. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stratigraphy of the Sarkisla area, Sivas basin, eastern central Anatolia

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

Bilgic, T.; Sumengen, M.; Terlemez, I.

1988-08-01

The stratigraphy of the Sarkisla area, southeastern Central Anatolian Massif, is characterized by a succession of rock units ranging from late Paleocene to Pliocene in age. The Caldag group mostly consists of deep-water units and forms the base of the Tertiary rocks. However, its relation to the basement rocks is not observed in the area. This group is represented by late Paleocene-Lutetian-age turbiditic pyroclastics and limestones, andesitic lavas and pyroclastics topped with reefal limestones, and turbiditic limestones and pyroclastics alternating with limestone blocks. During Lutetian to early Priabonian time, shallow marine clastics were deposited along the southern margin of themore » basin, while continental clastics and platform limestones accumulated along the northern margin. Late Priabonian to early Oligocene time is represented by gypsiferous deposits followed by late Oligocene-age fluvial clastics. The gypsiferous deposits conformably overlie the shallow marine formations but rest on the Caldag group unconformably. During early to middle Miocene time, alternating lacustrine limestones, gypsum, and basalts formed on the fluvial clastics; to the north, basalts formed on the platform limestones. The uppermost sequence of the basin, composed of Tortonian-early Pliocene-age fluvial clastics, lacustrine limestones, and fan deposits, unconformably overlies the older formations. The stratigraphy of the study area is similar to the Ulukisla basin, southwestern Central Anatolian Massif. Therefore, this basin can be considered to be the prolongation of the Ulukisla basin offset by the Ecemis fault.« less

The effect of phenotypic traits and external cues on natal dispersal movements.

PubMed

Delgado, María del Mar; Penteriani, Vincenzo; Revilla, Eloy; Nams, Vilis O

2010-05-01

1. Natal dispersal has the potential to affect most ecological and evolutionary processes. However, despite its importance, this complex ecological process still represents a significant gap in our understanding of animal ecology due to both the lack of empirical data and the intrinsic complexity of dispersal dynamics. 2. By studying natal dispersal of 74 radiotagged juvenile eagle owls Bubo bubo (Linnaeus), in both the wandering and the settlement phases, we empirically addressed the complex interactions by which individual phenotypic traits and external cues jointly shape individual heterogeneity through the different phases of dispersal, both at nightly and weekly temporal scales. 3. Owls in poorer physical conditions travelled shorter total distances during the wandering phase, describing straighter paths and moving slower, especially when crossing heterogeneous habitats. In general, the owls in worse condition started dispersal later and took longer times to find further settlement areas. Net distances were also sex biased, with females settling at further distances. Dispersing individuals did not seem to explore wandering and settlement areas by using a search image of their natal surroundings. Eagle owls showed a heterogeneous pattern of patch occupancy, where few patches were highly visited by different owls whereas the majority were visited by just one individual. During dispersal, the routes followed by owls were an intermediate solution between optimized and randomized ones. Finally, dispersal direction had a marked directionality, largely influenced by dominant winds. These results suggest an asymmetric and anisotropic dispersal pattern, where not only the number of patches but also their functions can affect population viability. 4. The combination of the information coming from the relationships among a large set of factors acting and integrating at different spatial and temporal scales, under the perspective of heterogeneous life histories, are a

Coping with heat: function of the natal coat of cape fur seal (Arctocephalus Pusillus Pusillus) pups in maintaining core body temperature.

PubMed

Erdsack, Nicola; Dehnhardt, Guido; Hanke, Wolf

2013-01-01

Cape fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus) pups spend the first weeks of life exclusively or mainly ashore. They are exposed to intense solar radiation and high temperatures for long time periods, which results in temperatures up to at least 80°C on their black natal coat. To test the hypothesis that the natal coat has a crucial function in coping with these extreme conditions, we investigated the insulating properties of the natal coat in six captive newborn Cape fur seals during the first 50 days after birth. The natal fur differs from the adult fur not only in colour, but also in density, structure, and water repellence. We measured temperature on the fur surface and within the fur, as well as skin and rectal temperature under varying environmental conditions, comparable to the species' habitat. Experiments were designed to not influence the spontaneous behaviour of the pups. Rectal temperature was constant as long as the pups stayed dry, even during long-lasting intense solar radiation for up to 3 h. Skin temperature remained close to rectal temperature as long as the fur was dry, while with wet fur, skin temperature was significantly reduced as well. Our results show that the natal coat provides an effective insulation against overheating. The severely reduced insulation of wet natal fur against cold supports the assumption that the natal fur is an adaptation to the pups' terrestrial phase of life.

Coping with Heat: Function of The Natal Coat of Cape Fur Seal (Arctocephalus Pusillus Pusillus) Pups in Maintaining Core Body Temperature

PubMed Central

Erdsack, Nicola; Dehnhardt, Guido; Hanke, Wolf

2013-01-01

Cape fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus) pups spend the first weeks of life exclusively or mainly ashore. They are exposed to intense solar radiation and high temperatures for long time periods, which results in temperatures up to at least 80°C on their black natal coat. To test the hypothesis that the natal coat has a crucial function in coping with these extreme conditions, we investigated the insulating properties of the natal coat in six captive newborn Cape fur seals during the first 50 days after birth. The natal fur differs from the adult fur not only in colour, but also in density, structure, and water repellence. We measured temperature on the fur surface and within the fur, as well as skin and rectal temperature under varying environmental conditions, comparable to the species' habitat. Experiments were designed to not influence the spontaneous behaviour of the pups. Rectal temperature was constant as long as the pups stayed dry, even during long-lasting intense solar radiation for up to 3 h. Skin temperature remained close to rectal temperature as long as the fur was dry, while with wet fur, skin temperature was significantly reduced as well. Our results show that the natal coat provides an effective insulation against overheating. The severely reduced insulation of wet natal fur against cold supports the assumption that the natal fur is an adaptation to the pups' terrestrial phase of life. PMID:23951287

Safety and Security in Schools in KwaZulu-Natal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, C. J.; Gina, J. M.; Coetzee, I. E. M.

2015-01-01

This article is based on research conducted on the topic: "Safety and security in schools: The case of KwaZulu-Natal." For the research project a purposive sample consisting of secondary school learners, teachers, school governing body chairpersons and principals were selected from the rural and township schools used in this study to…

Event sedimentation in low-latitude deep-water carbonate basins, Anegada passage, northeast Caribbean

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chaytor, Jason D.; ten Brink, Uri S.

2015-01-01

The Virgin Islands and Whiting basins in the Northeast Caribbean are deep, structurally controlled depocentres partially bound by shallow-water carbonate platforms. Closed basins such as these are thought to document earthquake and hurricane events through the accumulation of event layers such as debris flow and turbidity current deposits and the internal deformation of deposited material. Event layers in the Virgin Islands and Whiting basins are predominantly thin and discontinuous, containing varying amounts of reef- and slope-derived material. Three turbidites/sandy intervals in the upper 2 m of sediment in the eastern Virgin Islands Basin were deposited between ca. 2000 and 13 600 years ago, but do not extend across the basin. In the central and western Virgin Islands Basin, a structureless clay-rich interval is interpreted to be a unifite. Within the Whiting Basin, several discontinuous turbidites and other sand-rich intervals are primarily deposited in base of slope fans. The youngest of these turbidites is ca. 2600 years old. Sediment accumulation in these basins is low (−1) for basin adjacent to carbonate platform, possibly due to limited sediment input during highstand sea-level conditions, sediment trapping and/or cohesive basin walls. We find no evidence of recent sediment transport (turbidites or debris flows) or sediment deformation that can be attributed to the ca. M7.2 1867 Virgin Islands earthquake whose epicentre was located on the north wall of the Virgin Islands Basin or to recent hurricanes that have impacted the region. The lack of significant appreciable pebble or greater size carbonate material in any of the available cores suggests that submarine landslide and basin-wide blocky debris flows have not been a significant mechanism of basin margin modification in the last several thousand years. Thus, basins such as those described here may be poor recorders of past natural hazards, but may provide a long-term record of past oceanographic

Indian hedgehog roles in post-natal TMJ development and organization.

PubMed

Ochiai, T; Shibukawa, Y; Nagayama, M; Mundy, C; Yasuda, T; Okabe, T; Shimono, K; Kanyama, M; Hasegawa, H; Maeda, Y; Lanske, B; Pacifici, M; Koyama, E

2010-04-01

Indian hedgehog (Ihh) is essential for embryonic mandibular condylar growth and disc primordium formation. To determine whether it regulates those processes during post-natal life, we ablated Ihh in cartilage of neonatal mice and assessed the consequences on temporomandibular joint (TMJ) growth and organization over age. Ihh deficiency caused condylar disorganization and growth retardation and reduced polymorphic cell layer proliferation. Expression of Sox9, Runx2, and Osterix was low, as was that of collagen II, collagen I, and aggrecan, thus altering the fibrocartilaginous nature of the condyle. Though a disc formed, it exhibited morphological defects, partial fusion with the glenoid bone surface, reduced synovial cavity space, and, unexpectedly, higher lubricin expression. Analysis of the data shows, for the first time, that continuous Ihh action is required for completion of post-natal TMJ growth and organization. Lubricin overexpression in mutants may represent a compensatory response to sustain TMJ movement and function.

Geologic evolution and sequence stratigraphy of the offshore Pelotas Basin, southeast Brazil

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

Abreu, V.S.

1996-01-01

The Brazilian marginal basins have been studied since the beginning of the 70s. At least nine large basins are distributed along the entire Eastern continental margin. The sedimentary infill of these basins consists of lower Cretaceous (continental/lacustrine) rift section underlying marine upper Cretaceous (carbonate platforms) and marine upper Cretaceous/Tertiary sections, corresponding to the drift phase. The sedimentary deposits are a direct result of the Jurassic to lower Cretaceous break-up of the Pangea. This study will focus on the geologic evolution and sequence stratigraphic analysis of the Pelotas basin (offshore), located in the Southeast portion of the Brazilian continental margin betweenmore » 28[degrees] and 34[degrees] S, covering approximately 50,000 Km[sup 2]. During the early Cretaceous, when the break-up of the continent began in the south, thick basaltic layers were deposited in the Pelotas basin. These basalts form a thick and broad wedge of dipping seaward reflections interpreted as a transitional crust. During Albian to Turonian times, due to thermal subsidence, an extensive clastic/carbonate platform was developed, in an early drift stage. The sedimentation from the upper Cretaceous to Tertiary was characterized by a predominance of siliciclastics in the southeast margin, marking an accentuate deepening of the basin, showing several cycles related to eustatic fluctuations. Studies have addressed the problems of hydrocarbon exploration in deep water setting within a sequence stratigraphic framework. Thus Pelotas basin can provide a useful analogue for exploration efforts worldwide in offshore passive margins.« less

Geologic evolution and sequence stratigraphy of the offshore Pelotas Basin, southeast Brazil

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

Abreu, V.S.

1996-12-31

The Brazilian marginal basins have been studied since the beginning of the 70s. At least nine large basins are distributed along the entire Eastern continental margin. The sedimentary infill of these basins consists of lower Cretaceous (continental/lacustrine) rift section underlying marine upper Cretaceous (carbonate platforms) and marine upper Cretaceous/Tertiary sections, corresponding to the drift phase. The sedimentary deposits are a direct result of the Jurassic to lower Cretaceous break-up of the Pangea. This study will focus on the geologic evolution and sequence stratigraphic analysis of the Pelotas basin (offshore), located in the Southeast portion of the Brazilian continental margin betweenmore » 28{degrees} and 34{degrees} S, covering approximately 50,000 Km{sup 2}. During the early Cretaceous, when the break-up of the continent began in the south, thick basaltic layers were deposited in the Pelotas basin. These basalts form a thick and broad wedge of dipping seaward reflections interpreted as a transitional crust. During Albian to Turonian times, due to thermal subsidence, an extensive clastic/carbonate platform was developed, in an early drift stage. The sedimentation from the upper Cretaceous to Tertiary was characterized by a predominance of siliciclastics in the southeast margin, marking an accentuate deepening of the basin, showing several cycles related to eustatic fluctuations. Studies have addressed the problems of hydrocarbon exploration in deep water setting within a sequence stratigraphic framework. Thus Pelotas basin can provide a useful analogue for exploration efforts worldwide in offshore passive margins.« less

Sun Compass Orientation Helps Coral Reef Fish Larvae Return to Their Natal Reef

PubMed Central

Mouritsen, Henrik; Atema, Jelle; Kingsford, Michael J.; Gerlach, Gabriele

2013-01-01

Reef fish sustain populations on isolated reefs and show genetic diversity between nearby reefs even though larvae of many species are swept away from the natal site during pelagic dispersal. Retention or recruitment to natal reefs requires orientation capabilities that enable larvae to find their way. Although olfactory and acoustically based orientation has been implicated in homing when larvae are in the reef’s vicinity, it is still unclear how they cope with greater distances. Here we show evidence for a sun compass mechanism that can bring the larvae to the vicinity of their natal reef. In a circular arena, pre-settlement larvae and early settlers (<24 hours) of the cardinal fish, Ostorhinchus doederleini, showed a strong SSE directional swimming response, which most likely has evolved to compensate for the locally prevailing large scale NNW current drift. When fish were clock-shifted 6 hours, they changed their orientation by ca. 180° as predicted by the tropical sun curve at One Tree Island, i.e. they used a time-compensated sun compass. Furthermore, the fish oriented most consistently at times of the day when the sun azimuth is easy to determine. Microsatellite markers showed that the larvae that had just arrived at One Tree Island genetically belonged to either the local reef population or to Fitzroy Reef located 12 kilometers to the SSE. The use of a sun compass adds a missing long-distance link to the hierarchy of other sensory abilities that can direct larvae to the region of origin, including their natal reef. Predominant local recruitment, in turn, can contribute to genetic isolation and potential speciation. PMID:23840396

Digital Earth system based river basin data integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xin; Li, Wanqing; Lin, Chao

2014-12-01

Digital Earth is an integrated approach to build scientific infrastructure. The Digital Earth systems provide a three-dimensional visualization and integration platform for river basin data which include the management data, in situ observation data, remote sensing observation data and model output data. This paper studies the Digital Earth system based river basin data integration technology. Firstly, the construction of the Digital Earth based three-dimensional river basin data integration environment is discussed. Then the river basin management data integration technology is presented which is realized by general database access interface, web service and ActiveX control. Thirdly, the in situ data stored in database tables as records integration is realized with three-dimensional model of the corresponding observation apparatus display in the Digital Earth system by a same ID code. In the next two parts, the remote sensing data and the model output data integration technologies are discussed in detail. The application in the Digital Zhang River basin System of China shows that the method can effectively improve the using efficiency and visualization effect of the data.

Colonization of steelhead in a natal stream after barrier removal

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weigel, Dana E.; Connolly, Patrick J.; Martens, Kyle D.; Powell, Madison S.

2013-01-01

Colonization of vacant habitats is an important process for supporting the long-term persistence of populations and species. We used a before–after experimental design to follow the process of colonization by steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss (anadromous Rainbow Trout) at six monitoring sites in a natal stream, Beaver Creek, after the modification or removal of numerous stream passage barriers. Juvenile O. mykiss were collected at monitoring sites by using a backpack electrofisher. Passive integrated transponder tags and instream tag reading stations were used in combination with 16 microsatellite markers to determine the source, extent, and success of migrant O. mykiss after implementation of the barrier removal projects. Steelhead migrated into the study area during the first spawning season after passage was established. Hatchery steelhead, although comprising more than 80% of the adult returns to the Methow River basin, constituted a small proportion (23%) of the adult O. mykiss colonizing the study area. Adult steelhead and fluvial Rainbow Trout entered the stream during the first spawning season after barrier removal and were passing the uppermost tag reader (12 km upstream from the mouth) 3–4 years later. Parr that were tagged in Beaver Creek returned as adults, indicating establishment of the anadromous life history in the study area. Population genetic measures at the lower two monitoring sites (lower 4 km of Beaver Creek) significantly changed within one generation (4–5 years). Colonization and expansion of steelhead occurred more slowly than expected due to the low number of adults migrating into the study area.

Microbial aetiology and sensitivity of asymptomatic bacteriuria among ante-natal mothers in Mulago hospital, Uganda.

PubMed

Andabati, G; Byamugisha, J

2010-12-01

Asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy is associated with potential urinary and obstetric complications. However the prevalence aetiology and antimicrobial sensitivity patterns of asymptomatic bacteriurea among women attending ante-natal care in our Hospital is not known. To determine the prevalence and identify the aetiological agents associated with asymptomatic bacteriurea in antenatal mothers in Mulago Hospital. We also intended to determine the anti-microbial sensitivity patterns of the common uropathogen in this population We performed culture and anti-microbial sensitivity tests on urine samples from 218 consecutive ante-natal mothers in Mulago Hospital. All participants did not have any clinical symptoms attributable to urinary tract infection. Twenty nine (13.3%) of the samples had significant bacterial growth and E.coli was the commonest isolate (51.2%). There was a high level (20-62%) of anti-bacterial resistance to the commonly used antibiotics. Asymptomatic bacteriuria is common among ante-natal mothers in Mulago. E. Coli that is resistant to the most commonly used antibiotics is the commonest isolate."

Attitude and beliefs of some nurses in government hospitals in Ibadan, Nigeria to natal/neonatal teeth in infants.

PubMed

Bankole, O O; Oke, G A

2013-09-01

Eruption of the first deciduous teeth in children has shown much variation and occasionally may erupt prematurely at birth or within one month of life. Myths about natal/neonatal teeth abound in the Nigerian culture. Nurses are health care providers who are in constant close contact with patients and can be invaluable in helping to dispel these associated myths. However, to provide correct information they should be adequately equipped to do so. The aim of this study thus, was to assess the attitudes and beliefs of some nurses in Ibadan, Nigeria to natal/neonatal teeth in infants. A cross sectional survey was conducted among 380 nurses in the teaching, general and local government hospitals and clinics in Ibadan, Nigeria. Results revealed that 41.3% of the respondents would express shock and surprise if they assisted in delivering a baby with natal teeth. Half of the respondents (49.7%) felt that natal/neonatal teeth will be a great source of embarrassment to the family while a smaller proportion (11.8%), believed it was a curse (p = 0.01). On the advice the respondents would give to the mothers, more than a th (39.7%), would recommend immediate extraction of the teeth. A further 42 (11.1%) nurses were of the opinion that spiritual cleansing should be carried out prior to extraction. A greater proportion of the older nurses would advice immediate extraction of the teeth (p = 0.031). Regarding the perceived effect of natal/neonatal teeth on the children, (7.4%), (12.6%) and (29.2%) of the respondents believed that the children will behave strangely, will possess spiritual authority and be victims of stigmatization later in life respectively. This study has revealed that knowledge gaps about natal/neonatal teeth exist among the nurses in Ibadan, Nigeria. Health education programmes targeted at nurses are essential to correct these beliefs.

Geometry and Dynamics of the Mesopotamian Foreland Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pirouz, M.; Avouac, J. P.; Gualandi, A.; Hassanzadeh, J.; Sternai, P.

2016-12-01

We have constrained the geometry of the Zagros foreland basin along the entire northern edge of the Arabian plate using subsurface data from Iran, Iraq and Syria. We use the Oligo-Miocene marine Asmari Formation and its equivalents in the region to reconstruct high resolution foreland basin geometry. This extensive carbonate platform limestone unit separates pre-collisional passive margin marine sediments from the Cenozoic foreland deposits dominated by continental sources; and therefore it can be used as a measure of post-collisional deflection. The 3D reconstructed Asmari Formation shows along-strike thickness variations of the foreland basin deposits from 1 to 6 km. The deepest part of the foreland basin coincides with the Dezful embayment in Iran, and its depth decreases on both sides. In principle the basin geometry should reflect the loading resulted from overthrusting in the Zagros fold-thrust belt, the sediment fill and dynamic stresses due to lithospheric and upper mantle deformation. To estimate these various sources of loads we analyze the basin geometry in combination with gravity, free air anomaly, and Moho depths determined from seismological observations. Our analysis suggests in particular that redistribution of surface load by surface processes is a primary controlling factor of the basin geometry. The wavelength of a foreland basin may bear little information on the elastic flexural rigidity of the lithosphere.

Geological hazards associated with intense rain and flooding in Natal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, M. A.; van Schalkwyk, A.

1993-02-01

The combination of rugged topography and climate predisposes the province of Natal to severe floods. Information available since 1856 shows that bridge and slope failures have been recorded in twenty out of twenty-five flood episodes. Bridge failures are caused mostly by geological factors. The mechanism of failure can be classified broadly into foundation failures and changes of river course. Scour and debris build-up have led to failures of foundations located in rock and alluvial sediments. In preparing and replacing bridges the aims have been to increase the area of waterway, increase foundation depths to reach more competent strata and lay protection along banks and abutments to counteract scour. Historically, slope failures have not been well documented but following the 1987/88 storms 223 slope failures were recorded. The classification of the failures allowed the mechanisms of failure to be ascertained, and general design considerations to be reviewed. In areas adjacent to the Drakensberg Mountains slope failures are part of a natural erosion cycle which may be accelerated in periods of heavy rain. Throughout Natal, hummocky ground adjacent to dolerite intrusions reveals the on-going history of failure caused by water ingress and the generation of high pore water pressures on the slip planes. Classic flows occurred throughout the Greater Durban area where residual sandy soils of the Natal Group sandstone became supersaturated. Slumping was common on steep terrain underlain by granite-gneiss in the Kwa-Zulu area. Shales of the Pietermaritzburg Formation are notoriously unstable, yet few failures occurred during the summer storms of 1987/88. Inadequate drainage was responsible for many failures, this was particularly so along the railways.

BREEDING AND NATAL DISPERSAL IN THE PUERTO RICAN VIREO

Treesearch

BETHANY L. WOODWORTH; JOHN FAABORG; WAYNE J. ARENDT

1998-01-01

Information on dispersali s critical for understandingt he population dynamicso f birds. We estimated breeding and natal dispersal in two studies of a population of the Puerto Rican Vireo (Vireo latimeri) that is in danger of local extirpation due to low reproductive success from 7.1-29% of adult males and 12.5 - 25% of adult females changed territories between...

Islands in the sea: extreme female natal site fidelity in the Australian sea lion, Neophoca cinerea.

PubMed

Campbell, R A; Gales, N J; Lento, G M; Baker, C S

2008-02-23

Pinnipeds (seals, fur seals, sea lions and walrus) form large breeding aggregations with females often remaining faithful to a natal site or area. In these cases, females are philopatric to regional areas on broad geographical scales of hundreds to thousands of kilometers. An investigation of variation in a control region sequence of mtDNA in the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) has shown a case of extreme female natal site fidelity that has resulted in almost fixed population differentiation across its range (PhiST=0.93). This high level of population subdivision over short geographical distances (approx. 60 km) is unparalleled in any social marine mammal and reflects the unique life-history traits of this rare species. The high level of population subdivision and exclusive female natal site fidelity has important ramifications for conservation management, and poses many interesting questions of both academic and applied interest.

Juvenile movement and natal dispersal on northern goshawks in Arizona

Treesearch

J. David Wiens; Richard T. Reynolds; Barry R. Noon

2006-01-01

We investigated the departure, transient movement, and local settlement stages of natal dispersal in a population of Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) on the Kaibab Plateau of northern Arizona. The study included 614 color-banded juveniles produced at 555 nests during 1991-2003, 89 of which were radio-marked during 1998-2001. Radio-marked...

Wherever I may roam: social viscosity and kin affiliation in a wild population despite natal dispersal

PubMed Central

Hinde, Camilla A.; Garroway, Colin J.; Sheldon, Ben C.

2016-01-01

Dispersal affects the social contexts individuals experience by redistributing individuals in space, and the nature of social interactions can have important fitness consequences. During the vagrancy stage of natal dispersal, after an individual has left its natal site and before it has settled to breed, social affiliations might be predicted by opportunities to associate (e.g., distance in space and time between natal points of origin) or kin preferences. We investigated the social structure of a population of juvenile great tits (Parus major) and asked whether social affiliations during vagrancy were predicted by 1) the distance between natal nest-boxes, 2) synchrony in fledge dates, and 3) accounting for spatial and temporal predictors, whether siblings tended to stay together. We show that association strength was affected predominantly by spatial proximity at fledging and, to a lesser extent, temporal proximity in birth dates. Independently of spatial and temporal effects, sibling pairs associated more often than expected by chance. Our results suggest that the structure of the winter population is shaped primarily by limits to dispersal through incomplete population mixing. In addition, our results reveal kin structure, and hence the scope for fitness-related interactions between particular classes of kin. Both spatial-mediated and socially mediated population structuring can have implications for our understanding of the evolution of sociality. PMID:27418755

Delft-FEWS:A Decision Making Platform to Intergrate Data, Model, Algorithm for Large-Scale River Basin Water Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, T.; Welles, E.

2017-12-01

In this paper, we introduce a flood forecasting and decision making platform, named Delft-FEWS, which has been developed over years at the Delft Hydraulics and now at Deltares. The philosophy of Delft-FEWS is to provide water managers and operators with an open shell tool, which allows the integratation of a variety of hydrological, hydraulics, river routing, and reservoir models with hydrometerological forecasts data. Delft-FEWS serves as an powerful tool for both basin-scale and national-scale water resources management. The essential novelty of Delft-FEWS is to change the flood forecasting and water resources management from a single model or agency centric paradigm to a intergrated framework, in which different model, data, algorithm and stakeholders are strongly linked together. The paper will start with the challenges in water resources managment, and the concept and philosophy of Delft-FEWS. Then, the details of data handling and linkages of Delft-FEWS with different hydrological, hydraulic, and reservoir models, etc. Last, several cases studies and applications of Delft-FEWS will be demonstrated, including the National Weather Service and the Bonneville Power Administration in USA, and a national application in the water board in the Netherland.

Geology and Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the East Barents Basins Province and the Novaya Zemlya Basins and Admiralty Arch Province, 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Klett, Timothy R.; Moore, Thomas E.; Gautier, D.L.

2017-11-15

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently assessed the potential for undiscovered petroleum resources of the East Barents Basins Province and the Novaya Zemlya Basins and Admiralty Arch Province as part of its Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal. These two provinces are situated northeast of Scandinavia and the northwestern Russian Federation, on the Barents Sea Shelf between Novaya Zemlya to the east and the Barents Platform to the west. Three assessment units (AUs) were defined in the East Barents Basins Province for this study: the Kolguyev Terrace AU, the South Barents and Ludlov Saddle AU, and the North Barents Basin AU. A fourth AU, defined as the Novaya Zemlya Basins and Admiralty Arch AU, coincides with the Novaya Zemlya Basins and Admiralty Arch Province. These four AUs, all lying north of the Arctic Circle, were assessed for undiscovered, technically recoverable resources, resulting in total estimated mean volumes of ~7.4 billion barrels of crude oil, 318 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas, and 1.4 billion barrels of natural-gas liquids.

Activity rhythms and distribution of natal dens for red foxes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wenyang, Zhou; Wanhong, Wei; Biggins, Dean E.

1995-01-01

The red fox, Vulpes vulpes, was investigated with snow tracking, radiotracking and directive observation at the Haibei Research Station of Alpine Meadow Ecosystem, Academia Sinica, from March to September 1994. The objectives of this study were to determine the distribution and use of natal dens, activity rhythms, and home range sizes for the foxes.

Petroleum geology and resources of the Dnieper-Donets Basin, Ukraine and Russia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ulmishek, Gregory F.

2001-01-01

The Dnieper-Donets basin is almost entirely in Ukraine, and it is the principal producer of hydrocarbons in that country. A small southeastern part of the basin is in Russia. The basin is bounded by the Voronezh high of the Russian craton to the northeast and by the Ukrainian shield to the southwest. The basin is principally a Late Devonian rift that is overlain by a Carboniferous to Early Permian postrift sag. The Devonian rift structure extends northwestward into the Pripyat basin of Belarus; the two basins are separated by the Bragin-Loev uplift, which is a Devonian volcanic center. Southeastward, the Dnieper-Donets basin has a gradational boundary with the Donbas foldbelt, which is a structurally inverted and deformed part of the basin. The sedimentary succession of the basin consists of four tectono-stratigraphic sequences. The prerift platform sequence includes Middle Devonian to lower Frasnian, mainly clastic, rocks that were deposited in an extensive intracratonic basin. 1 The Upper Devonian synrift sequence probably is as thick as 4?5 kilometers. It is composed of marine carbonate, clastic, and volcanic rocks and two salt formations, of Frasnian and Famennian age, that are deformed into salt domes and plugs. The postrift sag sequence consists of Carboniferous and Lower Permian clastic marine and alluvial deltaic rocks that are as thick as 11 kilometers in the southeastern part of the basin. The Lower Permian interval includes a salt formation that is an important regional seal for oil and gas fields. The basin was affected by strong compression in Artinskian (Early Permian) time, when southeastern basin areas were uplifted and deeply eroded and the Donbas foldbelt was formed. The postrift platform sequence includes Triassic through Tertiary rocks that were deposited in a shallow platform depression that extended far beyond the Dnieper-Donets basin boundaries. A single total petroleum system encompassing the entire sedimentary succession is identified in

Vitrinite reflectance data for the Permian Basin, west Texas and southeast New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pawlewicz, Mark; Barker, Charles E.; McDonald, Sargent

2005-01-01

This report presents a compilation of vitrinite reflectance (Ro) data based on analyses of samples of drill cuttings collected from 74 boreholes spread throughout the Permian Basin of west Texas and southeast New Mexico (fig. 1). The resulting data consist of 3 to 24 individual Ro analyses representing progressively deeper stratigraphic units in each of the boreholes (table 1). The samples, Cambrian-Ordovician to Cretaceous in age, were collected at depths ranging from 200 ft to more than 22,100 ft.The R0 data were plotted on maps that depict three different maturation levels for organic matter in the sedimentary rocks of the Permian Basin (figs. 2-4). These maps show depths at the various borehole locations where the R0 values were calculated to be 0.6 (fig. 2), 1.3 (fig. 3), and 2.0 (fig. 4) percent, which correspond, generally, to the onset of oil generation, the onset of oil cracking, and the limit of oil preservation, respectively.The four major geologic structural features within the Permian Basin–Midland Basin, Delaware Basin, Central Basin Platform, and Northwest Shelf (fig. 1) differ in overall depth, thermal history and tectonic style. In the western Delaware Basin, for example, higher maturation is observed at relatively shallow depths, resulting from uplift and eastward basin tilting that began in the Mississippian and ultimately exposed older, thermally mature rocks. Maturity was further enhanced in this basin by the emplacement of early and mid-Tertiary intrusives. Volcanic activity also appears to have been a controlling factor for maturation of organic matter in the southern part of the otherwise tectonically stable Northwest Shelf (Barker and Pawlewicz, 1987). Depths to the three different Ro values are greatest in the eastern Delaware Basin and southern Midland Basin. This appears to be a function of tectonic activity related to the Marathon-Ouachita orogeny, during the Late-Middle Pennsylvanian, whose affects were widespread across the Permian

Innovative look at dairy heifer rearing: Effect of prenatal and post-natal environment on later performance.

PubMed

Van Eetvelde, M; Opsomer, G

2017-08-01

As heifer rearing is a costly investment, dairy farmers have been stimulated to maximize early growth of their calves, mainly by enhanced liquid feeding. However, the long-term effects of this "accelerated growth" are largely unknown. Studies recently performed at Ghent University indicate that in dairy cattle, certain maternal factors (such as young age and high milk yield) and environmental factors (such as high ambient temperatures) create a suboptimal environment for the developing foetus, altering the phenotype of the newborn calf. According to the "thrifty phenotype hypothesis," these metabolic alterations prepare the newborn for similar ("matching") conditions after birth, enhancing its survival during periods of limited feeding. Yet, when an abundance of nutrients is available in post-natal life (e.g., during periods of enhanced feeding), the "mismatch" between pre- and post-natal environment results in an early catch-up growth, with potential negative consequences. The aim of the article was to discuss this mismatch between pre- and post-natal environment in dairy calves. Previous studies, especially in human medicine, have shown catch-up growth to be associated with obesity, fertility problems, metabolic diseases and a reduced lifespan. Hence, we hypothesize that, by applying programs of accelerated growth, our current management system accentuates the mismatch between the pre- and post-natal environment in dairy calves. We can conclude that, although more research is necessary, the current findings point towards a more individual approach when rearing dairy heifers. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

The Case for Natality in Pastoral Care and Why It Matters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrow, Giles

2017-01-01

The author presents the concept of natality for consideration in terms of pastoral care and educational purpose. The discussion identifies significant threats to the future for pastoral care in schools, including the Global Educational Reform Movement and the increasing emphasis on teachers taking charge of discipline in the classroom, at the…

Non-School Influences and Educational Disadvantage: Pre and Post-natal Nutritional Deprivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doll, Russell C.

1973-01-01

Deals with pre and post-natal malnutrition and its possible influence on the child, focusing on these points: How wide-spread and severe is the malnutrition? What might be the effects of the malnutrition at certain critical points in development? (Author/JM)

Remote sensing research on fragile ecological environment in continental river basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ranghui; Peng, Ruyan; Zhang, Huizhi

2003-07-01

Based on some remote sensing data and software platform of image processing and analysis, the standard image for ecological thematic mapping is decided. Moreover, the vegetation type maps and land sandy desertification type maps are made. Relaying on differences of natural resources and ecological environment in Tarim River Basin, the assessment indicator system and ecological fragility index (EFI) of ecological environment are built up. The assessment results are very severely. That is, EFI is only 0.08 in Akesu River Basin, it belongs to slight fragility area. EFI of Yarkant River Basin and upper reaches of Tarim River Basin are 0.23 and 0.25 respectively, both of them belong to general fragility areas. Meanwhile, EFI of Hotan River Basin and middle reaches of Tarim River Basin are 0.32 and 0.49 respectively; they all belong to middle fragility areas. However, the fragility of the lower reaches of Tarim River Basin belongs to severe fragility area that the EFI is 0.87.The maladjustment among water with hot and land as well as salt are hindrance of energy transfer and material circulation and information transmission. It is also the main reason that caused ecological environment fragility.

Natal and breeding dispersal of northern spotted owls

USGS Publications Warehouse

Forsman, E.D.; Anthony, R.G.; Reid, J.A.; Loschl, P.J.; Sovern, S.G.; Taylor, M.; Biswell, B.L.; Ellingson, A.; Meslow, E.C.; Miller, G.S.; Swindle, K.A.; Thrailkill, J.A.; Wagner, F.F.; Seaman, D.E.

2002-01-01

We studied the dispersal behavior of 1,475 northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) during banding and radio-telemetry studies in Oregon and Washington in 1985-1996. The sample included 324 radio-marked juveniles and 1,151 banded individuals (711 juveniles, 440 non-juveniles) that were recaptured or resighted after dispersing from the initial banding location. Juveniles typically left the nest during the last week in May and the first two weeks in June (x?? ?? SE = 8 June ?? 0.53 days, n = 320, range = 15 May-1 July), and spent an average of 103.7 days in the natal territory after leaving the nest (SE = 0.986 days, n = 137, range = 76-147 days). The estimated mean date that juveniles began to disperse was 19 September in Oregon (95% CI = 17-21 September) and 30 September in Washington (95% CI = 25 September-4 October). Mean dispersal dates did not differ between males and females or among years. Siblings dispersed independently. Dispersal was typically initiated with a series of rapid movements away from the natal site during the first few days or weeks of dispersal. Thereafter, most juveniles settled into temporary home ranges in late October or November and remained there for several months. In February-April there was a second pulse of dispersal activity, with many owls moving considerable distances before settling again in their second summer. Subsequent dispersal patterns were highly variable, with some individuals settling permanently in their second summer and others occupying a series of temporary home ranges before eventually settling on territories when they were 2-5 years old. Final dispersal distances ranged from 0.6-111.2 km for banded juveniles and 1.8-103.5 km for radio-marked juveniles. The distribution of dispersal distances was strongly skewed towards shorter distances, with only 8.7% of individuals dispersing more than 50 km. Median natal dispersal distances were 14.6 km for banded males, 13.5 km for radio-marked males, 24.5 km for

Failure of post-natal ductus arteriosus closure in prostaglandin transporter-deficient mice

PubMed Central

Chang, Hee-Yoon; Locker, Joseph; Lu, Run; Schuster, Victor L.

2010-01-01

Background Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) plays a major role both in maintaining patency of the fetal ductus arteriosus (DA) and in closure of the DA after birth. The rate- limiting step in PGE2 signal termination is PGE2 uptake by the transporter PGT. Methods and results To determine the role of PGT in DA closure, we used a gene-targeting strategy to produce mice in which PGT exon 1 was flanked by loxP sites. Successful targeting was obtained since neither mice hypomorphic at the PGT allele (PGT Neo/Neo) nor global PGT knockout mice (PGT −/−) exhibited PGT protein expression; moreover, embryonic fibroblasts isolated from targeted mice failed to exhibit carrier-mediated PGE2 uptake. Although born in a normal Mendelian ratio, no PGT −/− mice survived past post-natal day 1, and no PGT Neo/Neo mice survived past post-natal day 2. Necropsy revealed patent DA with normal intimal thickening but with dilated cardiac chambers. Both PGT Neo/Neo and PGT −/− mice could be rescued through the post-natal period by giving the mother indomethacin before birth. Rescued mice grew normally and had no abnormalities by gross and microscopic post-mortem analysis. In accord with PGT’s known role in metabolizing PGE2, rescued adult PGT −/− mice had lower plasma PGE2 metabolite levels, and higher urinary PGE2 excretion rates, than wild type mice. Conclusions PGT plays a critical role in closure of the DA after birth by ensuring a reduction in local and/or circulating PGE2 concentrations. PMID:20083684

Orphan Basin crustal structure from a dense wide-angle seismic profile - layered modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lau, K. W. Helen; Watremez, Louise; Louden, Keith E.; Nedimović, Mladen R.; Karner, Garry D.

2014-05-01

The Orphan Basin is a large, deep water basin to the east of Newfoundland and northwest of Flemish Cap, Canada. It contains a considerably wide series of rift basins that provides an excellent opportunity to study continental crustal deformations under varying degrees of extension. We present a 500-km-long P-wave velocity model across the complete rift system of the Orphan Basin, from Flemish Cap to the Bonavista Platform, using high-resolution refraction and wide-angle reflection data from 89 ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS). This layered model builds on a first-arrival traveltime tomography model (Watremez et al., this session) and is formed using additional constraints from a coincident multichannel seismic reflection profile, gravity data and borehole data from three wells. The layered model helps detail deep sediment and crustal variations across this wide region of extended continental crust. The sedimentary section contains post-rift Tertiary (vp~1.7-3.5 km/s) and syn-rift Cretaceous and Jurassic (vp~4-5.4 km/s) layers within both the eastern and the western sub-basins, separated by three basement highs, suggesting that the two sub-basins may have opened during a single, extended rifting event. The crust is composed of three layers with vp of 5.4-6.1, 6.1-6.5 and 6.3-7.1 km/s of highly variable combined thicknesses, from 32 km beneath Flemish Cap and the Bonavista Platform to <10 km beneath both western and eastern sub-basins. The shape of the crustal thinning appears highly asymmetrical across the two sub-basins. Flemish Cap crust thins westward within the eastern sub-basin into a narrow zone (35 km) of hyperextended crust (<10 km thick) beneath an 8-km-deep sedimentary basin. In contrast, the Bonavista Platform crust thins eastward within the western sub-basin into a wider zone (116 km) of hyperextended crust. Separating the two rift basins is a central section with two distinctive zones of thicker (10-16 km) crust, where muted topography characterizes the

Recovery distances of nestling Bald Eagles banded in Florida and implications for natal dispersal and philopatry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wood, Petra Bohall

2009-01-01

I used band recovery data to examine distances between banding and recovery locations for 154 nestling Florida Bald Eagles and discuss the implications for understanding natal dispersal and philopatry in this species. Band recoveries occurred in 23 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces between 1931–2005. Recovery distance from the natal nest averaged longer for the youngest age classes (ANOVA: F  =  3.59; df  =  5, 153; P  =  0.005), for individuals banded in earlier decades (F  =  1.94; df  =  5, 153; P  =  0.093), and for the months of May through October (F  =  3.10; df  =  12, 153;P < 0.001). Of 35 individuals classed as mature (≥3.9 yr old when recovered; range 3.9–36.5 yr), 31 were located within Florida, which suggested a strong degree of philopatry to the natal state. Among 21 mature eagles of known sex with known banding and recovery locations in Florida, females, particularly younger birds, had longer recovery distances (N  =  9, mean  =  93 km, SE  =  22.4) than did males (N  =  12, mean  =  31 km, SE  =  5.3; t  =  2.67, df  =  19, P  =  0.026). The records examined here suggest a high degree of philopatry and relatively short natal dispersal distances, particularly in male Bald Eagles.

On the impact of neutron star binaries' natal-kick distribution on the Galactic r-process enrichment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safarzadeh, Mohammadtaher; Côté, Benoit

2017-11-01

We study the impact of the neutron star binaries' (NSBs) natal-kick distribution on the galactic r-process enrichment. We model the growth of a Milky Way type halo based on N-body simulation results and its star formation history based on multi-epoch abundance matching techniques. We consider that the NSBs that merge well beyond the galaxy's effective radius (>2 × Reff) do not contribute to the galactic r-process enrichment. Assuming a power-law delay-time distribution (DTD) function (∝t-1) with tmin = 30 Myr for binaries' coalescence time-scales and an exponential profile for their natal-kick distribution with an average value of 180 km s-1, we show that up to ˜ 40 per cent of all formed NSBs do not contribute to the r-process enrichment by z = 0, either because they merge far from the galaxy at a given redshift (up to ˜ 25 per cent) or have not yet merged by today (˜ 15 per cent). Our result is largely insensitive to the details of the DTD function. Assuming a constant coalescence time-scale of 100 Myr well approximates the adopted DTD although with 30 per cent of the NSBs ending up not contributing to the r-process enrichment. Our results, although rather dependent on the adopted natal-kick distribution, represent the first step towards estimating the impact of natal kicks and DTD functions on the r-process enrichment of galaxies that would need to be incorporated in the hydrodynamical simulations.

Sedimentological and diagenetic patterns of anhydrite deposits in the Badenian evaporite basin of the Carpathian Foredeep, southern Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasprzyk, Alicja

2003-05-01

Anhydrite deposits are widely distributed in the Middle Miocene Badenian evaporite basin of Poland, including the marginal sulphate platform and adjacent salt depocenter. Particular sedimentological, petrographic and geochemical characteristics of these anhydrite deposits and especially common pseudomorphic features, inherited from the precursor gypsum deposits, allow the interpretation of the original sedimentary facies. The observed facies distribution and succession (lower and upper members) reveal three distinct facies associations that record a range of depositional environments from nearshore to deeper basinal settings. Platform sulphates were deposited in subaerial and shallow-marine environments (shoreline and inner platform-lagoon system) mainly as autochthonous selenitic gypsum. This was reworked and redistributed into deeper waters (outer platform-lagoon, slope and the proximal basin floor system) to form resedimented facies composed mostly of allochthonous clastic gypsum and minor anhydrite. The general variation in petrographic and geochemical compositions of anhydrite lithofacies of the lower and upper members reflects the brine evolution, as the result of interactions between seawater, meteoric runoff and highly saline, residual pore fluids. The results indicate the importance of synsedimentary and diagenetic anhydritisation processes in formation of the Badenian anhydrite lithofacies, all of which preserve the original depositional features of the former gypsum. This also applies to the basinal anhydrite previously interpreted to have a depositional genesis. Two different genetic patterns of anhydrite have been reinforced by this study: (1) synsedimentary anhydritisation of gypsum deposits by highly concentrated brines or elevated temperatures in surficial to shallow-burial environments (lower member), and (2) successive phases (syndepositional de novo growth, early diagenetic to late diagenetic replacement of former gypsum) of anhydrite formation

The structural evolution of the Ghadames and Illizi basins during the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic: Petroleum implications

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

Gauthier, F.J.; Boudjema, A.; Lounis, R.

1995-08-01

The Ghadames and Illizi basins cover the majority of the eastern Sahara of Algeria. Geologicaly, this part of the Central Saharan platform has been influenced by a series of structural arches and {open_quotes}moles{close_quotes} (continental highs) which controlled sedimentation and structure through geologic time. These features, resulting from and having been affected by nine major tectonic phases ranging from pre-Cambrian to Tertiary, completely bound the Ghadames and Illizi Basins. During the Paleozoic both basins formed one continuous depositional entity with the Ghadames basin being the distal portion of the continental sag basin where facies and thickness variations are observed over largemore » distances. It is during the Mesozoic-Cenozoic that the Ghadames basin starts to evolve differently from the Illizi Basin. Eustatic low-stand periods resulted in continental deposition yielding the major petroleum-bearing reservoir horizons (Cambrian, Ordovician, Siluro-Devonian and Carboniferous). High-stand periods corresponds to the major marine transgressions covering the majority of the Saharan platform. These transgressions deposited the principal source rock intervals of the Silurian and Middle to Upper Devonian. The main reservoirs of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic are Triassic sandstone sequences which are covered by a thick evaporite succession forming a super-seal. Structurally, the principal phases affecting this sequence are the extensional events related to the breakup of Pangea and the Alpine compressional events. The Ghadames and Illizi basins, therefore, have been controlled by a polphase tectonic history influenced by Pan African brittle basement fracturing which resulted in complex structures localized along the major basin bounding trends as well as several subsidiary trends within the basin. These trends, as demonstrated with key seismic data, have been found to contain the majority of hydrocarbons trapped.« less

HIV/AIDS Stigma Attitudes among Educators in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chao, Li-Wei; Gow, Jeff; Akintola, Goke; Pauly, Mark

2010-01-01

Background: One hundred and twenty educators from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, underwent HIV/AIDS training. The educators were surveyed about their attitudes toward people with HIV. Methods: The educators completed self-administered survey questionnaires both before and after 2 interventions. Measures included demographic characteristics,…

Conceptions of Contraceptive Use in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Lessons for Programming

PubMed Central

Ndinda, Catherine; Ndhlovu, Tidings; Khalema, Nene Ernest

2017-01-01

Community family planning programmes in South Africa arose from the controversial apartheid history of controlling the African population while encouraging the growth of European migrant population. Post-apartheid population policies shifted away from population control to aligning policies to the global agenda that placed emphasis on the link between population and development. The focus on population and development polices in post-apartheid South Africa is on social equality, justice and peace rather than controlling sections of the population. Given the shift, this paper interrogates the conceptions of contraceptive use among rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal. Our primary objective is to understand the dynamics surrounding access to and use of family planning services in peri-urban and rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal. Using focus group data, the findings of the study suggest that different social categories interact with the family planning programmes differently. How teenagers and married women perceive the value of family planning differs. Gender differences regarding the use of condoms are also evident. The paper attempts to grapple with the non-use of condoms despite the knowledge that these prevent pregnancy and provide protection from sexually-transmitted diseases. The contribution of this paper lies in its identification of socio-cultural factors and the political economy underlying the different attitudes towards contraceptive use in rural KwaZulu-Natal. PMID:28350334

Conceptions of Contraceptive Use in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Lessons for Programming.

PubMed

Ndinda, Catherine; Ndhlovu, Tidings; Khalema, Nene Ernest

2017-03-28

Community family planning programmes in South Africa arose from the controversial apartheid history of controlling the African population while encouraging the growth of European migrant population. Post-apartheid population policies shifted away from population control to aligning policies to the global agenda that placed emphasis on the link between population and development. The focus on population and development polices in post-apartheid South Africa is on social equality, justice and peace rather than controlling sections of the population. Given the shift, this paper interrogates the conceptions of contraceptive use among rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal. Our primary objective is to understand the dynamics surrounding access to and use of family planning services in peri-urban and rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal. Using focus group data, the findings of the study suggest that different social categories interact with the family planning programmes differently. How teenagers and married women perceive the value of family planning differs. Gender differences regarding the use of condoms are also evident. The paper attempts to grapple with the non-use of condoms despite the knowledge that these prevent pregnancy and provide protection from sexually-transmitted diseases. The contribution of this paper lies in its identification of socio-cultural factors and the political economy underlying the different attitudes towards contraceptive use in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

Analysis of forecasting malaria case with climatic factors as predictor in Mandailing Natal Regency: a time series study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aulia, D.; Ayu, S. F.; Matondang, A.

2018-01-01

Malaria is the most contagious global concern. As a public health problem with outbreaks, affect the quality of life and economy, also could lead to death. Therefore, this research is to forecast malaria cases with climatic factors as predictors in Mandailing Natal Regency. The total number of positive malaria cases on January 2008 to December 2016 were taken from health department of Mandailing Natal Regency. Climates data such as rainfall, humidity, and temperature were taken from Center of Statistic Department of Mandailing Natal Regency. E-views ver. 9 is used to analyze this study. Autoregressive integrated average, ARIMA (0,1,1) (1,0,0)12 is the best model to explain the 67,2% variability data in time series study. Rainfall (P value = 0.0005), temperature (P value = 0,0029) and humidity (P value = 0.0001) are significant predictors for malaria transmission. Seasonal adjusted factor (SAF) in November and March shows peak for malaria cases.

Spatial distribution of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) patients in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

PubMed Central

Kapwata, Thandi; Morris, Natashia; Campbell, Angela; Mthiyane, Thuli; Mpangase, Primrose; Nelson, Kristin N.; Allana, Salim; Brust, James C. M.; Moodley, Pravi; Mlisana, Koleka

2017-01-01

Background KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, has among the highest burden of XDR TB worldwide with the majority of cases occurring due to transmission. Poor access to health facilities can be a barrier to timely diagnosis and treatment of TB, which can contribute to ongoing transmission. We sought to determine the geographic distribution of XDR TB patients and proximity to health facilities in KwaZulu-Natal. Methods We recruited adults and children with XDR TB diagnosed in KwaZulu-Natal. We calculated distance and time from participants’ home to the closest hospital or clinic, as well as to the actual facility that diagnosed XDR TB, using tools within ArcGIS Network analyst. Speed of travel was assigned to road classes based on Department of Transport regulations. Results were compared to guidelines for the provision of social facilities in South Africa: 5km to a clinic and 30km to a hospital. Results During 2011–2014, 1027 new XDR TB cases were diagnosed throughout all 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal, of whom 404 (39%) were enrolled and had geospatial data collected. Participants would have had to travel a mean distance of 2.9 km (CI 95%: 1.8–4.1) to the nearest clinic and 17.6 km (CI 95%: 11.4–23.8) to the nearest hospital. Actual distances that participants travelled to the health facility that diagnosed XDR TB ranged from <10 km (n = 143, 36%) to >50 km (n = 109, 27%), with a mean of 69 km. The majority (77%) of participants travelled farther than the recommended distance to a clinic (5 km) and 39% travelled farther than the recommended distance to a hospital (30 km). Nearly half (46%) of participants were diagnosed at a health facility in eThekwini district, of whom, 36% resided outside the Durban metropolitan area. Conclusions XDR TB cases are widely distributed throughout KwaZulu-Natal province with a denser focus in eThekwini district. Patients travelled long distances to the health facility where they were diagnosed with XDR TB, suggesting a

Estimating natal dispersal movement rates of female European ducks with multistate modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blums, P.; Nichols, J.D.; Hines, J.E.; Lindberg, M.S.; Mednis, A.

2003-01-01

1. We used up to 34 years of capture-recapture data from about 22,100 new releases of day-old female ducklings and multistate modelling to test predictions about the influence of environmental, habitat and management factors on natal dispersal probability of three species of ducks within the Engure Marsh, Latvia. 2. The mean natal dispersal distances were very similar (c . 0?6-0?7 km) for all three species and were on average 2?7 times greater than breeding dispersal distances recorded within the same study system. 3. We were unable to confirm the kinship hypothesis and found no evidence that young first-nesting females nested closer to their relatives (either mother or sister) than to the natal nest. 4. Young female northern shovelers, like adults, moved from small islands to the large island when water level was high and vice versa when water level was low before the construction of elevated small islands. Movement probabilities between the two strata were much higher for young shovelers than adults, suggesting that young birds had not yet developed strong fidelity to the natal site. Movements of young female tufted ducks, unlike those of shovelers, were not dependent on water level fluctuations and reflected substantial flexibility in choice of first nesting sites. 5. Data for young birds supported our earlier conclusion that common pochard nesting habitats in black-headed gull colonies were saturated during the entire study period. Young females, like the two adult age groups, moved into and out of colonies with similar probability. Fidelity probability of female pochards to each stratum increased with age, being the lowest (0?62) for young (DK) females, intermediate (0?78) for yearlings (SY) and the highest (0?84) for adult (ASY) females. 6. Young female tufted ducks, like adults, showed higher probabilities of moving from islands to emergent marshes when water levels were higher both before and after habitat management. The relationship between the spring

Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Women, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

PubMed Central

Zelnick, Jennifer; Werner, Lise; Master, Iqbal; Loveday, Marian; Horsburgh, C. Robert; Padayatchi, Nesri

2011-01-01

To determine whether women in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, with drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) were more likely than men to have extensively drug-resistant TB, we reviewed 4,514 adults admitted during 2003–2008 for drug-resistant TB. Female sex independently predicted extensively drug-resistant TB, even after we controlled for HIV infection. This association needs further study. PMID:22000378

Inferences about Supernova Physics from Gravitational-Wave Measurements: GW151226 Spin Misalignment as an Indicator of Strong Black-Hole Natal Kicks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Shaughnessy, Richard; Gerosa, Davide; Wysocki, Daniel

2017-07-01

The inferred parameters of the binary black hole GW151226 are consistent with nonzero spin for the most massive black hole, misaligned from the binary's orbital angular momentum. If the black holes formed through isolated binary evolution from an initially aligned binary star, this misalignment would then arise from a natal kick imparted to the first-born black hole at its birth during stellar collapse. We use simple kinematic arguments to constrain the characteristic magnitude of this kick, and find that a natal kick vk≳50 km /s must be imparted to the black hole at birth to produce misalignments consistent with GW151226. Such large natal kicks exceed those adopted by default in most of the current supernova and binary evolution models.

Inferences about Supernova Physics from Gravitational-Wave Measurements: GW151226 Spin Misalignment as an Indicator of Strong Black-Hole Natal Kicks.

PubMed

O'Shaughnessy, Richard; Gerosa, Davide; Wysocki, Daniel

2017-07-07

The inferred parameters of the binary black hole GW151226 are consistent with nonzero spin for the most massive black hole, misaligned from the binary's orbital angular momentum. If the black holes formed through isolated binary evolution from an initially aligned binary star, this misalignment would then arise from a natal kick imparted to the first-born black hole at its birth during stellar collapse. We use simple kinematic arguments to constrain the characteristic magnitude of this kick, and find that a natal kick v_{k}≳50  km/s must be imparted to the black hole at birth to produce misalignments consistent with GW151226. Such large natal kicks exceed those adopted by default in most of the current supernova and binary evolution models.

Reinterpretation of the tectonics and formation of the Pernambuco Plateau Basin, NE Brazil.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoggett, Murray; Jones, Stephen M.; Dunkley Jones, Tom; Reston, Timothy; Barbosa, Antonio; Biondo, Vanessa; Mort, Haydon P.

2017-04-01

The continental margin from Alagoas to Natal represents arguably the most frontier region for exploration on the Brazillian margin. High quality seismic data was not collected in the region for many decades as it was believed that only a few kilometers of sediment existed, and thus there was no exploration potential. Here we present the results of work done as part of an IODP virtual site survey. The work has resulted in a total reinterpretation of the basin structure and tectonics, including finding sediment filled half grabens holding up to 8km thick stratigraphic sections. The two deepest grabens likely represent rift jumps during breakup, which may imply different age sediments in the different grabens. The basin is also found to contain a sizable salt accumulation, previously uninterpreted due to hard overlying carbonates hampering seismic imaging. This salt can be seen to have been highly mobile in the past, and has developed into kilometer scale diapirs flanked by typical rollover anticlines. For the first time we show the basin has all the elements needed for a working petroleum system, with the exception a source rock - which cannot be speculated on further as the basin is undrilled. However source rock sequences are present in the Alagoas basin to the south, and recent released seep data show evidence for both biogeneic and thermogenic seeps over the plateau basin, which could also signal source rock presence. We present seismic and potential fields data, including forward potential fields models and seismically derived crustal stretching and thinning estimates, to show that the half grabens terminate abruptly at the latitude of the Pernambuco Shear Zone, a major crustal scale Precambrian shear zone. Onshore boreholes, well away from the deep seismically imaged half grabens offshore, find crystalline basement to drop away rapidly across the shearzone, revealing a third graben to terminate at the shear zone. We interpret this as that the preexisting

Drowned carbonate platforms in the Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webster, Jody M.; Wallace, Laura; Silver, Eli; Applegate, Bruce; Potts, Donald; Braga, Juan Carlos; Riker-Coleman, Kristin; Gallup, Christina

2004-11-01

The western Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea, is an actively subsiding foreland basin dominated by drowned carbonate platforms. We investigated these platforms using new high-resolution multibeam, side-scan sonar and seismic data, combined with submersible observations and previously published radiometric and sedimentary facies data. The data reveal 14 distinct drowned carbonate platforms and numerous pinnacles/banks that increase in age (˜20-450 kyr) and depth (0.1-2.5 km) NE toward the Ramu-Markham Trench. Superimposed on this overall downward flexing of the platforms toward the trench is a systematic tilting of the deep platforms 15 m/km toward the NW and the shallow platforms 2 m/km toward the SE. This may reflect the encroaching thrust load from the NW (Finisterre Range) and spatial variations in the flexural rigidity of the underlying basement. The drowned platforms form a complex system of promontories and reentrants, with abundant pinnacles and banks preserved at similar depths seaward of the main platforms. This configuration closely mimics the present-day Huon coastline and its seaward islands fringed by modern coral reefs. The platforms retain structural, morphologic, and sedimentary facies evidence of primary platform growth, drowning, and subsequent backstepping, despite some lateral erosion of the platform margins (<100 m slope defacement) by mass wasting. Both platforms and pinnacles are composite features containing multiple terrace levels and notches, corresponding to multiple phases of growth, emergence, and drowning in response to rapid climatic and sea level changes during the evolution of each structure. On the basis of all observational and numerical modeling data, we propose a chronology for the initiation, growth, and drowning of the 14 platforms. Over shorter timescales (≤100 kyr) the rate and amplitude of eustatic sea level changes are critical in controlling initiation, growth, drowning or subaerial exposure, subsequent reinitiation, and

Exploring Teachers' Practices in Teaching Mathematics and Statistics in Kwazulu-Natal Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Umugiraneza, Odette; Bansilal, Sarah; North, Delia

2017-01-01

Teaching approaches and assessment practices are key factors that contribute to the improvement of learner outcomes. The study on which this article is based, explored the methods used by KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) teachers in teaching and assessing mathematics and statistics. An instrument containing closed and open-ended questions was distributed to…

Off-platform Silurian sequences in the Ambler River quadrangle: A section in Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey during 1987

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dumoulin, Julie A.; Harris, Anita G.

1988-01-01

Lithofacies changes in coeval upper Paleozoic rocks have been used to unravel the tectonic history of northern Alaska (for example, Mayfield and others, 1983). Conodont biostratigraphy and detailed petrologic studies are now revealing facies differences in lower Paleozoic rocks that can also be used to constrain their tectono-sedimentary framework (Dumoulin and Harris, 1987). A basic element of basin analysis is the discrimination of shallow-water shelf and platform sequences from deeper water slope and basinal deposits. This report documents several new localities of deeper water, off-platform Silurian deposits in the Ambler River quadrangle and briefly outlines some of their paleogeographic implications.

Efficacy of physical activity interventions in post-natal populations: systematic review, meta-analysis and content coding of behaviour change techniques.

PubMed

Gilinsky, Alyssa Sara; Dale, Hannah; Robinson, Clare; Hughes, Adrienne R; McInnes, Rhona; Lavallee, David

2015-01-01

This systematic review and meta-analysis reports the efficacy of post-natal physical activity change interventions with content coding of behaviour change techniques (BCTs). Electronic databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsychINFO) were searched for interventions published from January 1980 to July 2013. Inclusion criteria were: (i) interventions including ≥1 BCT designed to change physical activity behaviour, (ii) studies reporting ≥1 physical activity outcome, (iii) interventions commencing later than four weeks after childbirth and (iv) studies including participants who had given birth within the last year. Controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis. Interventions were coded using the 40-item Coventry, Aberdeen & London - Refined (CALO-RE) taxonomy of BCTs and study quality assessment was conducted using Cochrane criteria. Twenty studies were included in the review (meta-analysis: n = 14). Seven were interventions conducted with healthy inactive post-natal women. Nine were post-natal weight management studies. Two studies included women with post-natal depression. Two studies focused on improving general well-being. Studies in healthy populations but not for weight management successfully changed physical activity. Interventions increased frequency but not volume of physical activity or walking behaviour. Efficacious interventions always included the BCTs 'goal setting (behaviour)' and 'prompt self-monitoring of behaviour'.

The pregnant smoker's experience of ante-natal care--results from a qualitative study.

PubMed

Haugland, S; Haug, K; Wold, B

1996-12-01

1) To obtain insight into pregnant smokers' experience of the information received from doctor and midwife at the ante-natal clinic. 2) To develop an understanding of pregnant women's own ideas of how health personnel can help them stop smoking. Qualitative study with strategic sampling. 33 pregnant smokers took part in an in-depth interview in the third trimester. Home of patients, or surgeries in Hordaland county, Norway. Daily smokers during the last three months before conception, and still smoking in the 16th-18th week of pregnancy. Pregnant women lacking motivation to stop smoking seemed to be most satisfied with ante-natal care. The women interviewed saw doctors and midwives as responsible for raising the subject of smoking, and blamed them for disinterest. The findings suggest that pregnant smokers may be classified into four categories ("it could have been worse", "self-delusion", "self-confident", and "rational"), and that intervention should be tailored to meet each woman's perception of control over smoking behaviour.

Basin-Scale Hydrogeological Modeling of the Fort Worth Basin Ellenburger Group for Pore Pressure Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, S.; Nicot, J. P.; Dommisse, R. D.; Hennings, P.

2017-12-01

The Ellenburger Group in the Fort Worth Basin, north-central Texas, is the major target for disposal of flowback and produced water originating from the overlying Barnett Shale gas play. Ellenburger formations of Ordovician age consist of karstic platform carbonates, often dolomitized, with locally high injection potential, and commonly directly overly the Precambrian crystalline basement at depths between6000 and 12,000 ft. In some places sandstones of Cambrian age lie in between the Ellenburger Group and basement. A few localities in or close to the core of the play have experienced seismic activity in the past decade. To better understand naturally occurring and potentially induced seismicity and the relationship to oil and gas operations, a larger team have constructed a 3D hydrogeological model of the Basin with all available well log data, stratigraphic data, petrophysical analysis of the injection intervals, faults from all possible sources including outcrops, controls on permeability anisotropy from outcrops and other data. The model is calibrated with the help of injection pressure constraints while honoring injection volume history through 100+ injection wells of the past decades. Major faults, including the east and north model boundaries, are implemented deterministically whereas fractures and minor faults, which considerably enhance the permeability of the carbonate system, are implemented stochastically and history-match the pressure data. This work in progress will ultimately provide basin-wide fluid budget analysis and pore pressure distribution in the Ellenburger formations. It will serve as a fundamental step to assess fault reactivation and basin-wide-seismogenic potential.

Geologic Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the North Cuba Basin, Cuba

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schenk, Christopher J.

2010-01-01

Petroleum generation in the North Cuba Basin is primarily the result of thrust loading of Jurassic and Cretaceous source rocks during formation of the North Cuba fold and thrust belt in the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. The fold and thrust belt formed as Cuban arc-forearc rocks along the leading edge of the Caribbean plate translated northward during the opening of the Yucatan Basin and collided with the passive margin of southern North America in the Paleogene. Petroleum fluids generated during thrust loading migrated vertically into complex structures in the fold and thrust belt, into structures in the foreland basin, and possibly into carbonate reservoirs along the margins of the Yucatan and Bahama carbonate platforms. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) defined a Jurassic-Cretaceous Composite Total Petroleum System (TPS) and three assessment units (AU)-North Cuba Fold and Thrust Belt AU, North Cuba Foreland Basin AU, and the North Cuba Platform Margin Carbonate AU-within this TPS based mainly on structure and reservoir type (fig. 1). There is considerable geologic uncertainty as to the extent of petroleum migration that might have occurred within this TPS to form potential petroleum accumulations. Taking this geologic uncertainty into account, especially in the offshore area, the mean volumes of undiscovered resources in the composite TPS of the North Cuba Basin are estimated at (1) 4.6 billion barrels of oil (BBO), with means ranging from an F95 probability of 1 BBO to an F5 probability of 9 BBO; and (2) 8.6 trillion cubic feet of of gas (TCFG), of which 8.6 TCFG is associated with oil fields, and about 1.2 TCFG is in nonassociated gas fields in the North Cuba Foreland Basin AU.

Student Success in Entry Level Modules at the University of Kwazulu-Natal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zewotir, T.; North, D.; Murray, M.

2011-01-01

The University of KwaZulu-Natal is now six years post merger--time to reflect as the institution is now well settled. Modules are offered on multiple campuses, at various levels, ranging from entry level modules through to Ph.D. studies. This article attempts to identify the factors that lead to the successful progression of students to higher…

Negative phenotypic and genetic correlation between natal dispersal propensity and nest-defence behaviour in a wild bird.

PubMed

Bize, Pierre; Daniel, Grégory; Viblanc, Vincent A; Martin, Julien G A; Doligez, Blandine

2017-07-01

Natural selection is expected to favour the integration of dispersal and phenotypic traits allowing individuals to reduce dispersal costs. Accordingly, associations have been found between dispersal and personality traits such as aggressiveness and exploration, which may facilitate settlement in a novel environment. However, the determinism of these associations has only rarely been explored. Here, we highlight the functional integration of individual personality in nest-defence behaviour and natal dispersal propensity in a long-lived colonial bird, the Alpine swift ( Apus melba ), providing insights into genetic constraints shaping the coevolution of these two traits. We report a negative association between natal dispersal and nest-defence (i.e. risk taking) behaviour at both the phenotypic and genetic level. This negative association may result from direct selection if risk-averseness benefits natal dispersers by reducing the costs of settlement in an unfamiliar environment, or from indirect selection if individuals with lower levels of nest defence also show lower levels of aggressiveness, reducing costs of settlement among unfamiliar neighbours in a colony. In both cases, these results highlight that risk taking is an important behavioural trait to consider in the study of dispersal evolution. © 2017 The Author(s).

Chapter 19: Geology and petroleum potential of the east Barents Sea Basins and Admiralty Arch

USGS Publications Warehouse

Klett, T.R.; Pitman, Janet K.

2011-01-01

The US Geological Survey (USGS) recently assessed the potential for undiscovered oil and gas resources of the East Barents Basins and Novaya Zemlya Basins and Admiralty Arch Provinces as part of the USGS Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal. These two provinces are located NE of Scandinavia and the northwestern Russian Federation, on the Barents Sea Shelf between Novaya Zemlya to the east and the Barents Platform to the west. Three assessment units (AUs) were defined in the East Barents Basins for this study - Kolguyev Terrace Assessment Unit (AU), South Barents Basin and Ludlov Saddle AU, and North Barents Basin AU. A fourth, defined as Novaya Zemlya Basins and Admiralty Arch AU, is coincident with the Novaya Zemlya basins and Admiralty Arch Province. These AUs, all lying north of the Arctic Circle, were assessed for undiscovered, technically recoverable resources resulting in total estimated mean volumes of approximately 7.4 billion barrels of crude oil, 318 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.4 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. ?? 2011 The Geological Society of London.

Movements of juvenile Gyrfalcons from western and interior Alaska following departure from their natal areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

McIntyre, Carol L.; Douglas, David C.; Adams, Layne G.

2009-01-01

Juvenile raptors often travel thousands of kilometers from the time they leave their natal areas to the time they enter a breeding population. Documenting movements and identifying areas used by raptors before they enter a breeding population is important for understanding the factors that influence their survival. In North America, juvenile Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) are routinely observed outside the species' breeding range during the nonbreeding season, but the natal origins of these birds are rarely known. We used satellite telemetry to track the movements of juvenile Gyrfalcons during their first months of independence. We instrumented nestlings with lightweight satellite transmitters within 10 d of estimated fledging dates on the Seward Peninsula in western Alaska and in Denali National Park (Denali) in interior Alaska. Gyrfalcons spent an average of 41.4 ± 6.1 d (range  =  30–50 d) in their natal areas after fledging. The mean departure date from natal areas was 27 August ± 6.4 d. We tracked 15 individuals for an average of 70.5 ± 28.1 d post-departure; Gyrfalcons moved from 105 to 4299 km during this period and tended to move greater distances earlier in the tracking period than later in the tracking period. Gyrfalcons did not establish temporary winter ranges within the tracking period. We identified several movement patterns among Gyrfalcons, including unidirectional long-distance movements, multidirectional long- and short-distance movements, and shorter movements within a local region. Gyrfalcons from the Seward Peninsula remained in western Alaska or flew to eastern Russia with no movements into interior Alaska. In contrast, Gyrfalcons from Denali remained in interior Alaska, flew to northern and western Alaska, or flew to northern Alberta. Gyrfalcons from both study areas tended to move to coastal, riparian, and wetland areas during autumn and early winter. Because juvenile Gyrfalcons dispersed over a large geographic area and across three

Kinematics and dynamics of green water on a fixed platform in a large wave basin in focusing wave and random wave conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chuang, Wei-Liang; Chang, Kuang-An; Mercier, Richard

2018-06-01

Green water kinematics and dynamics due to wave impingements on a simplified geometry, fixed platform were experimentally investigated in a large, deep-water wave basin. Both plane focusing waves and random waves were employed in the generation of green water. The focusing wave condition was designed to create two consecutive plunging breaking waves with one impinging on the frontal vertical wall of the fixed platform, referred as wall impingement, and the other directly impinging on the deck surface, referred as deck impingement. The random wave condition was generated using the JONSWAP spectrum with a significant wave height approximately equal to the freeboard. A total of 179 green water events were collected in the random wave condition. By examining the green water events in random waves, three different flow types are categorized: collapse of overtopping wave, fall of bulk water, and breaking wave crest. The aerated flow velocity was measured using bubble image velocimetry, while the void fraction was measured using fiber optic reflectometry. For the plane focusing wave condition, measurements of impact pressure were synchronized with the flow velocity and void fraction measurements. The relationship between the peak pressures and the pressure rise times is examined. For the high-intensity impact in the deck impingement events, the peak pressures are observed to be proportional to the aeration levels. The maximum horizontal velocities in the green water events in random waves are well represented by the lognormal distribution. Ritter's solution is shown to quantitatively describe the green water velocity distributions under both the focusing wave condition and the random wave condition. A prediction equation for green water velocity distribution under random waves is proposed.

Female parity, maternal kinship, infant age and sex influence natal attraction and infant handling in a wild colobine (Colobus vellerosus).

PubMed

Bădescu, Iulia; Sicotte, Pascale; Ting, Nelson; Wikberg, Eva C

2015-04-01

Primate females often inspect, touch and groom others' infants (natal attraction) and they may hold and carry these infants in a manner resembling maternal care (infant handling). While natal attraction and infant handling occur in most wild colobines, little is known about the factors influencing the expression of these behaviors. We examined the effects of female parity, kinship, and dominance rank, as well as infant age and sex in wild Colobus vellerosus at Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, Ghana. We collected data via focal sampling of females in 2008 and 2009 (N = 61) and of infants in 2010 (N = 12). Accounting for the individuals who interacted with our focal subjects, this study includes 74 females and 66 infants in 8 groups. We recorded female agonistic interactions ad libitum to determine dominance ranks. We used partial pedigree information and genotypes at 17 short tandem repeat loci to determine kinship. We knew female parity, infant age and sex from demographic records. Nulliparous females showed more natal attraction and infant handling than parous females, which may suggest that interactions with infants are more adaptive for nulliparous females because they learn mothering skills through these behaviors. Compared to non-kin, maternal kin were more likely to handle infants. Maternal kin may be permitted greater access to infants because mothers are most familiar with them. Handlers may incur inclusive fitness benefits from infant handling. Dominance rank did not affect female interactions with infants. The youngest infants received the most natal attraction and infant handling, and male infants were handled more than female infants. The potential benefits of learning to mother and inclusive fitness, in combination with the relatively low costs of natal attraction and infant handling, may explain the high rates of these behaviors in many colobines. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Age and Construction of Little Ambergris Cay Bedrock Rim, Southeastern Caicos Platform, British West Indies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orzechowski, E. A.; Strauss, J. V.; Knoll, A. H.; Fischer, W. W.; Cantine, M.; Metcalfe, K.; Quinn, D. P.; Stein, N.; Gomes, M. L.; Grotzinger, H. M.; Lingappa, U.; O'Reilly, S. S.; Riedman, L. A.; Trower, L.; Grotzinger, J. P.

2016-12-01

The Caicos Platform's interior-platform ooid shoals and patch reef environments are unique modern examples of grain-rich carbonate settings. In July 2016, the Agouron Institute's Advanced Geobiology field course conducted a detailed study of Little Ambergris Cay, in the southeastern sector of the platform. The cay is fringed by a topographically high rim formed of amalgamated ridges of partially lithified fossiliferous grainstone and rudstone (i.e. beachrock conglomerate), that protects an interior basin dominated by microbial mats and mangroves. Tidal channels exchanging open platform waters with the interior basin breach the rim locally. We sampled and mapped the rim (using differential GPS) in order to examine its age, sedimentological characteristics, and faunal composition. Strata up to 2 meters above the present-day high tide mark form the rim, characterized by several carbonate lithofacies, including oolites with keystone vugs, high-angle trough cross bedding, seaward-dipping low angle stratification, bioturbation and fossiliferous lags, and rudstones composed of imbricated beachrock boulders. We interpret these facies as an upper shoreface to foreshore depositional setting dominated by local storm and eolian deposits. A distinct fossiliferous rudstone facies is dominated by mytilid bivalves, as well as Eustrombus, Conus, Oliva, and vermetid gastropods. X-ray powder diffraction analyses on fossil shells reveal both shells with pristine aragonite and shells with evidence of secondary calcite. Radiometric analyses of pristine aragonite material provide additional age constraints on these deposits. Understanding the formation of Little Ambergris Cay's bedrock deposits will provide important context for the island's geological history and geomorphology, aiding in our understanding of modern analogues for ancient interior platform depositional environments.

Autonomy, natality and freedom: a liberal re-examination of Habermas in the enhancement debate.

PubMed

Pugh, Jonathan

2015-03-01

Jurgen Habermas has argued that carrying out pre-natal germline enhancements would be inimical to the future child's autonomy. In this article, I suggest that many of the objections that have been made against Habermas' arguments by liberals in the enhancement debate misconstrue his claims. To explain why, I begin by explaining how Habermas' view of personal autonomy confers particular importance to the agent's embodiment and social environment. In view of this, I explain that it is possible to draw two arguments against germline enhancements from Habermas' thought. I call these arguments 'the argument from negative freedom' and 'the argument from natality'. Although I argue that many of the common liberal objections to Habermas are not applicable when his arguments are properly understood, I go on to suggest ways in which supporters of enhancement might appropriately respond to Habermas' arguments. © 2014 The Author. Bioethics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Natal plumage characters in rails

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wetherbee, D.K.; Meanley, B.

1965-01-01

The downy young of the Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris), King Rail (Rallus elegans), and Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola) are described as totally black in all literature examined by us. Wetherbee (Bird-Banding, 32: 141-159, 1961) noted that some neonates of Virginia Rail from Storrs, Connecticut, had patches of white down below the wings. "Neonatal" pertains to the developmental condition or characters at hatching distinct from the much abused term "natal" which in ornithology pertains to the condition or characters from hatching to acquisition of teleoptile plumage. The presence of similar patches of white down was observed by us in the Clapper Rails at Chincoteague, Virginia (Figure 1). An examination of many hundreds of specimens from the ranges of most of the subspecies of Clapper Rails, including the strongly contrasting R. longirostris saturatus from Louisiana, revealed the almost invariable presence of at least 1 and sometimes as many as 30 white neossoptiles in the anterior abdominal regions of the ventral pterylae. Conversely, no King Rail neonate examined by us has shown a white neossoptile.

Mesozoic rift basins in western desert of Egypt, their southern extension and impact on future exploration

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

Taha, M.A.

1988-08-01

Rift basins are a primary target of exploration in east, central, and west Africa. These intracratonic rift basins range in age from the Triassic to the Neogene and are filled with lagoonal-lacustrine sand-shale sequences. Several rift basins may be present in the Western Desert of Egypt. In the northeastern African platform, the Mesozoic Tethyan strand lines were previously interpreted to have limited southern extension onto the continent. This concept, based upon a relatively limited amount of subsurface data, has directed and focused the exploration for oil and gas to the northernmost 120 km of the Western Desert of Egypt. Recentmore » well and geophysical data indicate a southerly extension of mesozoic rift basins several hundred kilometers inland from the Mediterranean Sea. Shushan/Faghur and Abu Gharadig/Bahrein basins may represent subparallel Mesozoic basins, trending northeast-southwest. Marine Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian sediments were recently reported from wells drilled approximately 500 km south of the present-day Mediterranean shoreline. The link of these basins with the Sirte basin to the southwest in Libya is not well understood. Exploration is needed to evaluate the hydrocarbon potential of such basins.« less

Transition from marine deep slope deposits to evaporitic facies of an isolated foreland basin: case study of the Sivas Basin (Turkey)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pichat, Alexandre; Hoareau, Guilhem; Legeay, Etienne; Lopez, Michel; Bonnel, Cédric; Callot, Jean-Paul; Ringenbach, Jean-Claude

2017-04-01

probably fed from shallow water evaporitic platforms developing contemporaneously along the borders of the halite-? and gypsum-saturated basin. Finally, the reworked evaporites are sealed by a thick (> 100 m) chaotic and coarse crystalline gypsum mass, carrying folded rafts and boudins of carbonate and gypsum beds. Such unit is interpreted as a gypsiferous caprock resulting from the leaching of significant amount of halite deposits. Gypsum crystals are secondary and grew from the hydration of anhydrite grains left as a residual phase after the leaching of halite. The halite probably formed in a perennial shallow hypersaline basin fed in solute by marine seepages. This former halite sequence is interpreted to have triggered mini-basin salt tectonics during the Oligo-Miocene. The described facies and proposed scenario of the Tuzhisar Formation in the central part of the Sivas Basin may find analogies with other Central Anatolian Basins (e.g. the Ulukisla Basin) or with other basin-wide salt accumulations in the world (e.g. in the Carpathian Foredeep).

Educational Gaps in Medical Care and Health Behavior: Evidence from US Natality Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, Joseph; Price, Joshua; Simon, Kosali

2011-01-01

The US Natality files provide information on medical procedures and health related behavior during pregnancy and childbirth. The data set represents nearly the universe of mothers who give birth in the US, providing the most complete coverage possible of medical care and health behavior among a specific patient population. We document gaps in…

Early post-natal neuroactive steroid manipulation modulates ondansetron effects on initial periods of alcohol consumption in rats.

PubMed

Bartolomé, Iris; Llidó, Anna; Darbra, Sònia; Pallarès, Marc

2018-06-21

Neuroactive steroids (NS) such as allopregnanolone are crucial for brain development and adult behaviour. Early post-natal alterations of NS by administering finasteride induce a decrease in the sensitivity to stimulant effects of low alcohol doses, an increase in alcohol consumption, and a decrease in ventrostriatal dopamine and serotonin levels. The aim of the present study is to observe if the effects of the 5HT3 receptor antagonist ondansetron on initial alcohol consumption are modulated by post-natal NS manipulation. For this purpose, allopregnanolone, finasteride, or vehicle was injected from day 5 to 9. In adulthood, a novel object preference test was carried out in order to detect a possible novelty-seeking pattern in our animals, which has been related to vulnerability to drug abuse. The subjects then had access to two bottles (alcohol or control solutions) one hour daily for two consecutive weeks. Ondansetron (0.01 mg/kg, 0.1 mg/kg or vehicle) was administered before the hour of consumption in the initial phase (days 1, 2, 3) of the procedure, and after prolonged alcohol intake (days 11, 12, 13). Results indicated that finasteride animals showed a higher preference to explore the new object, as well as a higher alcohol consumption than the rest of the groups. Moreover, 0.1 mg/kg of ondansetron decreased alcohol consumption, but only in the post-natal finasteride group, suggesting a possible increase in 5HT3 receptor sensitivity in these animals. In conclusion, NS manipulation in crucial stages of development, such as early post-natal periods, seems to play an important role on the effects of ondansetron on alcohol intake and in the vulnerability to develop drug use or abuse. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A detrital sediment budget of a Maldivian reef platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, K. M.; Kench, P. S.

2014-10-01

Sediment dynamics are an important control on the morphology and development of reef systems by actively removing and redistributing excess detrital sediment. This study presents quantitative data from direct point measurements of sediment transport on the platform surface and fore-reef slope of Vabbinfaru reef, North Malé Atoll, Maldives. A suite of sediment traps were used to construct actual rates of platform sediment fluxes and off-reef export over different spatial and temporal (seasonal) scales to establish key sediment transport pathways. Findings showed that high sediment fluxes occur on Vabbinfaru platform in the absence of major storm activity (up to 1905 g m- 1 d- 1), with 95% of annual transport occurring during the southwest monsoon as a result of increased wave energy. Climate-driven changes in the platform process regime caused a reversal of net sediment transport pathways between each monsoon season. Off-reef export rates were high, reaching a maximum of 12.58 kg m- 1 y- 1 for gravel and 407 g m- 1 d- 1 for sand-sized sediment. An estimated 127,120 kg is exported from the platform annually equating to a significant loss from the reef sediment budget and contributing to the long-term geomorphic development of the fore-reef slope and atoll basin. Detrital sediment reservoirs on Vabbinfaru are not purely depositional carbonate sinks, but rather temporary stores that are important in the transfer of sediment between reef zones.

Tectonic setting and hydrocarbon habitat of external Carpathian basins in Romania

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

Dicea, O.; Morariu, D.C.

1993-09-01

During the Alpine evolution of Romania, two distinct depositional areas evolved in the external zones of the Carpathians: the Paleogene flysch and Neogene Molasse basin of the eastern Carpathians, and the Paleogene and Neogene Molasse basin of the southern Carpathians. Both basins were compressionally deformed during the Neogene, giving rise to the development of a succession of nappes and thrust sheets. The internal elements of the external Carpathians corresponding to the Tarcau and marginal folds nappes and the external elements forming the sub-carpathian nappe and foredeep were thrusted over significant distances onto the European platform. Intense exploration of the externalmore » Carpathian thrustbelt has led to the discovery of more than 100 oil and gas pools. Reservoirs are provided by Oligocene, Burdigalian, Sarmatian, and Pliocene clastic rocks. A prolific hydrocarbon charge is derived from regionally distributed Oligocene oil source rocks. Traps are mainly of the structural type and involve faulted anticlines, [open quotes]scale folds,[close quotes] and compressional structures modified by salt; stratigraphic pinch-out and unconformity related traps play a secondary role. On the basis of selected examples, the development and distribution of hydrocarbon pools will be discussed in terms of thrust kinematics and the structure of different platform blocks. The philosophy of past exploration activities will be reviewed, and both success cases and failures will be discussed. Remaining oil and gas plays, aimed at shallow as well as at deep objectives, will be highlighted.« less

The National Health Insurance, the decentralised clinical training platform, and specialist outreach.

PubMed

Caldwell, R I; Aldous, C

2016-12-21

According to the Constitution of South Africa (SA), citizens living in remote areas are entitled to the same level of healthcare as those with access to tertiary hospitals. Specialist outreach has been shown to achieve this. When SA's National Health Services Commission convened (1942 - 1944), Gluckman summarised: 'Where the need is greatest the supply of hospitals is least.' Primary healthcare (PHC) characterised the Kark's Pholela Health Centre and was highly regarded. Although PHC underpins National Health Insurance (NHI) planning, both preventive and curative healthcare are needed. The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial Department of Health and the University of KZN College of Health Sciences' 5-year plan for a decentralised clinical teaching platform (DCTP) is ambitious, requiring optimum co-operation between health department and university. Reservations can be addressed through sustained specialist outreach. Above all, the patient mustbe the chief beneficiary. The NHI and DCTP overlap with specialist outreach, but cannot do without it.

Integrating facies and structural analyses with subsidence history in a Jurassic-Cretaceous intraplatform basin: Outcome for paleogeography of the Panormide Southern Tethyan margin (NW Sicily, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basilone, Luca; Sulli, Attilio; Gasparo Morticelli, Maurizio

2016-06-01

We illustrate the tectono-sedimentary evolution of a Jurassic-Cretaceous intraplatform basin in a fold and thrust belt present setting (Cala Rossa basin). Detailed stratigraphy and facies analysis of Upper Triassic-Eocene successions outcropping in the Palermo Mts (NW Sicily), integrated with structural analysis, restoration and basin analysis, led to recognize and describe into the intraplatform basin the proximal and distal depositional areas respect to the bordered carbonate platform sectors. Carbonate platform was characterized by a rimmed reef growing with progradational trends towards the basin, as suggested by the several reworked shallow-water materials interlayered into the deep-water succession. More, the occurrence of thick resedimented breccia levels into the deep-water succession suggests the time and the characters of synsedimentary tectonics occurred during the Late Jurassic. The study sections, involved in the building processes of the Sicilian fold and thrust belt, were restored in order to obtain the original width of the Cala Rossa basin, useful to reconstruct the original geometries and opening mechanisms of the basin. Basin analysis allowed reconstructing the subsidence history of three sectors with different paleobathymetry, evidencing the role exerted by tectonics in the evolution of the narrow Cala Rossa basin. In our interpretation, a transtensional dextral Lower Jurassic fault system, WNW-ESE (present-day) oriented, has activated a wedge shaped pull-apart basin. In the frame of the geodynamic evolution of the Southern Tethyan rifted continental margin, the Cala Rossa basin could have been affected by Jurassic transtensional faults related to the lateral westward motion of Africa relative to Europe.

Africanising Scholarship: The Case of UDW, Natal and UKZN Postgraduate Educational Research (1995-2004)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karlsson, J.; Pillay, G.

2011-01-01

In 2004 the universities of Durban-Westville and Natal merged as part of the national restructuring of higher education in South Africa. These institutions' faculties and schools of education were, arguably, centres of excellence for research in adult education, teacher education and professional development, mathematics education and gender in…

Mesozoic evolution of the Amu Darya basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunet, Marie-Françoise; Ershov, Andrey; Korotaev, Maxim; Mordvintsev, Dmitriy; Barrier, Eric; Sidorova, Irina

2014-05-01

This study, granted by the Darius Programme, aims at proposing a model of tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Amu Darya basin since the Late Palaeozoic and to understand the relationship with the nearby basins. The Amu Darya basin, as its close eastern neighbour, the Afghan-Tajik basin, lies on the Turan platform, after the closure of the Turkestan Ocean during the Late Paleozoic. These two basins, spread on mainly lowlands of Turkmenistan, southwest Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and northern Afghanistan, are separated from one another by the South-Western Gissar meganticline, where series of the northern Amu Darya margin are outcropping. The evolution is closely controlled by several periods of crustal thinning (post-collision rifting and back-arc extension), with some marine incursions, coming in between accretions of continental blocks and collisions that succeeded from the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic (Eo-Cimmerian orogeny) to the Cenozoic times. These orogenies controlled the deposition of thick clastics sequences, and the collision of the Indian Plate with Eurasia strongly deformed the sedimentary cover of the Afghan-Tajik basin. The more than 7 km thick Meso-Cenozoic sedimentary succession of the Amu Darya basin, lies on a complex system of rifts and blocks. Their orientation and age (late Permian, Triassic?) are not well known because of deep burial. The north-eastern margin, with the Bukhara (upper margin) and Chardzhou steps, is NW oriented, parallel to the Paleozoic Turkestan suture. The orientation bends to W-E, in the part of the Gissar situated to the North of the Afghan-Tajik basin. This EW trending orientation prevails also in the south(-eastern) margin of the basin (series of North Afghanistan highs) and in the Murgab depression, the south-eastern deepest portion of the Amu Darya basin. It is in this area and in the eastern part of the Amu Darya basin that the Jurassic as well as the lower Cretaceous sediments are the thickest. The south-western part

Iberian-Europe convergence: evolution of the Cretaceous and Eocene basins in Pyrenees and Provence

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

Muller, J.; Ducassel, L.; Guieu, G.

1988-08-01

During Cretaceous time the geodynamic evolution of Northern and Western Pyrenean basins was related to scissors-shaped rifting which evolved as a passive margin filled by thick flysch deposits. In Provence, the carbonate platform was marked since the late Albian by the arrival of significant detrital flows originated from an uplifted Paleozoic block situated in the Gulf of Lion. In Provence the northward migration of the basin from Cenomanian to Eocene and Oligocene indicates the growing of the Gulf of Lion-South Provence crustal uplift and its northward displacement. The Cretaceous opening of the western Pyrenean, Parentis, and Bay of Biscay basinsmore » is synchronous with the first stages of compression in the Gulf of Lion. These features are induced by the rotation of Iberia. During the Eocene the compression, resulting from the Iberian-Europe convergence, affected nearly the whole Pyrenean-Provencal area. In the southern part of the Pyrenees east of the Pamplona fault, the successive dislocations of carbonate platforms, migration of reefs, and filling of foreland basins became the signature of the intracontinental subduction of Iberia. The transform fault pattern, still well preserved in spite of the Eocene compression, prevents any important strike-slip movement between Europe and Iberia, especially along the so-called North Pyrenean fault zone, which shows several discontinuities in the western part of Pyrenees. The final evolution of Gulf of Lion crustal uplift generated a gliding of its cover (Provence overthrusts) and, during Oligocene, the opening of the Ligurian-Provencal basin by a propagating rift process.« less

Juvenile Survival in Common Loons Gavia Immer: Effects of Natal Lake Size and pH

EPA Science Inventory

Survival is a vexing parameter to measure in many young birds because of dispersal and delayed impacts of natal rearing conditions on fitness. Drawing upon marking and resighting records from an 18-year study of territorial behavior, we used Cormack-Jolly-Seber analysis with Prog...

Tectonic and climatic controls on continental depositional facies in the Karoo Basin of northern Natal, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, Brian R.

1986-02-01

The eastern Karoo Basin, South Africa, contains a thick sequence of terrigenous clastic sediments comprising a meanderbelt facies, braided channel facies divided into coarse and fine subfacies, fluviolacustrine facies and aeolian facies. Depositional trends and changes in fluvial style reflect a progressive increase in aridity of the climate under stable tectonic conditions, interrupted by two phases of source area tectonism and the development of fine and coarse clastic wedges of the braided channel subfacies; the latter signifying a short interlude of cool, wet conditions. The fine braided channel subfacies occurs in the upper part of the meanderbelt facies, which was deposited by ephemeral, meandering mixed-load streams of variable discharge and sinuosity, under dry, semi-arid climatic conditions. These deposited complex, internally discordant channel sands and well-developed levee deposits. Following deposition of the coarse braided channel subfacies semi-arid conditions returned and fluvial deposition was dominated by ephemeral, straight to slightly sinuous mixed load streams characterised by simple channel sand bodies. As the aridity of the climate increased, the streams became more localised and carried an increasing proportion of fines. Interbedded with and overlying the fluvial deposits is a mudstone-dominated lacustrine sequence grading up into aeolian sands suggesting a playa lake-type situation. The general absence of evaporites from these sediments is attributed to the fresh nature of the lake waters, as evidenced by the freshwater aquatic organisms and clay-mineral suite, the lack of adequate inflow for solute accumulation and the removal of dust impregnated by salts from the surface of the dry lake bed during the dry season by superheated, upward-spiralling columns of air. Broadly similar environments to the fluvio-lacustrine and aeolian facies sequence are to be found in the Lake Eyre Basin of central Australia and the Okavango "delta" of northern

Hunger for Knowledge: Food Insecurity among Students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Munro, Nicholas; Quayle, Michael; Simpson, Heather; Barnsley, Shelley

2013-01-01

The experience of food insecurity in the South African university student population is not well documented or researched. Data to assess vulnerability to food insecurity in a sample of 1.083 students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg Campus) was collected between 2007 and 2010 via a questionnaire developed specifically for…

Technical note: GODESS - a profiling mooring in the Gotland Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prien, Ralf D.; Schulz-Bull, Detlef E.

2016-07-01

This note describes a profiling mooring with an interdisciplinary suite of sensors taking profiles between 180 and 30 m depth. It consists of an underwater winch, moored below 180 m depth, and a profiling instrumentation platform. In its described setup it can take about 200 profiles at pre-programmed times or intervals with one set of batteries. This allows for studies over an extended period of time (e.g. two daily profiles over a time of 3 months). The Gotland Deep Environmental Sampling Station (GODESS) in the Eastern Gotland Basin of the Baltic Sea is aimed at investigations of redoxcline dynamics. The described system can be readily adapted to other research foci by changing the profiling instrumentation platform and its payload.

Stress exposure in early post-natal life reduces telomere length: an experimental demonstration in a long-lived seabird

PubMed Central

Herborn, Katherine A.; Heidinger, Britt J.; Boner, Winnie; Noguera, Jose C.; Adam, Aileen; Daunt, Francis; Monaghan, Pat

2014-01-01

Exposure to stressors early in life is associated with faster ageing and reduced longevity. One important mechanism that could underlie these late life effects is increased telomere loss. Telomere length in early post-natal life is an important predictor of subsequent lifespan, but the factors underpinning its variability are poorly understood. Recent human studies have linked stress exposure to increased telomere loss. These studies have of necessity been non-experimental and are consequently subjected to several confounding factors; also, being based on leucocyte populations, where cell composition is variable and some telomere restoration can occur, the extent to which these effects extend beyond the immune system has been questioned. In this study, we experimentally manipulated stress exposure early in post-natal life in nestling European shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) in the wild and examined the effect on telomere length in erythrocytes. Our results show that greater stress exposure during early post-natal life increases telomere loss at this life-history stage, and that such an effect is not confined to immune cells. The delayed effects of increased telomere attrition in early life could therefore give rise to a ‘time bomb’ that reduces longevity in the absence of any obvious phenotypic consequences early in life. PMID:24648221

The ammonite genus Prionocycloceras (Spath, 1926), from the Coniacian of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klinger, Herbert C.; Kennedy, William J.

2016-12-01

Subprionocyclus latiumbilicatus (Van Hoepen, 1968), and Subprionocyclus obesus (Van Hoepen, 1968), are revised, and referred to Prionocycloceras (Spath, 1926), a genus not previously recognised from the South African Cretaceous. The material comes from the Middle and Upper Coniacian St Lucia Formation of northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Parental mood during pregnancy and post-natally is associated with offspring risk of Tourette syndrome or chronic tics: prospective data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

PubMed

Ben-Shlomo, Y; Scharf, J M; Miller, L L; Mathews, C A

2016-04-01

Little is known about risk factors for Tourette syndrome (TS) and chronic tic disorders (CT) but maternal psychological morbidity in pregnancy may be associated with TS/CT. We examined whether pre- and post-natal parental anxiety and/or depression are associated with risk of TS/CT in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. We compared self-reported anxiety and depression measures collected prospectively at four time points (18 and 32 weeks prenatally, and 8 weeks and 8 months post-natally) among parents of children who subsequently met criteria for TS/CT at 13 years of age as compared to other children from the cohort. We adjusted for various socioeconomic measures and tested both for time period-specific exposure and chronic exposure using multivariable logistic regression models. 122 children had TS/CT (50 TS, 72 CT) and 5968 children had no tics. In crude analyses, both pre- and post-natal maternal anxiety and depression, but only post-natal paternal depression at 8 months, showed associations with TS/CT. In the final, adjusted multivariable models, chronic maternal anxiety (odds ratio 2.17, 95% CI 1.23, 3.84, p = 0.007) and pre-natal maternal depression (odds ratio 1.86, 95% CI 1.02, 3.39, p = 0.04) showed associations with TS/CT though the latter was consistent with chance (p = 0.07) after adjustment for past maternal depression. We find associations between maternal psychological morbidity pre- and post-natally and risk of future TS/CT in offspring. These associations may reflect either shared genetic susceptibility or a pre-natal exposure. Further work is required to see if these findings can be replicated in larger datasets.

Correlation of Late Precambrian and Paleozoic events in the East European platform and the adjacent paleooceanic domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kheraskova, T. N.; Volozh, Yu. A.; Antipov, M. P.; Bykadorov, V. A.; Sapozhnikov, R. B.

2015-01-01

The correlation of geological events and structure-forming processes occurring contemporaneously in the inner parts of cratons and the adjacent paleooceanic basins is discussed in order to understand the effects of these processes on sedimentation and structural rearrangements. For this purpose, a series of paleodynamic reconstructions of the Riphean, Vendian, and Paleozoic epicontinental basins of the East European Platform and zones of their transition to marginal basins of the same age once situated in the Ural, Timan, Caucasus, Scandinavian fold regions and in the Scythian-Turan Plate have been performed on the basis of the available original and published data combined with interpretation of seismic profiles. As a result, a set of structural-facies maps of this territory have been compiled for several time intervals from the Late Riphean to Early Permian.

X-ray examinations during pregnancy: National Natality Surveys, 1963 and 1980.

PubMed Central

Kaczmarek, R G; Moore, R M; Keppel, K G; Placek, P J

1989-01-01

Based on 1963 and 1980 National Natality Surveys, the rate of medical x-ray examinations during pregnancy per 100 mothers fell 34.2 percent. A decrease in chest x-ray examinations accounted for almost all of the decline in total x-ray examinations. The reductions were greater for older mothers and those who were not White. While the number of births fell from 4,071,000 in 1963 to 3,612,000 in 1980, the number of pelvimetry examinations actually increased by 45,000. PMID:2909188

Progress and Challenges for Language Policy Implementation at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ndimande-Hlongwa, Nobuhle; Balfour, Robert J.; Mkhize, Nhlanhla; Engelbrecht, Charlotte

2010-01-01

The University of KwaZulu-Natal approved its bilingual language policy in 2006 based on the framework of the National Language Policy for Higher Education of 2002. The guiding principles of this policy suggest that the university develops the use of isiZulu as a language of instruction and communication, in line with recommendations of the…

Lower permian reef-bank bodies’ characterization in the pre-caspian basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhen; Wang, Yankun; Yin, Jiquan; Luo, Man; Liang, Shuang

2018-02-01

Reef-bank reservoir is one of the targets for exploration of marine carbonate rocks in the Pre-Caspian Basin. Within this basin, the reef-bank bodies were primarily developed in the subsalt Devonian-Lower Permian formations, and are dominated by carbonate platform interior and margin reef-banks. The Lower Permian reef-bank present in the eastern part of the basin is considered prospective. This article provides a sequence and sedimentary facies study utilizing drilling and other data, as well as an analysis and identification of the Lower Permian reef-bank features along the eastern margin of the Pre-Caspian Basin using sub-volume coherence and seismic inversion techniques. The results indicate that the sub-volume coherence technique gives a better reflection of lateral distribution of reefs, and the seismic inversion impedance enables the identification of reef bodies’ development phases in the vertical direction, since AI (impedance) is petrophysically considered a tool for distinguishing the reef limestone and the clastic rocks within the formation (limestone exhibits a relatively high impedance than clastic rock). With this method, the existence of multiple phases of the Lower Permian reef-bank bodies along the eastern margin of the Pre-Caspian Basin has been confirmed. These reef-bank bodies are considered good subsalt exploration targets due to their lateral connectivity from south to north, large distribution range and large scale.

The effects of pre-natal-, early-life- and indirectly-initiated exposures to maximum adversities on the course of schizophrenia.

PubMed

Levine, Stephen Z; Levav, Itzhak; Yoffe, Rinat; Pugachova, Inna

2014-09-01

The effects of pre-natal-, early-life- and indirectly-initiated exposures to protracted maximum adversity on the course of schizophrenia are unknown. To compare the aforementioned Holocaust directly exposed subgroups with an indirectly exposed subgroup on the course of schizophrenia. The study population were: Israeli Jews in-uterus or born in Nazi-occupied or dominated European nations by the end of the persecution of the Jews, who were alive in 1950, and who had a last discharge diagnosis of schizophrenia in the Israel National Psychiatric Case Registry by 2013 (N=4933). The population was disaggregated into subgroups who (1) migrated after WWII and who had (1a) pre-natal (n=584, 11.8%) and (1b) early-life (n=3709, 75.2%) initiated exposures to the maximum adversities of the Holocaust, and (2) indirectly exposed individuals to the Holocaust who migrated before the Nazi-era persecution begun (n=640, 13%). Recurrent event survival analyses were computed to examine the psychiatric re-hospitalization risk of the study subgroups, unadjusted and adjusted for age of onset of the disorder and sex. The pre-natal initiated exposure subgroup had a significantly (p<0.05) greater risk of psychiatric re-hospitalizations for schizophrenia than the other subgroups (unadjusted: HR=3.39, 95% CI 2.95, 3.90; adjusted: HR=2.28, 2.00, 2.60). This result replicated in sensitivity analyses for: Poland-born individuals, the years 1922 and 1935; and followed at least 10 years and to the year 2000. Pre-natal initiated exposure to the maximal adversity of the holocaust constitutes a consistent risk factor for a worse course of schizophrenia, a possible byproduct of neurodevelopment disruptions induced by maternal stress and/or famine and/or infections. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

OTEC Cold Water Pipe-Platform Subsystem Dynamic Interaction Validation

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

Varley, Robert; Halkyard, John; Johnson, Peter

A commercial floating 100-megawatt (MW) ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) power plant will require a cold water pipe (CWP) with a diameter of 10-meter (m) and length of up to 1,000 m. The mass of the cold water pipe, including entrained water, can exceed the mass of the platform supporting it. The offshore industry uses software-modeling tools to develop platform and riser (pipe) designs to survive the offshore environment. These tools are typically validated by scale model tests in facilities able to replicate real at-sea meteorological and ocean (metocean) conditions to provide the understanding and confidence to proceed to finalmore » design and full-scale fabrication. However, today’s offshore platforms (similar to and usually larger than those needed for OTEC applications) incorporate risers (or pipes) with diameters well under one meter. Secondly, the preferred construction method for large diameter OTEC CWPs is the use of composite materials, primarily a form of fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP). The use of these material results in relatively low pipe stiffness and large strains compared to steel construction. These factors suggest the need for further validation of offshore industry software tools. The purpose of this project was to validate the ability to model numerically the dynamic interaction between a large cold water-filled fiberglass pipe and a floating OTEC platform excited by metocean weather conditions using measurements from a scale model tested in an ocean basin test facility.« less

Carbon-isotope stratigraphy of Early Cretaceous (Urgonian) shoal-water deposits: Diachronous changes in carbonate-platform production in the north-western Tethys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huck, S.; Heimhofer, U.; Immenhauser, A.; Weissert, H.

2013-05-01

Carbonate platforms are highly sensitive ecological systems that typically show rapid and characteristic response modes to environmental and climatic changes acting both on a regional scale and global scale. A widely accepted hypothesis proposes that the Late Barremian stepwise establishment of the Urgonian carbonate platform on the Northern Tethyan shelf was related to a gradual change from predominantly humid towards more arid greenhouse conditions. This climate change resulted in the reorganisation of the carbonate platform ecosystem from heterozoan towards photozoan-dominated assemblages and a decrease of organic-matter burial in Tethyan and Boreal basins. In order to decipher the palaeoenvironmental and climatic boundary conditions of these major changes in neritic and pelagic settings, a precise chronostratigraphy of Urgonian carbonate platform evolution is needed. Here, we provide an integrated stratigraphic framework of Lower Barremian to Lower Aptian Urgonian carbonate platform sections (Cluses, Forclaz) located at the northern rim of the Tethys (Subalpine Chains, ESE France), with special focus on sedimentological analyses and high-resolution carbon-isotope stratigraphy. A characteristic Barremian-Aptian carbon-isotope pattern permits precise platform-to-basin correlation with cyclostratigraphic and ammonite-dated pelagic and hemipelagic Tethyan sections in the Vocontian Trough (Angles/Combe-Lambert/Glaise) and Umbria Marche Basin (Gorgo a Cerbara). Similar to Helvetic shoal-water settings, the carbonate platform in the Subalpine Chains experienced a gradual transition from heterozoan- to photozoan-dominated ecosystems. This biogenic pattern points to a gradual change of the carbonate platform after the so-called "Early Barremian crisis" towards an oligotrophic rimmed platform system (Urgonian Limestone Formation). According to the chronostratigraphy of Urgonian carbonate platform evolution in the Subalpine Chains established here, the installation of a

Grande Ronde Basin Chinook Salmon Captive Brood and Conventional Supplementation Programs, 2003 Annual Report.

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

Hoffnagle, Timothy L.; Hair, Don; Carmichael, Richard W.

2004-07-01

BPA Fish and Wildlife Program Project Number 1998-01-001 provides funding for the Grande Ronde Basin Spring Chinook Salmon Captive Broodstock Program. This report satisfies the requirement that an annual report be submitted for FY 2003. The Grande Ronde Basin Spring Chinook Salmon Captive Broodstock Project is designed to rapidly increase numbers of salmon in stocks that are in imminent danger of extirpation. Parr are captured in Catherine Creek, upper Grande Ronde River and Lostine River and reared to adulthood in captivity. Upon maturation, these fish are spawned (within stocks) and their progeny reared to smoltification before being released into themore » natal stream of their parents. This program is co-managed by ODFW, National Marine Fisheries Service, Nez Perce Tribe and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. This report covers activities conducted and provides data analyses for the Grande Ronde Spring Chinook Salmon Captive broodstock Program from 1 January--31 December 2003. Since the fiscal year ends in the middle of the spawning period, an annual report based on calendar year is more logical. This document is the FY 2003 annual report. Detailed information on historic and present population status, project background, goals and objectives, significance to regional programs and relationships to other programs, methods and previous results are available in the 1995-2002 Project Status Report (Hoffnagle et al 2003).« less

Site fidelity, territory fidelity, and natal philopatry in Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sedgwick, James A.

2004-01-01

I investigated the causes and consequences of adult breeding-site fidelity, territory fidelity, and natal philopatry in Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii) in southeastern Oregon over a 10-year period, testing the general hypothesis that fidelity and dispersal distances are influenced by previous breeding performance. Willow Flycatchers adhered to the generally observed tendencies of passerine birds for low natal philopatry and high breedingsite fidelity. Site fidelity (return to the study area) of adult males (52.0%) and females (51.3%), and median dispersal distances between seasons (16 m vs. 19 m) were similar. Previous breeding performance and residency (age-experience), but not study-site quality, explained site fidelity in females. Site fidelity of females rearing 4–5 young (64.4%) exceeded that of unsuccessful females (40.0%), breeding dispersal was less (successful: 15 m; unsuccessful: 33 m), and novice residents were more site-faithful than former residents. Probability of site fidelity was higher for previously successful females (odds ratio = 4.76), those with greater seasonal fecundity (odds ratio = 1.58), novice residents (odds ratio = 1.41), and unparasitized females (odds ratio = 2.76). Male site fidelity was not related to residency, site quality, or previous breeding performance. Territory fidelity (return to the previous territory) in females was best explained by previous breeding performance, but not by site quality or residency. Previously successful females were more likely to return to their territory of the previous season than either unsuccessful (odds ratio = 14.35) or parasitized birds (odds ratio = 6.38). Male territory fidelity was not related to residency, site quality, or previous breeding performance. Natal philopatry was low (7.8%) and similar for males and females. Site quality appeared to influence philopatry, given that no birds reared at a low-quality study site returned there to breed, and birds reared there dispersed

Lighting up Learning: Mathematics Becoming Less of a "Killer Subject" in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maher, Marguerite

2015-01-01

This paper reports the findings of an evaluative study of an initiative, in its sixth year of implementation, enhancing the learning and teaching of mathematics in 20 disadvantaged secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, twenty years after democracy. Findings highlight the importance of initial and ongoing professional development…

An Investigation on Students' Risky Sexual Behavior at KwaZulu-Natal University, Durban, South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mutinta, Given; Govender, Kaymarlin; Gow, Jeff; George, Gavin

2013-01-01

University environments are fertile grounds for risky sexual behaviors. This study investigated students' risky sexual practices at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. Data were collected using quantitative and qualitative methods. A total of 1,405 questionnaires were administered, and 80 in-depth interviews and four focus…

Civilisation and Colonial Education: Natal and Western Australia in the 1860s in Comparative Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swartz, Rebecca

2018-01-01

This paper examines how two Britons, working in Western Australia and Natal, respectively, engaged with ideas about the civilisation and education of Indigenous people. It is argued that concepts of civilisation were debated by missionaries, researchers and members of the public. Using the correspondence, publications and private journals of two…

Hydrothermal zebra dolomite in the Great Basin, Nevada--attributes and relation to Paleozoic stratigraphy, tectonics, and ore deposits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Diehl, S.F.; Hofstra, A.H.; Koenig, A.E.; Emsbo, P.; Christiansen, W.; Johnson, Chad

2010-01-01

In other parts of the world, previous workers have shown that sparry dolomite in carbonate rocks may be produced by the generation and movement of hot basinal brines in response to arid paleoclimates and tectonism, and that some of these brines served as the transport medium for metals fixed in Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) and sedimentary exhalative (Sedex) deposits of Zn, Pb, Ag, Au, or barite. Numerous occurrences of hydrothermal zebra dolomite (HZD), comprised of alternating layers of dark replacement and light void-filling sparry or saddle dolomite, are present in Paleozoic platform and slope carbonate rocks on the eastern side of the Great Basin physiographic province. Locally, it is associated with mineral deposits of barite, Ag-Pb-Zn, and Au. In this paper the spatial distribution of HZD occurrences, their stratigraphic position, morphological characteristics, textures and zoning, and chemical and stable isotopic compositions were determined to improve understanding of their age, origin, and relation to dolostone, ore deposits, and the tectonic evolution of the Great Basin. In northern and central Nevada, HZD is coeval and cogenetic with Late Devonian and Early Mississippian Sedex Au, Zn, and barite deposits and may be related to Late Ordovician Sedex barite deposits. In southern Nevada and southwest California, it is cogenetic with small MVT Ag-Pb-Zn deposits in rocks as young as Early Mississippian. Over Paleozoic time, the Great Basin was at equatorial paleolatitudes with episodes of arid paleoclimates. Several occurrences of HZD are crosscut by Mesozoic or Cenozoic intrusions, and some host younger pluton-related polymetallic replacement and Carlin-type gold deposits. The distribution of HZD in space (carbonate platform, margin, and slope) and stratigraphy (Late Neoproterozoic Ediacaran-Mississippian) roughly parallels that of dolostone and both are prevalent in Devonian strata. Stratabound HZD is best developed in Ediacaran and Cambrian units, whereas

Petroleum systems of the Southeast Tertiary basins and Marbella area, Southeast Mexico

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

Fuentes, F.

1996-08-01

This study was done in an area where insufficient organic-rich rocks were available for a reliable oil-source rock correlation. However, oil-rock correlations, molecular characteristics of key horizons, paleofacies maps, maturation and potential migration pathways suggest the Tithonian as a major source rock. Moreover, there is good evidence of high quality source rocks in Oxfordian, Kimmeridgian, Middle-Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene (mainly in the Eocene). Plays were identified in Upper Jurassic oolitic sequences, Early-Middle Cretaceus carbonate platform rocks and breccias, Late Cretaceous basinal fracture carbonates, Paleogene carbonates and breccias, Early-Middle Miocene mounds and submarine fans and isolated carbonate platform sediments and Miocene-Recentmore » turbidites. Seal rocks are shaly carbonates and anhydrites from Tithonian, basinal carbonates and anhydrites from Middle-Upper Cretaceous, basinal carbonates and marls from Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene shales, and bathyal shales from Early Miocene-Recent. The first phase of oil migration from upper Jurassic-Early Cretaceous source rocks occurred in the Early-Middle Cretaceous. In the Upper Cretaceous the Chortis block collided with Chiapas, and as a result mild folding and some hydrocarbons were emplaced to the structural highs. The main phase of structuration and folding of the Sierra de Chiapas started in the Miocene, resulting in well-defined structural traps. Finally, in Plio-Pleistocene the Chortis block was separated, the major compressional period finished and the southern portion of Sierra de Chiapas was raised isostatically. As a result of major subsidence, salt withdrawal and increased burial depth, conditions were created for the generation of liquid hydrocarbons from the Paleogene shales.« less

Integrated Decentralized Training for Health Professions Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Protocol for the I-DecT Project.

PubMed

Govender, Pragashnie; Chetty, Verusia; Naidoo, Deshini; Pefile, Ntsikelelo

2018-01-25

The Integrated Decentralized Training (i-DecT) project was created to address the current need for health care in South Africa among resource poor climates in rural and periurban settings. The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa has embarked on a program within the School of Health Sciences (SHS) to decentralize the clinical learning platform in order to address this disparity. Framed in a pragmatic stance, this proposal is geared towards informing the roll out of decentralized clinical training (DCT) within the province of KwaZulu-Natal. There currently remains uncertainty as to how the implementation of this program will unfold, especially for the diverse SHS, which includes specialities like audiology, dentistry, occupational therapy, optometry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, speech-language pathology, and sport science. Consequently, there is a need to carefully monitor and manage this DCT in order to ensure that the participating students have a positive learning experience and achieve expected academic outcomes, and that the needs of the communities are addressed adequately. The study aims to explore the factors that will influence the roll-out of the DCT by developing an inclusive and context-specific model that will adhere to the standards set by the SHS for the DCT program at UKZN. Key role players, including but not limited to, the South African Ministry of Health policy makers, clinicians, policy makers at UKZN, clinical educators, academicians, and students of UKZN within the SHS will participate in this project. Once the infrastructural, staffing and pedagogical enablers and challenges are identified, together with a review of existing models of decentralized training, a context-specific model for DCTl will be proposed based on initial pilot data that will be tested within iterative cycles in an Action Learning Action Research (ALAR) process. The study was designed to fit within the existing structures, and emerging framework and memorandum of

Geochemistry and hydrodynamics of the Paradox Basin region, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hanshaw, B.B.; Hill, G.A.

1969-01-01

The Paradox Basin region is approximately bounded by the south flank of the Uinta Basin to the north, the Uncompahgre uplift and San Juan Mountains to the east, the Four Corners structural platform to the southeast, the north rim of the Black Mesa Basin and the Grand Canyon to the south and southwest, and the Wasatch Plateau and Hurricane fault system to the west. Some of these geologic features are areas of ground-water recharge or discharge whereas others such as the Four Corners platform do not directly influence fluid movement. The aquifer systems studied were: (1) Mississippian rocks; (2) Pinkerton Trail Limestone of Wengerd and Strickland, 1954; (3) Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation; (4) Honaker Trail Formation of Wengerd and Matheny, 1958; (5) Permian rocks. Recharge in the Paradox Basin occurs on the west flank of the San Juan Mountains and along the west side of the Uncompahgre uplift. The direction of ground-water movement in each analyzed unit is principally southwest-ward toward the topographically low outcrop areas along the Colorado River in Arizona. However, at any point in the basin, flow may be in some other direction owing to the influence of intrabasin recharge areas or local obstructions to flow, such as faults or dikes. A series of potentiometric surface maps was prepared for the five systems studied. Material used in construction of the maps included outcrop altitudes of springs and streams, drill-stem tests, water-well records, and an electric analog model of the entire basin. Many structurally and topographically high areas within the basin are above the regional potentiometric surface; recharge in these areas will drain rapidly off the high areas and adjust to the regional water level. With a few exceptions, most wells in formations above the Pennsylvanian contain fresh ( 35,000 mg/l T.D.S.) reported. Most water samples from strata below the Permian are brines of the sodium chloride type but with large amounts of calcium sulfate or

Equatorial ozone characteristics as measured at Natal (5.9 deg S, 35.2 deg W)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirchhoff, V. W. J. H.; Hilsenrath, E.; Motta, A. G.; Sahai, Y.; Medrano-B, R. A.

1982-01-01

Ozone density profiles obtained through electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) sonde measurements at Natal were analyzed. Time variations, as expected, are small. Outstanding features of the data are tropospheric densities substantially higher than those measured at other stations, and also a total ozone content that is higher than the averages given by satellite measurements.

An integrated framework to assess adaptation options to climate change impacts in an irrigated basin in Central North Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vicuna, S.; Melo, O.; Meza, F. J.; Alvarez, P.; Maureira, F.; Sanchez, A.; Tapia, A.; Cortes, M.; Dale, L. L.

2013-12-01

Future climate conditions could potentially affect water supply and demand on water basins throughout the world but especially on snowmelt-driven agriculture oriented basins that can be found throughout central Chile. Increasing temperature and reducing precipitation will affect both the magnitude and timing of water supply this part of the world. Different adaptation strategies could be implemented to reduce the impacts of such scenarios. Some could be incorporated as planned policies decided at the basin or Water Use Organization levels. Examples include changing large scale irrigation infrastructure (reservoirs and main channels) either physically or its operation. Complementing these strategies it is reasonable to think that at a disaggregated level, farmers would also react (adapt) to these new conditions using a mix of options to either modify their patterns of consumption (irrigation efficiency, crop mix, crop area reduction), increase their ability to access new sources of water (groundwater, water markets) or finally compensate their expected losses (insurance). We present a modeling framework developed to represent these issues using as a case study the Limarí basin located in Central Chile. This basin is a renowned example of how the development of reservoirs and irrigation infrastructure can reduce climate vulnerabilities allowing the economic development of a basin. Farmers in this basin tackle climate variability by adopting different strategies that depend first on the reservoir water volume allocation rule, on the type and size of investment they have at their farms and finally their potential access to water markets and other water supplies options. The framework developed can be used to study these strategies under current and future climate scenarios. The cornerstone of the framework is an hydrology and water resources model developed on the WEAP platform. This model is able to reproduce the large scale hydrologic features of the basin such as

Footwall progradation in syn-rift carbonate platform-slope systems (Early Jurassic, Northern Apennines, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fabbi, Simone; Santantonio, Massimo

2012-12-01

The so-called Umbria-Marche Domain of Northern Apennines represents a vast depositional system, also stretching across the Adriatic Sea subsurface, that was characterized by dominantly pelagic sedimentation through most of its Jurassic to Oligocene/Early Miocene history. The pelagic succession is underlain by Hettangian shallow-water carbonates (Calcare Massiccio Fm.), constituting a regional carbonate platform that was subjected to tectonic extension due to rifting of the Adria/African Plate in the earliest Jurassic. While tectonic subsidence of the hangingwalls drove the drowning of the platform around the Hettangian/Sinemurian boundary, the production of benthic carbonate on footwall blocks continued parallel to faulting, through a sequence of facies that was abruptly terminated by drowning and development of condensed pelagites in the early Pliensbachian. By then rifting had ceased, so that the Pliensbachian to Early Cretaceous hangingwall deposits represent a post-rift basin-fill succession onlapping the tectonically-generated escarpment margins of the highs. During the early phases of syndepositional faulting, the carbonate factories of footwall blocks were still temporarily able to fill part of the accommodation space produced by the normal faults by prograding into the incipient basins. In this paper we describe for the first time a relatively low-angle (< 10°) clinoform bed package documenting such an ephemeral phase of lateral growth of a carbonate factory. The clinoforms are sigmoidal, and form low-relief (maximum 5-7 m) bodies representing a shallow-water slope that was productive due to development of a Lithocodium-dominated factory. Continued faulting and hangingwall subsidence then decoupled the slope from the platform top, halting the growth of clinoforms and causing the platform margin to switch from accretionary to bypass mode as the pre-rift substrate became exposed along a submarine fault escarpment. The downfaulted clinoform slope was then

The Association of Molecular Gas and Natal Super Star Clusters in Henize 2–10

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Kelsey E.; Brogan, Crystal L.; Indebetouw, Remy; Testi, Leonardo; Wilner, David J.; Reines, Amy E.; Chen, C.-H. Rosie; Vanzi, Leonardo

2018-02-01

We present ALMA observations of the dwarf starburst galaxy He 2–10 in combination with previous SMA CO observations to probe the molecular environments of natal super star clusters (SSCs). These observations include the HCO+(1-0), HCN(1-0), HNC(1-0), and CCH(1-0) molecular lines, as well as 88 GHz continuum with a spatial resolution of 1\\buildrel{\\prime\\prime}\\over{.} 7× 1\\buildrel{\\prime\\prime}\\over{.} 6. After correcting for the contribution from free–free emission to the 88 GHz continuum flux density (∼60% of the 88 GHz emission), we derive a total gas mass for He 2–10 of {M}{gas}=4{--}6× {10}8 M ⊙, roughly 5%–20% of the dynamical mass. Based on a principle component analysis, HCO+ is found to be the best “general” tracer of molecular emission. The line widths and luminosities of the CO emission suggests that the molecular clouds could either be as small as ∼8 pc, or alternately have enhanced line widths. The CO emission and 88 GHz continuum are anti-correlated, suggesting that either the dust and molecular gas are not cospatial, which could reflect that the 88 GHz continuum is dominated by free–free emission. The CO and CCH emission are also relatively anti-correlated, which is consistent with the CCH being photo-enhanced, and/or the CO being dissociated in the regions near the natal SSCs. The molecular line ratios of regions containing the natal star clusters are different from the line ratios observed for regions elsewhere in the galaxy. In particular, the regions with thermal radio emission all have {CO}(2{--}1)/{{HCO}}+(1-0)< 16, and the HCO+/CO ratio appears to be correlated with the evolutionary stage of the clusters.

Total Petroleum Systems of the Carpathian - Balkanian Basin Province of Romania and Bulgaria

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pawlewicz, Mark

2007-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey defined the Moesian Platform Composite Total Petroleum System and the Dysodile Schist-Tertiary Total Petroleum System, which contain three assessment units, in the Carpathian-Balkanian Basin Province of Romania and Bulgaria. The Moesian Platform Assessment Unit, contained within the Moesian Platform Composite Total Petroleum System, is composed of Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks within the Moesian platform region of southern Romania and northern Bulgaria and also within the Birlad depression in the northeastern platform area. In Romania, hydrocarbon sources are identified as carbonate rocks and bituminous claystones within the Middle Devonian, Middle Jurassic, Lower Cretaceous, and Neogene stratigraphic sequences. In the Birlad depression, Neogene pelitic strata have the best potential for generating hydrocarbons. In Bulgaria, Middle and Upper Jurassic shales are the most probable hydrocarbon sources. The Romania Flysch Zone Assessment Unit in the Dysodile Schist-Tertiary Total Petroleum System encompasses three structural and paleogeographic subunits within the Pre-Carpathian Mountains region: (1) the Getic depression, a segment of the Carpathian foredeep; (2) the flysch zone of the eastern Carpathian Mountains (also called the Marginal Fold nappe); and (3) the Miocene zone (also called the Sub-Carpathian nappe). Source rocks are interpreted to be Oligocene dysodile schist and black claystone, along with Miocene black claystone and marls. Also part of the Dysodile Schist-Tertiary Total Petroleum System is the Romania Ploiesti Zone Assessment Unit, which includes a zone of diapir folds. This zone lies between the Rimnicu Sarat and Dinibovita valleys and between the folds of the inner Carpathian Mountains and the external flanks of the Carpathian foredeep. The Oligocene Dysodile Schist is considered the main hydrocarbon source rock and Neogene black marls and claystones are likely secondary sources; all are thought to be at their maximum

“Staying for the children”: The role of natal relatives in supporting women experiencing intimate partner violence during pregnancy in northern Tanzania – A qualitative study

PubMed Central

Mushi, Declare; Gammeltoft, Tine

2018-01-01

Introduction Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global health and human rights problem. In Tanzania, national studies have shown that half of all women experience partner violence in their lifetime, 38% reported being abused during a period of 12 months and 30% during pregnancy. Despite the benefits of social support to women victims of violence during pregnancy, a majority of women hesitate to seek help and, if they do, they mainly turn to their natal relatives for support. However, this process of help-seeking and the type of support received is not well documented and needs to be explored with a view to future interventions. This article investigates women’s own perspectives on the support they receive from natal relatives when experiencing IPV during pregnancy. Materials and methods Eighteen participants who experienced physical IPV during pregnancy were purposively selected from a cohort of 1,116 pregnant women enrolled in a project that aimed at assessing the impact of intimate partner violence on reproductive health. In-depth interviews were used to explore the social support received from the natal family among women who experienced partner violence during pregnancy. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, coded and analyzed. Results Women who experienced severe IPV during pregnancy were more likely to seek help from natal relatives. Severe violence was defined by the women as acts that occurred frequently and/or resulted in injury. The women’s natal relatives were willing to provide the support; however, they strongly encouraged women to maintain their marriage so that they could continue caring for their children jointly with their partners. Emotional support was the commonest form of support and included showing love and empathy and praying. Information provided to victims aimed mainly at advising them to maintain their marriage. Practical support included direct financial support and building their economic base to reduce dependency on

Slab roll-back and trench retreat as controlling factor for basin subsidence in southern Central America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandes, Christian; Winsemann, Jutta

2015-04-01

Slab roll-back and trench retreat are important factors for basin subsidence, magma generation and volcanism in arc-trench systems. Based on the sedimentary and tectonic record of the southern Central American island-arc we conclude that repeated phases of slab roll-back and trench retreats occurred the arc-trench system since the Late Cretaceous. These trench retreats were most probably related to the subduction of oceanic plateaus and seamounts and effected both the fore-arc and back-arc evolution. We used numerical basin modelling techniques to analyse the burial history of fore-arc and back-arc basins in Central America and combined the results with field data of the sedimentological evolution of the basin-fills. From the basin models, geohistory curves were extracted for the fore-arc and back-arc basins to derive the subsidence evolution. The Sandino Fore-arc Basin is characterized by low subsidence during the first 40 Myr. Since the Late Cretaceous the basin has a linear moderate subsidence with a phase of accelerated subsidence in the Oligocene. In the North and South Limón Back-arc Basin, subsidence started at approximately the same time as in the Sandino Fore-arc Basin. The North and South Limón Basins show a linear subsidence trend in the Paleocene and Eocene. Evidence for trench retreats is given by pulses of uplift in the outer-arc area, followed by subsidence in both the fore-arc and back-arc basins. The first slab roll-back probably occurred during the Early Paleocene. This is indicated by the collapse of carbonate platforms, and the re-deposition of large carbonate blocks into deep-water turbidites. A new pulse of uplift or decreased subsidence, respectively during the Late Eocene is attributed to subduction of rough crust. A subsequent slab detachment and the establishment of a new subduction zone further westward was described by Walther et al. (2000). Strong uplift affected the entire fore-arc area, which led to the deposition of very coarse

Alterations in fear response and spatial memory in pre- and post-natal zinc supplemented rats: remediation by copper.

PubMed

Railey, Angela M; Micheli, Teresa L; Wanschura, Patricia B; Flinn, Jane M

2010-05-11

The role of zinc in the nervous system is receiving increased attention. At a time when dietary fortification and supplementation have increased the amount of zinc being consumed, little work has been done on the effects of enhanced zinc on behavior. Both zinc and copper are essential trace minerals that are acquired from the diet; under normal conditions the body protects against zinc overload, but at excessive dosages, copper deficiency has been seen. In order to examine the effect of enhanced metal administration on learning and memory, Sprague Dawley rats were given water supplemented with 10ppm Zn, 10ppm Zn+0.25ppm Cu, or normal lab water, during pre- and post-natal development. Fear conditioning tests at 4months showed significantly higher freezing rates during contextual retention and extinction and cued extinction for rats drinking water supplemented with zinc, suggesting increased anxiety compared to controls raised on lab water. During the MWM task at 9months, zinc-enhanced rats had significantly longer latencies to reach the platform compared to controls. The addition of copper to the zinc supplemented water brought freezing and latency levels closer to that of controls. These data demonstrate the importance of maintaining appropriate intake of both metals simultaneously, and show that long-term supplementation with zinc may cause alterations in memory. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Miocene climate variations in the Moesian Platform sediments based on sedimentology and biomarkers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butiseaca, Geanina; Vasiliev, Iuliana; Rabagia, Traian; Dinu, Corneliu; Mulch, Andreas

2017-04-01

During the Miocene the Moesian Platform (southern Romania and northern Bulgaria) had a complicated flexural behavior due to the mobility of the nearby orogens. The different behavior induced varying sediment charges, sediment distribution and sediment types. The northern part of the study area (on which the Dacian Basin is overlaid) is characterized by siliciclastic units with dominantly deep facieses, while the southern part is characterized by carbonate production in shallower basin waters. Since the Miocene, the Dacian and Black Sea basins have been highly sensitive to fluctuations in the hydrological cycle. To establish the dynamic evolution of the basin and the climate variations during the Miocene, we have sampled both northern and southern margins of the basin. To discriminate between the tectonic imprint and the eustatic influence over the sedimentation rate we have chosen a multidisciplinary approach including sedimentology, tectonics and organic geochemistry based reconstructions. The sedimentary succession is interrupted by few unconformities correspondent with the main phases of orogeny (in the Carpathian Foredeep) while the southern part seems to have been exposed more often expressed in the geological record by a higher number of unconformities and paleo-soils levels. The n-alkanes distribution recovered from the lipids extracted from the sedimentary rocks indicates a mixture of terrestrial and marine input in the northern, Romanian, closer to Carpathians, part of the Dacian Basin. Surprisingly, the southern, Bulgarian side, showed a more predominant terrestrial input (with higher contribution of the long chain n-alkanes) at least for the Sarmatian (arround 10 Ma). The estimated paleotemperatures based on branched GDGT's indicate much warmer conditions than present day, up to a value of 20 C mean annual temperatures. We will further investigate the paleoenvironmental changes during the latest Miocene of the Dacian basin, using the biomarker approach

Cyp1b1 deletion and retinol deficiency coordinately suppress mouse liver lipogenic genes and hepcidin expression during post-natal development

PubMed Central

Maguire, Meghan; Larsen, Michele Campaigne; Foong, Yee Hoon; Tanumihardjo, Sherry; Jefcoate, Colin R.

2018-01-01

Cyp1b1 deletion and gestational vitamin A deficiency (GVAD) redirect adult liver gene expression. A matched sufficient pre- and post-natal diet, which has high carbohydrate and normal iron content (LF12), increased inflammatory gene expression markers in adult livers that were suppressed by GVAD and Cyp1b1 deletion. At birth on the LF12 diet, Cyp1b1 deletion and GVAD each suppress liver expression of the iron suppressor, hepcidin (Hepc), while increasing stellate cell activation markers and suppressing post-natal increases in lipogenesis. Hepc was less suppressed in Cyp1b1−/− pups with a standard breeder diet, but was restored by iron supplementation of the LF12 diet. Conclusions The LF12 diet delivered low post-natal iron and attenuated Hepc. Hepc decreases in Cyp1b1−/− and GVAD mice resulted in stellate activation and lipogenesis suppression. Endothelial BMP6, a Hepc stimulant, is a potential coordinator and Cyp1b1 target. These neonatal changes in Cyp1b1−/− mice link to diminished adult obesity and liver inflammation. PMID:28583802

Chapter 7: Breeding and Natal Dispersal, Nest Habitat Loss and Implications for Marbled Murrelet Populations

Treesearch

George J. Divoky; Michael Horton

1995-01-01

Evidence of breeding and natal dispersal in alcids is typically provided by the resightings of banded birds, the establishment of new colonies, and/or evidence of immigration to established colonies. The difficulties in banding, observing, and censusing Marbled Murrelets at nesting areas preclude using any of these methods for this species. Based on the limited number...

Floor Plans Engine Removal Platform, Hold Down Arm Platform, ...

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

Floor Plans - Engine Removal Platform, Hold Down Arm Platform, Hydraulic Equipment Platforms, Isometric Cutaway of Engine Removal Platform, Isometric Cutaway of Hold Down Arm Platform, Isometric Cutaway of Hydraulic Platforms and Engine Support System Access - Marshall Space Flight Center, Saturn V S-IC Static Test Facility, West Test Area, Huntsville, Madison County, AL

Dietary adequacies among South African adults in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

PubMed

Kolahdooz, Fariba; Spearing, Kerry; Sharma, Sangita

2013-01-01

Food quality, determined by micronutrient content, is a stronger determinant of nutritional status than food quantity. Health concerns resulting from the co-existence of over-nutrition and under-nutrition in low income populations in South Africa have been fully recognized in the last two decades. This study aimed to further investigate dietary adequacy amongst adults in rural KwaZulu-Natal, by determining daily energy and nutrient intakes, and identifying the degree of satisfaction of dietary requirements. Cross-sectional study assessing dietary adequacy from 24-hour dietary recalls of randomly selected 136 adults in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Results are presented for men (n = 52) and women (n = 84) 19-50 and >50 years old. Mean energy intake was greatest in women >50 years (2852 kcal/day) and exceeded Dietary Reference Intake's for both men and women, regardless of age. Mean daily energy intake from carbohydrates was 69% for men and 67% for women, above the Dietary Reference Intake range of 45-65%. Sodium was also consumed in excess, and the Dietary Reference Intakes of vitamins A, B12, C, D, and E, calcium, zinc and pantothenic acid were not met by the majority of the population. Despite mandatory fortification of staple South African foods, micronutrient inadequacies are evident among adults in rural South African communities. Given the excess caloric intake and the rising prevalence of obesity and other non-communicable diseases in South Africa, a focus on diet quality may be a more effective approach to influence micronutrient status than a focus on diet quantity.

Evolution and palaeoenvironment of the Bauru Basin (Upper Cretaceous, Brazil)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandes, Luiz Alberto; Magalhães Ribeiro, Claudia Maria

2015-08-01

The Bauru Basin was one of the great Cretaceous desert basins of the world, evolved in arid zone called Southern Hot Arid Belt. Its paleobiological record consists mainly of dinosaurs, crocodiles and turtles. The Bauru Basin is an extensive region of the South American continent that includes parts of the southeast and south of Brazil, covering an area of 370,000 km2. It is an interior continental basin that developed as a result of subsidence of the central-southern part of the South-American Platform during the Late Cretaceous (Coniacian-Maastrichtian). This sag basin is filled by a sandy siliciclastic sequence with a preserved maximum thickness of 480 m, deposited in semiarid to desert conditions. Its basement consists of volcanic rocks (mainly basalts) of the Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian) Serra Geral basalt flows, of the Paraná-Etendeka Continental Flood Basalt Province. The sag basin was filled by an essentially siliciclastic psammitic sequence. In lithostratigraphic terms the sequence consists of the Caiuá and Bauru groups. The northern and northeastern edges of the basin provide a record of more proximal original deposits, such as associations of conglomeratic sand facies from alluvial fans, lakes, and intertwined distributary river systems. The progressive basin filling led to the burial of the basaltic substrate by extensive blanket sand sheets, associated with deposits of small dunes and small shallow lakes that retained mud (such as loess). Also in this intermediate context between the edges (more humid) and the interior (dry), wide sand sheet areas crossed by unconfined desert rivers (wadis) occurred. In the central axis of the elliptical basin a regional drainage system formed, flowing from northeast to southwest between the edges of the basin and the hot and dry inner periphery of the Caiuá desert (southwest). Life in the Bauru Basin flourished most in the areas with the greatest water availability, in which dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, fish

Supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) in South Africa: comprehensive economic evaluation of an integrated child health delivery platform.

PubMed

Verguet, Stéphane; Jassat, Waasila; Bertram, Melanie Y; Tollman, Stephen M; Murray, Christopher J L; Jamison, Dean T; Hofman, Karen J

2013-03-01

Supplementary immunization activity (SIA) campaigns provide children with an additional dose of measles vaccine and deliver other interventions, including vitamin A supplements, deworming medications, and oral polio vaccines. To assess the cost-effectiveness of the full SIA delivery platform in South Africa (SA). We used an epidemiologic cost model to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the 2010 SIA campaign. We used province-level campaign data sourced from the District Health Information System, SA, and from planning records of provincial coordinators of the Expanded Programme on Immunization. The data included the number of children immunized with measles and polio vaccines, the number of children given vitamin A supplements and Albendazole tablets, and costs. The campaign cost $37 million and averted a total of 1,150 deaths (95% uncertainty range: 990-1,360). This ranged from 380 deaths averted in KwaZulu-Natal to 20 deaths averted in the Northern Cape. Vitamin A supplementation alone averted 820 deaths (95% UR: 670-1,040); measles vaccination alone averted 330 deaths (95% UR: 280-370). Incremental cost-effectiveness was $27,100 (95% UR: $18,500-34,400) per death averted nationally, ranging from $11,300 per death averted in the Free State to $91,300 per death averted in the Eastern Cape. Cost-effectiveness of the SIA child health delivery platform varies substantially across SA provinces, and it is substantially more cost-effective when vitamin A supplementation is included in the interventions administered. Cost-effectiveness assessments should consider health system delivery platforms that integrate multiple interventions, and they should be conducted at the sub-national level.

Potential Effects of Hydroelectric Dam Development in the Mekong River Basin on the Migration of Siamese Mud Carp (Henicorhynchus siamensis and H. lobatus) Elucidated by Otolith Microchemistry

PubMed Central

Fukushima, Michio; Jutagate, Tuantong; Grudpan, Chaiwut; Phomikong, Pisit; Nohara, Seiichi

2014-01-01

The migration of Siamese mud carp (Henicorhynchus siamensis and H. lobatus), two of the most economically important fish species in the Mekong River, was studied using an otolith microchemistry technique. Fish and river water samples were collected in seven regions throughout the whole basin in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia over a 4 year study period. There was coherence between the elements in the ambient water and on the surface of the otoliths, with strontium (Sr) and barium (Ba) showing the strongest correlation. The partition coefficients were 0.409–0.496 for Sr and 0.055 for Ba. Otolith Sr-Ba profiles indicated extensive synchronized migrations with similar natal origins among individuals within the same region. H. siamensis movement has been severely suppressed in a tributary system where a series of irrigation dams has blocked their migration. H. lobatus collected both below and above the Khone Falls in the mainstream Mekong exhibited statistically different otolith surface elemental signatures but similar core elemental signatures. This result suggests a population originating from a single natal origin but bypassing the waterfalls through a passable side channel where a major hydroelectric dam is planned. The potential effects of damming in the Mekong River are discussed. PMID:25099147

Empowering Adults through Literacy Education in South Africa: Activities at the University of Natal at Pietermaritzburg.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Heerden, Gwyneth; And Others

1991-01-01

Five brief articles from a journal published by the Public Affairs Department of the University of Natal, South Africa, discuss issues related to empowering adults through literacy education in that country. "Meeting Needs" (Gwyneth van Heerden) describes the extent and nature of adult illiteracy in South Africa and the activities of the…

Effects of offshore platforms on soft-bottom macro-benthic assemblages: a case study in a Mediterranean gas field.

PubMed

Terlizzi, Antonio; Bevilacqua, Stanislao; Scuderi, Danilo; Fiorentino, Dario; Guarnieri, Giuseppe; Giangrande, Adriana; Licciano, Margherita; Felline, Serena; Fraschetti, Simonetta

2008-07-01

The exploitation of fossil fuels in the Mediterranean Sea will likely lead to an increase in the number of offshore platforms, a recognized threat for marine biodiversity. To date, in this basin, few attempts have been made to assess the impact of offshore gas and oil platforms on the biodiversity of benthic assemblages. Here, we adopted a structured experimental design coupled with high taxonomic resolution to outline putative effects of gas platforms on soft-bottom macrofauna assemblages in the North Ionian Sea. The analysis was based on a total of 20,295 specimens of 405 taxa, almost entirely identified at species level. Multivariate and univariate analyses showed idiosyncratic patterns of assemblage change with increasing distance from the platforms. Potential reasons underlying such inconsistency are analyzed and the view that structured experimental monitoring is a crucial tool to quantify the extent and magnitude of potential threats and to provide sound baseline information on biodiversity patterns is supported.

Stratigraphy and paleogeographic significance of a Late Pennsylvanian to Early Permian channeled slope sequence in the Darwin Basin, southern Darwin Hills, east-central California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stevens, Calvin H.; Stone, Paul; Magginetti, Robert T.; Ritter, Scott M.

2015-01-01

The complex stratigraphy of late Paleozoic rocks in the southern Darwin Hills consists of regionally extensive Mississippian and Early to Middle Pennsylvanian rocks overlain by latest Pennsylvanian to Early Permian rocks, herein called the Darwin Hills sequence. Deposition of this latter sequence marked the beginning of the Darwin Basin. In Mississippian time, a carbonate platform prograded westward over slightly older slope deposits. In the Late Mississippian this platform was exposed to erosion and siliciclastic sediments were deposited. In Early to Middle Pennsylvanian time the area subsided, forming a west-facing ramp that was subjected to deformation and erosion in Middle or early Late Pennsylvanian time. Later this area was tilted westward and deep-water sediments were deposited on this slope. In latest Pennsylvanian to earliest Permian time, a major channel was cut through the older Pennsylvanian rocks and into the Upper Mississippian strata. This channel was gradually filled with increasingly finer grained, deep-water sediment as the area evolved into a basin floor by Early Permian (Sakmarian) time. Expansion of the Darwin Basin in Artinskian time led to a second phase of deposition represented by strata of the regionally extensive Darwin Canyon Formation. The geology in this small area thus documents tectonic events occurring during the early development of the Darwin Basin.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices on malaria transmission in Mamfene, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa 2015.

PubMed

Manana, Pinky N; Kuonza, Lazarus; Musekiwa, Alfred; Mpangane, Hluphi D; Koekemoer, Lizette L

2017-07-20

In South Africa malaria is endemic in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the north-eastern areas of KwaZulu-Natal provinces. South Africa has set targets to eliminate malaria by 2018 and research into complementary vector control tools such as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is ongoing. It is important to understand community perceptions regarding malaria transmission and control interventions to enable development of community awareness campaign messages appropriate to the needs of the community. We aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding malaria transmission to inform a public awareness campaign for SIT in Jozini Local Municipality, Mamfene in KwaZulu-Natal province. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in three communities in Mamfene, KwaZulu-Natal during 2015. A structured field piloted questionnaire was administered to 400 randomly selected heads of households. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data. Of the 400 participants interviewed, 99% had heard about malaria and correctly associated it with mosquito bites. The sources of malaria information were the local health facility (53%), radio (16%) and community meetings (7%). Approximately 63% of the participants were able to identify three or four symptoms of malaria. The majority (76%) were confident that indoor residual spraying (IRS) kills mosquitoes and prevents infection. Bed nets were used by 2% of the participants. SIT knowledge was poor (9%), however 63% of the participants were supportive of mosquito releases for research purposes. The remaining 37% raised concerns and fears, including fear of the unknown and lack of information on the SIT. Appropriate knowledge, positive attitude and acceptable treatment-seeking behaviour for malaria were demonstrated by members of the community. Community involvement will be crucial in achieving success of the SIT and future studies should further investigate concerns raised by the community. The existing communication channels used by the

Pre-natal exposure to dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene and infant lower respiratory tract infections and wheeze.

PubMed

Gascon, Mireia; Vrijheid, Martine; Martínez, David; Ballester, Ferran; Basterrechea, Mikel; Blarduni, Elizabeth; Esplugues, Ana; Vizcaino, Esther; Grimalt, Joan O; Morales, Eva; Sunyer, Jordi

2012-05-01

The aim of our study was to examine whether pre-natal exposure to dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) increases the risk of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) and wheeze in infants. The study is based on a birth cohort of 1,455 mother-child pairs. Maternal serum concentrations of DDE, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were measured during pregnancy. Parental reports on LRTI and wheeze were obtained when children were 12-14 months old. 35.4% of children developed at least one LRTI episode and 33.6% at least one wheezing episode during their first 12-14 months of life. Median DDE, PCBs and HCB concentrations were 116.3, 113.7 and 46.4 ng · g(-1) lipid, respectively. DDE concentrations were associated with LRTI risk (relative risk (RR) per 10% increase 1.11, 95% CI 1.00-1.22), also after adjustment for PCBs and HCB. In all quartiles of DDE exposure, the risk of LRTI was increased compared with the lowest quartile, but the increase was statistically significant only in the third quartile (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.08-1.62). No association was observed for PCBs and HCB. Results were similar for wheeze. This study suggests that pre-natal DDE exposure is associated with a higher risk of LRTI and wheeze in infants independently of exposure to other organochlorine compounds.

Estimating amplitudes of fifth-order sea level fluctuations from peritidal through basinal carbonate deposits, Lower Mississippian, Wyoming-Montana

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

Elrick, M.; Read, J.F.

1990-05-01

Three types of 1-10-m upward-shallowing cycles are observed in the Lower Mississippian Lodgepole and lower Madison formations of Wyoming and Montana. Typical peritidal cycles have pellet grainstone bases overlain by algal laminites, which are rarely capped by paleosol/regolith horizons. Shallow ramp cycles have burrowed pellet-skeletal wackestone bases overlain by cross-bedded ooid/crinoid grainstone caps. Deep ramp cycles are characterized by sub-wave base limestone/argillite, storm-deposited limestone, overlain by hummocky stratified grainstone caps. Average cycle periods range from 17-155 k.y. This, rhythmically bedded limestone/argillite deposits of basinal facies do not contain shallowing-upward cycles, but do contain 2-4 k.y. limestone/argillite rhythms. These sub-wave basemore » deposit are associated with Waulsortian-type mud mounds which have >50 m synoptic relief. This relief provides minimum water depth estimates for the deposits, and implies storm-wave base was less than 50 m. Two-dimensional computer modeling of cyclic platform through noncyclic basinal deposits allows for bracketing of fifth-order sea level fluctuation amplitudes, thought responsible for cycle formation. Computer models using fifth-order amplitudes less than 20 m do not produce cycles on the deep ramp (assuming a 25-30 m storm-wave base). Amplitudes >30 m produce water depths on the inner ramp that are too deep, and disconformities extend too far into the basin. The absence of meter-scale cycles in the basin suggests water depths were too great to record the effects of sea level oscillations occurring on the platform, or climatic fluctuation, associated with glacio-eustatic sea level oscillations, were not sufficient to affect hemipelagic depositional patterns in the tropical basin environment.« less

Interleukin-6 Regulates Adult Neural Stem Cell Numbers during Normal and Abnormal Post-natal Development.

PubMed

Storer, Mekayla A; Gallagher, Denis; Fatt, Michael P; Simonetta, Jaclin V; Kaplan, David R; Miller, Freda D

2018-05-08

Circulating systemic factors can regulate adult neural stem cell (NSC) biology, but the identity of these circulating cues is still being defined. Here, we have focused on the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), since increased circulating levels of IL-6 are associated with neural pathologies such as autism and bipolar disorder. We show that IL-6 promotes proliferation of post-natal murine forebrain NSCs and that, when the IL-6 receptor is inducibly knocked out in post-natal or adult neural precursors, this causes a long-term decrease in forebrain NSCs. Moreover, a transient circulating surge of IL-6 in perinatal or adult mice causes an acute increase in neural precursor proliferation followed by long-term depletion of adult NSC pools. Thus, IL-6 signaling is both necessary and sufficient for adult NSC self-renewal, and acute perturbations in circulating IL-6, as observed in many pathological situations, have long-lasting effects on the size of adult NSC pools. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Volatile Fraction of Comets as Quantified at Infrared Wavelengths - An Emerging Taxonomy and Implications for Natal Heritage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mumma, M. J.; DiSanti, M. A.; Bonev, B. P.; Villanueva, G. L.; Magee-Sauer, K.; Gibb, E. L.; Paganini, L.; Radeva, Y. L.; Charnley, S. B.

2012-01-01

It is relatively easy to identify the reservoir from which a given comet was ejected. But dynamical models demonstrate that the main cometary reservoirs (Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud) each contain icy bodies that formed in a range of environments in the protoplanetary disk, and the Oort Cloud may even contain bodies that formed in disks of sibling stars in the Sun s birth cluster. The cometary nucleus contains clues to the formative region(s) of its individual components. The composition of ices and rocky grains reflect a range of processes experienced by material while on the journey from the natal interstellar cloud core to the cometary nucleus. For that reason, emphasis is placed on classifying comets according to their native ices and dust (rather than orbital dynamics). Mumma & Charnley [1] reviewed the current status of taxonomies for comets and relation to their natal heritage.

Tectonic evolution of the Black Sea orogene belt and the history of opening of the Black Sea basin

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

Uesuemezsoy, S.

1988-08-01

The Black Sea basin is surrounded by successive orogenic belts of Hercynian, Cimmerian, and Alpine ages. The Rhodope, Thracian, western Pontian, and Transcaucasian (RTPT) blocks of Precambrian age were involved by the circum-Black Sea orogene belts. The Hercynian orogene was documented in the Balkanide, Great Caucasian, Kriastide, southern Pontian, and Transcaucasian belts. The Cimmerian orogene extended north and south of the Black Sea. The southern Cimmerian orogene was represented by the circum-Rhodope and East Thracian-Strandja-Kuere belts. The northern Cimmerian orogene belt extended along the Dobruca-Crimean and southern slope belts. Following the demise of the Black Sea Cimmerian basin, the northernmostmore » oceanic branch extending from Nish-Trajan through the present Black Sea to the intra-Transcaucasian basin, was opened within the Hercynian and Cimmerian consolidated terrain in the Late Jurassic. The other oceanic branch, extending from Izmir-Ankara through circum Kirsehir to various basins, was opened within the Paleotethyan collision belt, considered to be eastern extension of the Pindus basin. The Nish-Trajan sector of the northernmost basin was closed in the middle Cretaceous, and the Moesian platform re-fused to the Getic-Serbo-Macedonian-Rhodope belt. The easternmost extension of the intra-Transcaucasian basin disappeared in the Late Cretaceous. Consequently, the northernmost oceanic branch was reduced to the present Black Sea basin.« less

Dietary Adequacies among South African Adults in Rural KwaZulu-Natal

PubMed Central

Kolahdooz, Fariba; Spearing, Kerry; Sharma, Sangita

2013-01-01

Background Food quality, determined by micronutrient content, is a stronger determinant of nutritional status than food quantity. Health concerns resulting from the co-existence of over-nutrition and under-nutrition in low income populations in South Africa have been fully recognized in the last two decades. This study aimed to further investigate dietary adequacy amongst adults in rural KwaZulu-Natal, by determining daily energy and nutrient intakes, and identifying the degree of satisfaction of dietary requirements. Methods Cross-sectional study assessing dietary adequacy from 24-hour dietary recalls of randomly selected 136 adults in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Results Results are presented for men (n = 52) and women (n = 84) 19–50 and >50 years old. Mean energy intake was greatest in women >50 years (2852 kcal/day) and exceeded Dietary Reference Intake’s for both men and women, regardless of age. Mean daily energy intake from carbohydrates was 69% for men and 67% for women, above the Dietary Reference Intake range of 45–65%. Sodium was also consumed in excess, and the Dietary Reference Intakes of vitamins A, B12, C, D, and E, calcium, zinc and pantothenic acid were not met by the majority of the population. Conclusion Despite mandatory fortification of staple South African foods, micronutrient inadequacies are evident among adults in rural South African communities. Given the excess caloric intake and the rising prevalence of obesity and other non-communicable diseases in South Africa, a focus on diet quality may be a more effective approach to influence micronutrient status than a focus on diet quantity. PMID:23825639

The Huaihe Basin Water Resource and Water Quality Management Platform Implemented with a Spatio-Temporal Data Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Y.; Zhang, W.; Yan, C.

2012-07-01

Presently, planning and assessment in maintenance, renewal and decision-making for watershed hydrology, water resource management and water quality assessment are evolving toward complex, spatially explicit regional environmental assessments. These problems have to be addressed with object-oriented spatio-temporal data models that can restore, manage, query and visualize various historic and updated basic information concerning with watershed hydrology, water resource management and water quality as well as compute and evaluate the watershed environmental conditions so as to provide online forecasting to police-makers and relevant authorities for supporting decision-making. The extensive data requirements and the difficult task of building input parameter files, however, has long been an obstacle to use of such complex models timely and effectively by resource managers. Success depends on an integrated approach that brings together scientific, education and training advances made across many individual disciplines and modified to fit the needs of the individuals and groups who must write, implement, evaluate, and adjust their watershed management plans. The centre for Hydro-science Research, Nanjing University, in cooperation with the relevant watershed management authorities, has developed a WebGIS management platform to facilitate this complex process. Improve the management of watersheds over the Huaihe basin through the development, promotion and use of a web-based, user-friendly, geospatial watershed management data and decision support system (WMDDSS) involved many difficulties for the development of this complicated System. In terms of the spatial and temporal characteristics of historic and currently available information on meteorological, hydrological, geographical, environmental and other relevant disciplines, we designed an object-oriented spatiotemporal data model that combines spatial, attribute and temporal information to implement the management

Semi-isolated, flat-topped carbonate platform (Oligo-Miocene, Sardinia, Italy): Sedimentary architecture and processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andreucci, Stefano; Pistis, Marco; Funedda, Antonio; Loi, Alfredo

2017-11-01

The Chattian-Aquitanian carbonate system of Isili sub-basin (SE Sardinia, Italy) were studied to better understand the hydrodynamic processes controlling the formation of landward-downlapping, rhodolith-rich, giant clinoforms. The studied flat-topped platform was attached to an island (semi-isolated) and migrated onshore (landward) over a shallow marine, protected embayment. The depositional profile is characterized by four, sea to land, zones: seaward slope, flat-topped platform (submerged flat), landward slope and mixed siliciclastic-carbonate embayment. In particular, these zones record different levels, from high to moderate, of hydrodynamic energy and persistency. The paleodepth of the studied succession, based on T/D test on Amphistegina specimens, red-algal genera and geometric reconstruction of the overall system, ranges from - 10 to - 30 m for the platform up to around - 40 m for the landward slope base. Thus, the flat-topped platform was permanently submerged and an extensive carbonate (sea grass, algal and bryozoan-algal) factory along with oyster framestones developed. The widespread presence in the barren zones of rhodolith-to-shell rich small to very small compound dunes (high-energy zone) suggests that the flat-topped platform was periodically swept by unidirectional, landward-directed currents. These currents allow the formation of large-scale, rhodolith-rich clinobeds along the landward slope (washover fan-like system). The presence of rodolith pavements developed along the flat-topped platform at or slightly below the fairweather wave base suggests that clinobeds were formed in a nearshore, shallow subtidal setting. Finally, the shallow marine, protected embayment (moderate-energy zone) represents the widening distal reaches of the currents flowing or along the clinoforms or from the coast basinward (river floods and/or ebb tidal currents). Despite few tidal-related sedimentary structures such as bi-directional ripples and small compound dunes

Integrated Hydrographical Basin Management. Study Case - Crasna River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Visescu, Mircea; Beilicci, Erika; Beilicci, Robert

2017-10-01

Hydrographical basins are important from hydrological, economic and ecological points of view. They receive and channel the runoff from rainfall and snowmelt which, when adequate managed, can provide fresh water necessary for water supply, irrigation, food industry, animal husbandry, hydrotechnical arrangements and recreation. Hydrographical basin planning and management follows the efficient use of available water resources in order to satisfy environmental, economic and social necessities and constraints. This can be facilitated by a decision support system that links hydrological, meteorological, engineering, water quality, agriculture, environmental, and other information in an integrated framework. In the last few decades different modelling tools for resolving problems regarding water quantity and quality were developed, respectively water resources management. Watershed models have been developed to the understanding of water cycle and pollution dynamics, and used to evaluate the impacts of hydrotechnical arrangements and land use management options on water quantity, quality, mitigation measures and possible global changes. Models have been used for planning monitoring network and to develop plans for intervention in case of hydrological disasters: floods, flash floods, drought and pollution. MIKE HYDRO Basin is a multi-purpose, map-centric decision support tool for integrated hydrographical basin analysis, planning and management. MIKE HYDRO Basin is designed for analyzing water sharing issues at international, national and local hydrographical basin level. MIKE HYDRO Basin uses a simplified mathematical representation of the hydrographical basin including the configuration of river and reservoir systems, catchment hydrology and existing and potential water user schemes with their various demands including a rigorous irrigation scheme module. This paper analyzes the importance and principles of integrated hydrographical basin management and develop a case

Regional climate on the breeding grounds predicts variation in the natal origin of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico over 38 years.

PubMed

Flockhart, D T Tyler; Brower, Lincoln P; Ramirez, M Isabel; Hobson, Keith A; Wassenaar, Leonard I; Altizer, Sonia; Norris, D Ryan

2017-07-01

Addressing population declines of migratory insects requires linking populations across different portions of the annual cycle and understanding the effects of variation in weather and climate on productivity, recruitment, and patterns of long-distance movement. We used stable H and C isotopes and geospatial modeling to estimate the natal origin of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in eastern North America using over 1000 monarchs collected over almost four decades at Mexican overwintering colonies. Multinomial regression was used to ascertain which climate-related factors best-predicted temporal variation in natal origin across six breeding regions. The region producing the largest proportion of overwintering monarchs was the US Midwest (mean annual proportion = 0.38; 95% CI: 0.36-0.41) followed by the north-central (0.17; 0.14-0.18), northeast (0.15; 0.11-0.16), northwest (0.12; 0.12-0.16), southwest (0.11; 0.08-0.12), and southeast (0.08; 0.07-0.11) regions. There was no evidence of directional shifts in the relative contributions of different natal regions over time, which suggests these regions are comprising the same relative proportion of the overwintering population in recent years as in the mid-1970s. Instead, interannual variation in the proportion of monarchs from each region covaried with climate, as measured by the Southern Oscillation Index and regional-specific daily maximum temperature and precipitation, which together likely dictate larval development rates and food plant condition. Our results provide the first robust long-term analysis of predictors of the natal origins of monarchs overwintering in Mexico. Conservation efforts on the breeding grounds focused on the Midwest region will likely have the greatest benefit to eastern North American migratory monarchs, but the population will likely remain sensitive to regional and stochastic weather patterns. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Paleogene palaeogeography and basin evolution of the Western Carpathians, Northern Pannonian domain and adjoining areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kováč, Michal; Plašienka, Dušan; Soták, Ján; Vojtko, Rastislav; Oszczypko, Nestor; Less, György; Ćosović, Vlasta; Fügenschuh, Bernhard; Králiková, Silvia

2016-05-01

The data about the Paleogene basin evolution, palaeogeography, and geodynamics of the Western Carpathian and Northern Pannonian domains are summarized, re-evaluated, supplemented, and newly interpreted. The presented concept is illustrated by a series of palinspastic and palaeotopographic maps. The Paleogene development of external Carpathian zones reflects gradual subduction of several oceanic realms (Vahic, Iňačovce-Kričevo, Szolnok, Magura, and Silesian-Krosno) and growth of the orogenic accretionary wedge (Pieniny Klippen Belt, Iňačovce-Kričevo Unit, Szolnok Belt, and Outer Carpathian Flysch Belt). Evolution of the Central Western Carpathians is characterized by the Paleocene-Early Eocene opening of several wedge-top basins at the accretionary wedge tip, controlled by changing compressional, strike-slip, and extensional tectonic regimes. During the Lutetian, the diverging translations of the northward moving Eastern Alpine and north-east to eastward shifted Western Carpathian segment generated crustal stretching at the Alpine-Carpathian junction with foundation of relatively deep basins. These basins enabled a marine connection between the Magura oceanic realm and the Northern Pannonian domain, and later also with the Dinaridic foredeep. Afterwards, the Late Eocene compression brought about uplift and exhumation of the basement complexes at the Alpine-Carpathian junction. Simultaneously, the eastern margin of the stretched Central Western Carpathians underwent disintegration, followed by opening of a fore-arc basin - the Central Carpathian Paleogene Basin. In the Northern Hungarian Paleogene retro-arc basin, turbidites covered a carbonate platform in the same time. During the Early Oligocene, the rock uplift of the Alpine-Carpathian junction area continued and the Mesozoic sequences of the Danube Basin basement were removed, along with a large part of the Eocene Hungarian Paleogene Basin fill, while the retro-arc basin depocentres migrated toward the east

Social support and medication adherence in HIV disease in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

PubMed

Ncama, Busisiwe P; McInerney, Patricia A; Bhengu, Busisiwe R; Corless, Inge B; Wantland, Dean J; Nicholas, Patrice K; McGibbon, Chris A; Davis, Sheila M

2008-12-01

A supportive social environment is critical for those with HIV/AIDS. In KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa, antiretroviral therapy is available to some HIV-positive individuals. Antiretroviral adherence is an important issue for limiting HIV infection. Adherence to therapy may be linked to social support, particularly amidst the stigma prevalent in HIV. The purpose of this study was to examine characteristics related to social support and antiretroviral medication adherence. This cross-sectional, descriptive study explored the nature of the relationships among social support and other selected variables, including sociodemographic variables, quality of life, and adherence. After ethical review board approval, the sample of HIV-infected individuals who received care in outpatient clinics were recruited and completed the self-report instruments. The sample included English and/or isiZulu-speaking (n=149) individuals over the age of 18 years receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS. A total of 149 patients with a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS agreed to participate and completed questionnaires after completing informed consent procedures. The study participants were recruited at four outpatient settings in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. A descriptive, exploratory, cross-sectional design was utilized to explore the research questions: What are the characteristics of social support and the relationship to antiretroviral adherence in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa? Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were used to answer the research questions. Data analyses indicated that social support scores on the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey were moderate (M=64.4; S.D.=14.7) among the study participants. The number of close friends and family were significantly correlated with a greater sense of social support. Despite this, the lowest scores on the quality-of-life measure using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 item survey were reported on the Social

Facies interfingering and synsedimentary tectonics on late Ladinian-early Carnian carbonate platforms (Dolomites, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keim, Lorenz; Brandner, Rainer

2001-11-01

A stratigraphic model for carbonate platform evolution in the Dolomites during the late Ladinian-early Carnian is presented. New light on pre-Raibl growth of individual carbonate platforms of the western Dolomites was shed by biostratigraphic data combined with a revised lithostratigraphy. At the Schlern, Langkofel and Sella, the carbonate factory (Upper Schlern Dolomite) remained productive into the lowermost Carnian (Cordevolian = Aon Zone), and caused a levelling-out of the former steep platform-to-basin relief. In the eastern Dolomites, platforms were producing till basal Julian 2 (Austriacum Zone). At the Sella and Langkofel, the sedimentation pattern after deposition of the Upper Schlern Dolomite was strongly influenced by synsedimentary tectonics. A first phase of extensional tectonics led to local fissures, block-tilting, graben structures and breccia deposits. Composition and fabric of the reworked clasts argue for local-source sediments and short transport distances. The extensional structures are sealed by sediments of Lower Carnian age. Two facies belts (Schlernplateau beds and Dürrenstein Dolomite), which interfinger at the western side of the Sella, reflect the shallow marine environment with terrigenous-volcanoclastic input in the western Dolomites. A second generation of breccias at the Sella documents local fracturing of the Dürrenstein and Upper Schlern Dolomite. Depositional environments across the western and eastern Dolomites were largely dependent on differential subsidence. The sediments of early Carnian age on top of the Schlern platform are a few metres thick only, whereas, in the eastern Dolomite, up to 400-m-thick carbonate sediments ('Richthofen reef' and Settsass platform) were deposited. The most incomplete stratigraphic record is present at the Mendel platform in the west, where Ladinian volcanics are unconformably overlain by late Carnian 'Raibl beds'. The increase in sediment thickness towards the eastern Dolomites becomes partly

Petroleum geology and resources of the North Caspian Basin, Kazakhstan and Russia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ulmishek, Gregory F.

2001-01-01

The North Caspian basin is a petroleum-rich but lightly explored basin located in Kazakhstan and Russia. It occupies the shallow northern portion of the Caspian Sea and a large plain to the north of the sea between the Volga and Ural Rivers and farther east to the Mugodzhary Highland, which is the southern continuation of the Ural foldbelt. The basin is bounded by the Paleozoic carbonate platform of the Volga-Ural province to the north and west and by the Ural, South Emba, and Karpinsky Hercynian foldbelts to the east and south. The basin was originated by pre-Late Devonian rifting and subsequent spreading that opened the oceanic crust, but the precise time of these tectonic events is not known. The sedimentary succession of the basin is more than 20 km thick in the central areas. The drilled Upper Devonian to Tertiary part of this succession includes a prominent thick Kungurian (uppermost Lower Permian) salt formation that separates strata into the subsalt and suprasalt sequences and played an important role in the formation of oil and gas fields. Shallow-shelf carbonate formations that contain various reefs and alternate with clastic wedges compose the subsalt sequence on the 1 basin margins. Basinward, these rocks grade into deep-water anoxic black shales and turbidites. The Kungurian salt formation is strongly deformed into domes and intervening depressions. The most active halokinesis occurred during Late Permian?Triassic time, but growth of salt domes continued later and some of them are exposed on the present-day surface. The suprasalt sequence is mostly composed of clastic rocks that are several kilometers thick in depressions between salt domes. A single total petroleum system is defined in the North Caspian basin. Discovered reserves are about 19.7 billion barrels of oil and natural gas liquids and 157 trillion cubic feet of gas. Much of the reserves are concentrated in the supergiant Tengiz, Karachaganak, and Astrakhan fields. A recent new oil discovery

Supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) in South Africa: comprehensive economic evaluation of an integrated child health delivery platform

PubMed Central

Verguet, Stéphane; Jassat, Waasila; Bertram, Melanie Y.; Tollman, Stephen M.; Murray, Christopher J. L.; Jamison, Dean T.; Hofman, Karen J.

2013-01-01

Background Supplementary immunization activity (SIA) campaigns provide children with an additional dose of measles vaccine and deliver other interventions, including vitamin A supplements, deworming medications, and oral polio vaccines. Objective To assess the cost-effectiveness of the full SIA delivery platform in South Africa (SA). Design We used an epidemiologic cost model to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the 2010 SIA campaign. We used province-level campaign data sourced from the District Health Information System, SA, and from planning records of provincial coordinators of the Expanded Programme on Immunization. The data included the number of children immunized with measles and polio vaccines, the number of children given vitamin A supplements and Albendazole tablets, and costs. Results The campaign cost $37 million and averted a total of 1,150 deaths (95% uncertainty range: 990–1,360). This ranged from 380 deaths averted in KwaZulu-Natal to 20 deaths averted in the Northern Cape. Vitamin A supplementation alone averted 820 deaths (95% UR: 670–1,040); measles vaccination alone averted 330 deaths (95% UR: 280–370). Incremental cost-effectiveness was $27,100 (95% UR: $18,500–34,400) per death averted nationally, ranging from $11,300 per death averted in the Free State to $91,300 per death averted in the Eastern Cape. Conclusions Cost-effectiveness of the SIA child health delivery platform varies substantially across SA provinces, and it is substantially more cost-effective when vitamin A supplementation is included in the interventions administered. Cost-effectiveness assessments should consider health system delivery platforms that integrate multiple interventions, and they should be conducted at the sub-national level. PMID:23458088

Individual variation affects departure rate from the natal pond in an ephemeral pond-breeding anuran

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chelgren, N.D.; Rosenberg, D.K.; Heppell, S.S.; Gitelman, A.I.

2008-01-01

Frogs exhibit extreme plasticity and individual variation in growth and behavior during metamorphosis, driven by interactions of intrinsic state factors and extrinsic environmental factors. In northern red-legged frogs (Rana aurora Baird and Girard, 1852), we studied the timing of departure from the natal pond as it relates to date and size of individuals at metamorphosis in the context of environmental uncertainty. To affect body size at metamorphosis, we manipulated food availability during the larval stage for a sample (317) of 1045 uniquely marked individuals and released them at their natal ponds as newly metamorphosed frogs. We recaptured 34% of marked frogs in pitfall traps as they departed and related the timing of their initial terrestrial movements to individual properties using a time-to-event model. Median age at first capture was 4 and 9 days postmetamorphosis at two sites. The rate of departure was positively related to body size and to date of metamorphosis. Departure rate was strongly negatively related to time elapsed since rainfall, and this effect was diminished for smaller and later metamorphosing frogs. Individual variation in metamorphic traits thus affects individuals' responses to environmental variability, supporting a behavioral link with variation in survival associated with these same metamorphic traits. ?? 2008 NRC.

Sex determination using humeral dimensions in a sample from KwaZulu-Natal: an osteometric study

PubMed Central

Ogedengbe, Oluwatosin Olalekan; Ajayi, Sunday Adelaja; Komolafe, Omobola Aderibigbe; Zaw, Aung Khaing; Naidu, Edwin Coleridge Stephen

2017-01-01

The morphological characteristics of the humeral bone has been investigated in recent times with studies showing varying degrees of sexual dimorphism. Osteologists and forensic scientists have shown that sex determination methods based on skeletal measurements are population specific, and these population-specific variations are present in many body dimensions. The present study aims to establish sex identification using osteometric standards for the humerus in a contemporary KwaZulu-Natal population. A total of 11 parameters were measured in a sample of n=211 humeri (males, 113; females, 98) from the osteological collection in the Discipline of Clinical Anatomy, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. The difference in means for nearly all variables were found to be significantly higher in males compared to females (P<0.01) with the most effective single parameter for predicting sex being the vertical head diameter having an accuracy of 82.5%. Stepwise discriminant analysis increased the overall accuracy rate to 87.7% when all measurements were jointly applied. We conclude that the humerus is an important bone which can be reliably used for sex determination based on standard metric methods despite minor tribal or ancestral differences amongst an otherwise homogenous population. PMID:29043096

Sex determination using humeral dimensions in a sample from KwaZulu-Natal: an osteometric study.

PubMed

Ogedengbe, Oluwatosin Olalekan; Ajayi, Sunday Adelaja; Komolafe, Omobola Aderibigbe; Zaw, Aung Khaing; Naidu, Edwin Coleridge Stephen; Okpara Azu, Onyemaechi

2017-09-01

The morphological characteristics of the humeral bone has been investigated in recent times with studies showing varying degrees of sexual dimorphism. Osteologists and forensic scientists have shown that sex determination methods based on skeletal measurements are population specific, and these population-specific variations are present in many body dimensions. The present study aims to establish sex identification using osteometric standards for the humerus in a contemporary KwaZulu-Natal population. A total of 11 parameters were measured in a sample of n=211 humeri (males, 113; females, 98) from the osteological collection in the Discipline of Clinical Anatomy, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. The difference in means for nearly all variables were found to be significantly higher in males compared to females ( P <0.01) with the most effective single parameter for predicting sex being the vertical head diameter having an accuracy of 82.5%. Stepwise discriminant analysis increased the overall accuracy rate to 87.7% when all measurements were jointly applied. We conclude that the humerus is an important bone which can be reliably used for sex determination based on standard metric methods despite minor tribal or ancestral differences amongst an otherwise homogenous population.

Reflexive Pedagogy for Reading across the Curriculum: The University of KwaZulu-Natal Faculty of Education Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mgqwashu, Emmanuel Mfanafuthi

2011-01-01

This article is a qualitative evaluation of the role of reflexive pedagogy; a pedagogic approach used in a first year, academic literacy compulsory module for all first year Bachelor of Education (B. Ed) students offered by the School of Language, Literacies, Media and Drama Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The module is called…

Caribbean basin framework, 3: Southern Central America and Colombian basin

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

Kolarsky, R.A.; Mann, P.

1991-03-01

The authors recognize three basin-forming periods in southern Central America (Panama, Costa Rica, southern Nicaragua) that they attempt to correlate with events in the Colombian basin (Bowland, 1984): (1) Early-Late Cretaceous island arc formation and growth of the Central American island arc and Late Cretaceous formation of the Colombian basin oceanic plateau. During latest Cretaceous time, pelagic carbonate sediments blanketed the Central American island arc in Panama and Costa Rica and elevated blocks on the Colombian basin oceanic plateau; (2) middle Eocene-middle Miocene island arc uplift and erosion. During this interval, influx of distal terrigenous turbidites in most areas ofmore » Panama, Costa Rica, and the Colombian basin marks the uplift and erosion of the Central American island arc. In the Colombian basin, turbidites fill in basement relief and accumulate to thicknesses up to 2 km in the deepest part of the basin. In Costa Rica, sedimentation was concentrated in fore-arc (Terraba) and back-arc (El Limon) basins; (3) late Miocene-Recent accelerated uplift and erosion of segments of the Central American arc. Influx of proximal terrigenous turbidites and alluvial fans in most areas of Panama, Costa Rica, and the Colombian basin marks collision of the Panama arc with the South American continent (late Miocene early Pliocene) and collision of the Cocos Ridge with the Costa Rican arc (late Pleistocene). The Cocos Ridge collision inverted the Terraba and El Limon basins. The Panama arc collision produced northeast-striking left-lateral strike-slip faults and fault-related basins throughout Panama as Panama moved northwest over the Colombian basin.« less

Student Perceptions of Agricultural Education Programme Processes at Selected High Schools in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidane, T. T.; Worth, S. H.

2014-01-01

Purpose: This study investigates student perceptions of different aspects of Agricultural Education and Training (AET) programme processes that have been offered in secondary schools by the formal educational sector in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study seeks to identify the existing shortcomings in the implementation of the…

Floor Plans Rolling Platform, Tech Systems Platform, and Load ...

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

Floor Plans - Rolling Platform, Tech Systems Platform, and Load Platform Plans - Marshall Space Flight Center, F-1 Engine Static Test Stand, On Route 565 between Huntsville and Decatur, Huntsville, Madison County, AL

Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Timan-Pechora Basin Province, Russia, 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schenk, Christopher J.; Moore, Thomas E.; Gautier, D.L.

2017-11-15

The Timan-Pechora Basin Province is a triangular area that represents the northeasternmost cratonic block of east European Russia. A 75-year history of petroleum exploration and production in the area there has led to the discovery of more than 16 billion barrels of oil (BBO) and 40 trillion cubic feet of gas (TCFG). Three geologic assessment units (AUs) were defined for assessing the potential for undiscovered oil and gas resources in the province: (1) the Northwest Izhma Depression AU, which includes all potential structures and reservoirs that formed in the northwestern part of the Izhma-Pechora Depression, although this part of the basin contains only sparse source and reservoir rocks and so was not assessed quantitatively; (2) the Main Basin Platform AU, which includes all potential structures and reservoirs that formed in the central part of the basin, where the tectonic and petroleum system evolution was complex; and (3) the Foredeep Basins AU, which includes all potential structures and reservoirs that formed within the thick sedimentary section of the foredeep basins west of the Uralian fold and thrust belt during the Permian and Triassic Uralian orogeny.For the Timan-Pechora Basin Province, the estimated means of undiscovered resources are 3.3 BBO, 17 TCFG, and 0.3 billion barrels of natural-gas liquids (BBNGL). For the AU areas north of the Arctic Circle in the province, the estimated means of undiscovered resources are 1.7 BBO, 9.0 TCFG, and 0.2 BBNGL. These assessment results indicate that exploration in the Timan-Pechora Basin Province is at a mature level.

Play Analysis and Digital Portfolio of Major Oil Reservoirs in the Permian Basin: Application and Transfer of Advanced Geological and Engineering Technologies for Incremental Production Opportunities

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

Shirley P. Dutton; Eugene M. Kim; Ronald F. Broadhead

2004-01-13

A play portfolio is being constructed for the Permian Basin in west Texas and southeast New Mexico, the largest onshore petroleum-producing basin in the United States. Approximately 1,300 reservoirs in the Permian Basin have been identified as having cumulative production greater than 1 MMbbl (1.59 x 10{sup 5} m{sup 3}) of oil through 2000. Of these significant-sized reservoirs, approximately 1,000 are in Texas and 300 in New Mexico. There are 32 geologic plays that have been defined for Permian Basin oil reservoirs, and each of the 1,300 major reservoirs was assigned to a play. The reservoirs were mapped and compiledmore » in a Geographic Information System (GIS) by play. The final reservoir shapefile for each play contains the geographic location of each reservoir. Associated reservoir information within the linked data tables includes RRC reservoir number and district (Texas only), official field and reservoir name, year reservoir was discovered, depth to top of the reservoir, production in 2000, and cumulative production through 2000. Some tables also list subplays. Play boundaries were drawn for each play; the boundaries include areas where fields in that play occur but are smaller than 1 MMbbl (1.59 x 10{sup 5} m{sup 3}) of cumulative production. Oil production from the reservoirs in the Permian Basin having cumulative production of >1 MMbbl (1.59 x 10{sup 5} m{sup 3}) was 301.4 MMbbl (4.79 x 10{sup 7} m{sup 3}) in 2000. Cumulative Permian Basin production through 2000 was 28.9 Bbbl (4.59 x 10{sup 9} m{sup 3}). The top four plays in cumulative production are the Northwest Shelf San Andres Platform Carbonate play (3.97 Bbbl [6.31 x 10{sup 8} m{sup 3}]), the Leonard Restricted Platform Carbonate play (3.30 Bbbl [5.25 x 10{sup 8} m{sup 3}]), the Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian Horseshoe Atoll Carbonate play (2.70 Bbbl [4.29 x 10{sup 8} m{sup 3}]), and the San Andres Platform Carbonate play (2.15 Bbbl [3.42 x 10{sup 8} m{sup 3}]). Detailed studies of three

Natal habitat imprinting counteracts the diversifying effects of phenotype-dependent dispersal in a spatially structured population.

PubMed

Camacho, Carlos; Canal, David; Potti, Jaime

2016-08-08

Habitat selection may have profound evolutionary consequences, but they strongly depend on the underlying preference mechanism, including genetically-determined, natal habitat and phenotype-dependent preferences. It is known that different mechanisms may operate at the same time, yet their relative contribution to population differentiation remains largely unexplored empirically mainly because of the difficulty of finding suitable study systems. Here, we investigate the role of early experience and genetic background in determining the outcome of settlement by pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) breeding in two habitat patches between which dispersal and subsequent reproductive performance is influenced by phenotype (body size). For this, we conducted a cross-fostering experiment in a two-patch system: an oakwood and a conifer plantation separated by only 1 km. Experimental birds mostly returned to breed in the forest patch where they were raised, whether it was that of their genetic or their foster parents, indicating that decisions on where to settle are determined by individuals' experience in their natal site, rather than by their genetic background. Nevertheless, nearly a third (27.6 %) moved away from the rearing habitat and, as previously observed in unmanipulated individuals, dispersal between habitats was phenotype-dependent. Pied flycatchers breeding in the oak and the pine forests are differentiated by body size, and analyses of genetic variation at microsatellite loci now provide evidence of subtle genetic differentiation between the two populations. This suggests that phenotype-dependent dispersal may contribute to population structure despite the short distance and widespread exchange of birds between the study plots. Taken together, the current and previous findings that pied flycatchers do not always settle in the habitat to which they are best suited suggest that their strong tendency to return to the natal patch regardless of their body size

Global and local waveform simulations using the VERCE platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garth, Thomas; Saleh, Rafiq; Spinuso, Alessandro; Gemund, Andre; Casarotti, Emanuele; Magnoni, Federica; Krischner, Lion; Igel, Heiner; Schlichtweg, Horst; Frank, Anton; Michelini, Alberto; Vilotte, Jean-Pierre; Rietbrock, Andreas

2017-04-01

In recent years the potential to increase resolution of seismic imaging by full waveform inversion has been demonstrated on a range of scales from basin to continental scales. These techniques rely on harnessing the computational power of large supercomputers, and running large parallel codes to simulate the seismic wave field in a three-dimensional geological setting. The VERCE platform is designed to make these full waveform techniques accessible to a far wider spectrum of the seismological community. The platform supports the two widely used spectral element simulation programs SPECFEM3D Cartesian, and SPECFEM3D globe, allowing users to run a wide range of simulations. In the SPECFEM3D Cartesian implementation the user can run waveform simulations on a range of pre-loaded meshes and velocity models for specific areas, or upload their own velocity model and mesh. In the new SPECFEM3D globe implementation, the user will be able to select from a number of continent scale model regions, or perform waveform simulations for the whole earth. Earthquake focal mechanisms can be downloaded within the platform, for example from the GCMT catalogue, or users can upload their own focal mechanism catalogue through the platform. The simulations can be run on a range of European supercomputers in the PRACE network. Once a job has been submitted and run through the platform, the simulated waveforms can be manipulated or downloaded for further analysis. The misfit between the simulated and recorded waveforms can then be calculated through the platform through three interoperable workflows, for raw-data access (FDSN) and caching, pre-processing and finally misfit. The last workflow makes use of the Pyflex analysis software. In addition, the VERCE platform can be used to produce animations of waveform propagation through the velocity model, and synthetic shakemaps. All these data-products are made discoverable and re-usable thanks to the VERCE data and metadata management layer. We

Academic Support at the University of Kwazulu-Natal: A Systematic Review of Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles, 2010-2015

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paideya, Vino; Bengesai, Annah

2017-01-01

The aim of this systematic review was to examine research studies which focus on effective student support practices and show evidence of credible assessment. To identify effective student support practices, and also to provide a contemporary picture of effective support practices at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, 24 studies which met the…

Sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the southern Qiangtang basin: Implications for the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision timing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Anlin; Hu, Xiumian; Garzanti, Eduardo; Han, Zhong; Lai, Wen

2017-07-01

The Mesozoic stratigraphic record of the southern Qiangtang basin in central Tibet records the evolution and closure of the Bangong-Nujiang ocean to the south. The Jurassic succession includes Toarcian-Aalenian shallow-marine limestones (Quse Formation), Aalenian-Bajocian feldspatho-litho-quartzose to feldspatho-quartzo-lithic sandstones (shallow-marine Sewa Formation and deep-sea Gaaco Formation), and Bathonian outer platform to shoal limestones (Buqu Formation). This succession is truncated by an angular unconformity, overlain by upper Bathonian to lower Callovian fan-delta conglomerates and litho-quartzose to quartzo-lithic sandstones (Biluoco Formation) and Callovian shoal to outer platform limestones (Suowa Formation). Sandstone petrography coupled with detrital-zircon U-Pb and Hf isotope analysis indicate that the Sewa and Gaaco formations contain intermediate to felsic volcanic detritus and youngest detrital zircons (183-170 Ma) with ɛHf(t) ranging widely from +13 to -25, pointing to continental-arc provenance from igneous rocks with mixed mantle and continental-crust contributions. An arc-trench system thus developed toward the end of the Early Jurassic, with the southern Qiangtang basin representing the fore-arc basin. Above the angular unconformity, the Biluoco Formation documents a change to dominant sedimentary detritus including old detrital zircons (mainly >500 Ma ages in the lower part of the unit) with age spectra similar to those from Paleozoic strata in the central Qiangtang area. A major tectonic event with intense folding and thrusting thus took place in late Bathonian time (166 ± 1 Ma), when the Qiangtang block collided with another microcontinental block possibly the Lhasa block.

Paleoenvironmental changes across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary: insights from the Central-Carpathian Paleogene Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soták, Ján

2010-10-01

The sedimentary sequence of the Central-Carpathian Paleogene Basin provides proxy records of climatic changes related to cooling events at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary (TEE). In this basin, climatic deterioration is inferred from the demise of the carbonate platform and oligotrophic benthic biota in the SBZ19 and from the last species of warm-water planktonic foraminifers in the E14 Zone. Upper Eocene formations already indicate warm-temperate to cool-temperate productivity and nutrient-enriched conditions (Bryozoan Marls, Globigerina Marls). Rapid cooling during the earliest Oligocene (Oi-1 event) led to a temperature drop (~11 °C), humidity, fresh water influx and continental runoff, water mass stratification, bottom water anoxia, eutrofication, estuarine circulation and upwelling, carbonate depletion, sapropelitic and biosiliceous deposition, H2S intoxication and mass faunal mortality, and also other characteristics of Black Sea-type basins. Tectonoeustatic events with the interference of TA 4.4 sea-level fall and the Pyrenean phase caused basin isolation at the beginning of the Paratethys. The Early Oligocene stage of Paratethyan isolation is indicated by a stagnant regime, low tide influence, endemic fauna development, widespread anoxia and precipitation of manganese deposits. The episodic rise in the sea-level, less humid conditions and renewed circulation is marked by calcareous productivity, nannoplankton blooms and the appearance of planktic pteropods and re-oxygenation. Paleogeographic differentiation of the Carpatho-Pannonian Paleogene basins resulted from plate-tectonic reorganization during the Alpine orogenesis.

Characteristics of Holocene sediments in the Gunsan Basin, central Yellow Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woo, H. J.; Huh, S.; Jeong, K. S.; Lee, J. H.; Ham, A.; Kang, J.

2016-12-01

The Gunsan Basin, in the eastern part of the South Yellow Sea Basin, is filled by terrestrial sedimentary rocks, maximally up to 8 km deep on the basement of metamorphic rocks that constitutes the Yangtze Platform. The uppermost sedimentary layer (generally less than 1 km) appears to have formed experiencing the repeated marine environments since the middle Miocene. This study is to investigate the characteristics of Holocene sediments in the Gunsan Basin, based on interpretation of core sediments and high-resolution shallow (Sparker and Chirp) seismic profiles. The surface sediments in the basin consist of sand (56.6% on the average), silt (18.4%), and clay (25.0%) with a mean grain size of 1.5 to 7.8 Ø. Sand is prevalent (63.8 to 98.3%) in and around the Yellow Sea Trough lying in the eastern part of the basin. The sandy sediments are regarded as relict sediments deposited in the last glacial maximum (LGM). The sedimentary environments are classified, based on the acoustic and morphological characters of high-resolution shallow (Sparker and Chirp) seismic profiles, into mud zone, deformed zone, and sand ridges with sand waves zone from the west to the east in the Gunsan Basin. The deformed zone in the central Yellow Sea is a mixing area of sediments derived from China and Korea, where there are a number of paleochannels and erosional surfaces in the direction of northwest-southeast. The deformed zone represents non-deposition or erosion in the central Yellow Sea during the Holocene. Tidal sand ridges and sand waves are well developed along the coast of Korea. Modern sand ridges are generally moving in the northeast-southwest direction, which coincide with dominant tidal current direction. Fifteen piston cores were collected in the basin to investigate the general geological characters of the marine sedimentary sequence. In comparison with three cores in the southern basin, the sand contents tend to increase in the direction of east. 14C dates from three cores

Distributed Hydrologic Modeling of Semiarid Basins in Arizona: A Platform for Land Cover and Climate Change Assessments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawkins, G. A.; Vivoni, E. R.

2011-12-01

Watershed management is challenged by rising concerns over climate change and its potential to interact with land cover alterations to impact regional water supplies and hydrologic processes. The inability to conduct experimental manipulations that address climate and land cover change at watershed scales limits the capacity of water managers to make decisions to protect future supplies. As a result, spatially-explicit, physically-based models possess value for predicting the possible consequences on watershed hydrology. In this study, we apply a distributed watershed model, the Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN)-based Real-time Integrated Basin Simulator (tRIBS), to the Beaver Creek basin in Arizona. This sub-basin of the Verde River is representative of the regional topography, land cover, soils distribution and availability of hydrologic data in forested regions of northern Arizona. As such, it can serve as a demonstration study in the broader region to illustrate the utility of distributed models for change assessment studies. Through a model application to summertime conditions, we compare the hydrologic response from three sources of meteorological input: (1) an available network of ground-based stations, (2) weather radar rainfall estimates, and (3) the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS). Comparisons focus on analysis of spatiotemporal distributions of precipitation, soil moisture, runoff generation, evapotranspiration and recharge from the root zone at high resolution for an assessment of sustainable water supplies for agricultural and domestic purposes. We also present a preliminary analysis of the impact of vegetation change arising from historical treatments in the Beaver Creek to inform the hydrologic consequences in the form of soil moisture and evapotranspiration patterns with differing degrees of proposed forest thinning. Our results are discussed in the context of improved hydrologic predictions for sustainability and decision

Towards a satellite driven land surface model using SURFEX modelling platform Offline Data Assimilation: an assessment of the method over Europe and the Mediterranean basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albergel, Clément; Munier, Simon; Leroux, Delphine; Fairbairn, David; Dorigo, Wouter; Decharme, Bertrand; Calvet, Jean-Christophe

2017-04-01

Modelling platforms including Land Surface Models (LSMs), forced by gridded atmospheric variables and coupled to river routing models are necessary to increase our understanding of the terrestrial water cycle. These LSMs need to simulate biogeophysical variables like Surface and Root Zone Soil Moisture (SSM, RZSM), Leaf Area Index (LAI) in a way that is fully consistent with the representation of surface/energy fluxes and river discharge simulations. Global SSM and LAI products are now operationally available from spaceborne instruments and they can be used to constrain LSMs through Data Assimilation (DA) techniques. In this study, an offline data assimilation system implemented in Météo-France's modelling platform (SURFEX) is tested over Europe and the Mediterranean basin to increase prediction accuracy for land surface variables. The resulting Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) makes use of a simplified Extended Kalman Filter (SEKF). It is able to ingests information from satellite derived (i) SSM from the latest version of the ESA Climate Change Initiative as well as (ii) LAI from the Copernicus GLS project to constrain the multilayer, CO2-responsive version of the Interactions Between Soil, Biosphere, and Atmosphere model (ISBA) coupled with Météo-France's version of the Total Runoff Integrating Pathways continental hydrological system (ISBA-CTRIP). ERA-Interim observations based atmospheric forcing with precipitations corrected from Global Precipitation Climatology Centre observations (GPCC) is used to force ISBA-CTRIP at a resolution of 0.5 degree over 2000-2015. The model sensitivity to the assimilated observations is presented and a set of statistical diagnostics used to evaluate the impact of assimilating SSM and LAI on different model biogeophysical variables are provided. It is demonstrated that the assimilation scheme works effectively. The SEKF is able to extract useful information from the data signal at the grid scale and distribute the RZSM

Sector switching among histopathologists in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Ruggunan, Shaun D; Singh, Suveera

2013-05-30

The mobility of health care professionals from the public to private sector is prevalent in South Africa. However, literature on sector switching of clinical doctors remains limited. It is against this background that this study aims to make the labour market visible for histopathologists and identify the reasons for sector switching. This study is exploratory and descriptive. It uses qualitative methods, such as in-depth interviews, with 70% (n = 16/23) of the population of histopathologists in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Lee's (1966) push-pull theory is adapted to explain the pull sector switching behaviours of histopathologists. Interviews were recorded and independently transcribed. The narratives of the participants were coded to reflect the main themes that contributed to their sector switching behaviours. Five key themes emerged as reasons for the mobility of histopathologists from the public to private sector in KwaZulu-Natal. The findings indicate that remuneration, working conditions, work flexibility, career pathing and autonomy of labour processes are the key drivers of this mobility. Histopathologists provide a core function in the health care chain. However, their invisibility in academic discourse in both public health and human resources for health indicates the paucity of research undertaken on the importance of these specialists in the health care chain. This is especially significant in developing countries like South Africa, where there is a dearth of these specialists. This study, while exploratory, aims to open a dialogue to better understand their reasons for sector switching and, hopefully, inform policies on training, recruitment and retention of these specialists.

Sector switching among histopathologists in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The mobility of health care professionals from the public to private sector is prevalent in South Africa. However, literature on sector switching of clinical doctors remains limited. It is against this background that this study aims to make the labour market visible for histopathologists and identify the reasons for sector switching. Methods This study is exploratory and descriptive. It uses qualitative methods, such as in-depth interviews, with 70% (n = 16/23) of the population of histopathologists in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Lee’s (1966) push-pull theory is adapted to explain the pull sector switching behaviours of histopathologists. Interviews were recorded and independently transcribed. The narratives of the participants were coded to reflect the main themes that contributed to their sector switching behaviours. Results Five key themes emerged as reasons for the mobility of histopathologists from the public to private sector in KwaZulu-Natal. The findings indicate that remuneration, working conditions, work flexibility, career pathing and autonomy of labour processes are the key drivers of this mobility. Conclusions Histopathologists provide a core function in the health care chain. However, their invisibility in academic discourse in both public health and human resources for health indicates the paucity of research undertaken on the importance of these specialists in the health care chain. This is especially significant in developing countries like South Africa, where there is a dearth of these specialists. This study, while exploratory, aims to open a dialogue to better understand their reasons for sector switching and, hopefully, inform policies on training, recruitment and retention of these specialists. PMID:23721129

Perceptions of newly-qualified nurses performing compulsory community service in KwaZulu-Natal.

PubMed

Govender, Selverani; Brysiewicz, Petra; Bhengu, Busisiwe

2015-07-08

Compulsory community service (CCS) for nurses commenced in South African January 2008 after it was legislated in the new Nursing Act (Act No. 33 of 2005). Nurses completing their registered nurse programme are registered as community nurse practitioners (CNPs) during the CCS period and make up the largest number of health professionals serving CCS. Whilst health institutions have welcomed CNPs as additional resources for the shortage of nursing staff, no structured guidelines have been provided at a regional level as to how these nurses should be utilised or managed during the CCS year. To date, no large-scale study has been conducted on nurses carrying out CCS in order to generalise the findings. To establish the perceptions of newly-qualified nurses carrying out CCS in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A quantitative survey design was used to obtain data from a randomly selected sample of the 2012 cohort of nurses carrying out CCS in KwaZulu-Natal. CNPs have a positive attitude toward CCS and perceive themselves as being well prepared for the year of community service in terms of knowledge, skills and ability to administer nursing care. They identified positive benefits of the year of community service.The concerns raised were limited orientation and support; and a few CNPs experienced problems of acceptance by the nurses with whom they work. It is recommended that all health institutions who receive CNPs develop structured orientation and support for these nurses in order to promote their development, thereby enhancing their benefit to the communities they serve.

Temporal migration patterns between natal locations of ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) and their Gulf Coast stopover site.

PubMed

Zenzal, Theodore J; Contina, Andrea J; Kelly, Jeffrey F; Moore, Frank R

2018-01-01

Autumn latitudinal migrations generally exhibit one of two different temporal migration patterns: type 1 where southern populations migrate south before northern populations, or type 2 where northern populations overtake southern populations en route . The ruby-throated hummingbird ( Archilochus colubris ) is a species with an expansive breeding range, which allows opportunities to examine variation in the timing of migration. Our objective was to determine a relationship between natal origin of ruby-throated hummingbirds and arrival at a Gulf coast stopover site; and if so, what factors, such as differences in body size across the range as well as the cost of migration, might drive such a pattern. To carry out our objectives, we captured hummingbirds at a coastal stopover site during autumn migration, at which time we collected feathers from juveniles for analysis of hydrogen stable isotopes. Using the hydrogen stable isotope gradient of precipitation across North America and published hydrogen isotope values of feathers from populations of breeding ruby-throated hummingbirds, we assigned migrants to probable natal latitudes. Our results confirm that individuals from across the range (30-50° N) stopover along the Gulf of Mexico and there is a positive relationship between arrival day and latitude, suggesting a type 1 migration pattern. We also found no relationship between fuel load (proxy for migration cost) or fat-free body mass (proxy for body size) and natal latitude. Our results, coupled with previous work on the spatial migration patterns of hummingbirds, show a type 1 chain migration pattern. While the mechanisms we tested do not seem to influence the evolution of migratory patterns, other factors such as resource availability may play a prominent role in the evolution of this migration system.

Satellite-based Analysis of CO Variability over the Amazon Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deeter, M. N.; Emmons, L. K.; Martinez-Alonso, S.; Tilmes, S.; Wiedinmyer, C.

2017-12-01

Pyrogenic emissions from the Amazon Basin exert significant influence on both climate and air quality but are highly variable from year to year. The ability of models to simulate the impact of biomass burning emissions on downstream atmospheric concentrations depends on (1) the quality of surface flux estimates (i.e., emissions inventories), (2) model dynamics (e.g., horizontal winds, large-scale convection and mixing) and (3) the representation of atmospheric chemical processes. With an atmospheric lifetime of a few months, carbon monoxide (CO) is a commonly used diagnostic for biomass burning. CO products are available from several satellite instruments and allow analyses of CO variability over extended regions such as the Amazon Basin with useful spatial and temporal sampling characteristics. The MOPITT ('Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere') instrument was launched on the NASA Terra platform near the end of 1999 and is still operational. MOPITT is uniquely capable of measuring tropospheric CO concentrations using both thermal-infrared and near-infrared observations, resulting in the ability to independently retrieve lower- and upper-troposphere CO concentrations. We exploit the 18-year MOPITT record and related datasets to analyze the variability of CO over the Amazon Basin and evaluate simulations performed with the CAM-chem chemical transport model. We demonstrate that observed differences between MOPITT observations and model simulations provide important clues regarding emissions inventories, convective mixing and long-range transport.

a Real-Time GIS Platform for High Sour Gas Leakage Simulation, Evaluation and Visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, M.; Liu, H.; Yang, C.

2015-07-01

The development of high-sulfur gas fields, also known as sour gas field, is faced with a series of safety control and emergency management problems. The GIS-based emergency response system is placed high expectations under the consideration of high pressure, high content, complex terrain and highly density population in Sichuan Basin, southwest China. The most researches on high hydrogen sulphide gas dispersion simulation and evaluation are used for environmental impact assessment (EIA) or emergency preparedness planning. This paper introduces a real-time GIS platform for high-sulfur gas emergency response. Combining with real-time data from the leak detection systems and the meteorological monitoring stations, GIS platform provides the functions of simulating, evaluating and displaying of the different spatial-temporal toxic gas distribution patterns and evaluation results. This paper firstly proposes the architecture of Emergency Response/Management System, secondly explains EPA's Gaussian dispersion model CALPUFF simulation workflow under high complex terrain and real-time data, thirdly explains the emergency workflow and spatial analysis functions of computing the accident influencing areas, population and the optimal evacuation routes. Finally, a well blow scenarios is used for verify the system. The study shows that GIS platform which integrates the real-time data and CALPUFF models will be one of the essential operational platforms for high-sulfur gas fields emergency management.

Proposed Great Salt Lake Basin Hydrologic Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, W. P.; Tarboton, D. G.

2004-12-01

corresponding range in precipitation from about 15 cm/yr to 150 cm/yr, range in evapotranspiration regimes from semi-arid to alpine, range in groundwater residence times from 10 to 10,000 years, and ranges in biome type from semi-arid shrubland to alpine tundra, all within a 30 km distance. Atmospheric and surface fluxes and stores (precipitation, evapotranspiration, snow, soil moisture) will be quantified using an array of in-situ surface stations and remote sensing platforms. Deep (greater than 300 m) multilevel sampling wells will be used to measure ground water levels, fluxes, and for sampling of age dating and environmental tracers. Another proposed focus effort will involve lake sediment core analyses complemented by monitoring of dissolved and suspended constituents in surrounding tributaries, to provide a basis for examination of closed basin lakes as integrators and recorders of biogeochemical signals that would otherwise not be discerned based on discreet measurements made in individual tributary watersheds. Core-derived climate and contaminant-nutrient trends through time will be investigated at locations distributed from the top to the bottom of the hydrologic system.

Depositional environments and cyclicity of the Early Ordovician carbonate ramp in the western Tarim Basin (NW China)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Chuan; Chen, Daizhao; Song, Yafang; Zhou, Xiqiang; Ding, Yi; Zhang, Gongjing

2018-06-01

During the Early Ordovician, the Tarim Basin (NW China) was mainly occupied by an extensive shallow-water carbonate platform, on which a carbonate ramp system was developed in the Bachu-Keping area of the western part of the basin. Three well-exposed typical outcrop sections of the Lower Ordovician Penglaiba Formation were investigated in order to identify the depositional facies and to clarify origins of meter-scale cycles and depositional sequences, thereby the platform evolution. Thirteen lithofacies are identified and further grouped into three depositional facies (associations): peritidal, restricted and open-marine subtidal facies. These lithofacies are vertically stacked into meter-scale, shallowing-upward peritidal and subtidal cycles. The peritidal cycles are mainly distributed in the lower and uppermost parts of the Penglaiba Formation deposited in the inner-middle ramp, and commonly start with shallow subtidal to intertidal facies followed by inter- to supratidal facies. In contrast, the subtidal cycles occur throughout the formation mostly in the middle-outer ramp and are dominated by shallow to relatively deep (i.e., intermediate) subtidal facies. The dominance of asymmetrical and incomplete cycles suggests a dominant control of Earth's orbital forcing on the cyclic deposition on the platform. On the basis of vertical facies and cycle stacking patterns, and accommodation changes illustrated by the Fischer plots from all studied sections, five third-order depositional sequences are recognized in the Penglaiba Formation. Individual sequences comprise a lower transgressive part and an upper regressive one. In shallow-water depositional environments, the transgressive packages are dominated by thicker-than-average subtidal cycles, indicating an increase in accommodation space, whereas regressive parts are mainly represented by thinner-than-average peritidal and subtidal cycles, denoting a decrease in accommodation space. In contrast, in intermediate to

Modeling Study of Winter Ozone Pollution in Uintah Basin: A Case Study of January 15-31 in 2013 Using WRF-CAMx.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tran, T. T.; Tran, H. N. Q.; Mansfield, M. L.; Lyman, S. N.

2014-12-01

Since elevated ozone concentrations (>75ppb) were first detected in Uintah Basin in 2009, winter ozone pollution in Uintah Basin (Eastern Utah) has drawn researchers' attention in this region. Joint research efforts among several research groups have been undertaken to study this topic (UBOS, 2012; 2013; 2014); yet this phenomenon is still not completely understood. For example, modeling studies still face problems such as errors in emission inventories and inappropriate meteorological and chemical modeling parameterizations for winter conditions in the Uintah Basin. In this study, the SMOKE-WRF-CAMx model platform (grid resolution of 1.3km) was used to simulate ozone formation in the basin during Jan 15-31 in 2013 to compare the impacts of current bottom-up versus top-down emission inventories on modeled ozone concentrations. Different VOC emission profiles for oil and gas emissions that have been applied in various studies were also examined in CAMx and compared with available monitoring data to determine the representative profile for future studies.

a Public Platform for Geospatial Data Sharing for Disaster Risk Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balbo, S.; Boccardo, P.; Dalmasso, S.; Pasquali, P.

2013-01-01

other-disasters related information. Moreover this platform will help to ensure that the data created by a number of past or ongoing projects is maintained and that this information remains accessible and useful. An Integrated Flood Risk Management Plan for a river basin has already been included in the platform and other data from future disaster risk management projects will be added as well.

Hydrogeologic framework of sedimentary deposits in six structural basins, Yakima River basin, Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jones, M.A.; Vaccaro, J.J.; Watkins, A.M.

2006-01-01

The hydrogeologic framework was delineated for the ground-water flow system of the sedimentary deposits in six structural basins in the Yakima River Basin, Washington. The six basins delineated, from north to south are: Roslyn, Kittitas, Selah, Yakima, Toppenish, and Benton. Extent and thicknesses of the hydrogeologic units and total basin sediment thickness were mapped for each basin. Interpretations were based on information from about 4,700 well records using geochemical, geophysical, geologist's or driller's logs, and from the surficial geology and previously constructed maps and well interpretations. The sedimentary deposits were thickest in the Kittitas Basin reaching a depth of greater than 2,000 ft, followed by successively thinner sedimentary deposits in the Selah basin with about 1,900 ft, Yakima Basin with about 1,800 ft, Toppenish Basin with about 1,200 ft, Benton basin with about 870 ft and Roslyn Basin with about 700 ft.

[Review and guidelines on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of post-natal cytomegalovirus infection].

PubMed

Alarcón Allen, A; Baquero-Artigao, F

2011-01-01

Postnatal cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in the newborn can occur from exposure to maternal cervical secretions during birth, ingestion of breast milk, transfusion of blood products or transmission by body fluids of infected people. Breast milk is the main source of infection, given the high rate of CMV-positive mothers excreting CMV in milk. Freezing reduces the risk of CMV transmission by breastfeeding, although it does not eliminate it completely. Pasteurisation prevents such transmission, but it can alter the immunological properties of breast milk. Postnatal CMV infection is usually asymptomatic, as it normally results from viral reactivation in the mother, and the neonate is born with protective antibodies. However, in the very low birth weight premature infant the amount of transferred antibodies is smaller and a symptomatic infection can occur. Symptomatic post-natal CMV infection in the newborn typically causes hepatitis, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia or sepsis-like syndrome. Pneumonitis and enteritis are less common, but very characteristic. Diagnosis is based on urine virus detection at the time of onset of symptoms. Postnatal CMV infection in the newborn generally resolves spontaneously without antiviral treatment. Ganciclovir should be reserved for severe cases. Unlike congenital CMV disease, post-natal CMV infection in the preterm infant does not seem to be associated with hearing loss or abnormal neuro-development in long term follow-up. Copyright © 2010 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Hydrocarbons related to early Cretaceous source rocks, reservoirs and seals, trapped in northeastern Neuqun basin, Argentina

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

Gulisano, C.; Minniti, S.; Rossi, G.

1996-08-01

The Jurassic-Cretaceous backarc Neuqun Basin, located in the west central part of Argentina, is currently the most prolific oil basin of the country. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate an Early Cretaceous to Tertiary petroleum system in the northeastern portion of the basin, where oil and gas occurrences (e.g., Puesto Hernandez, Chihuido de la Sierra Negra, El Trapial and Filo Morado oil fields, among others) provide 82 MMBO/yr comprising 67% of the basin oil production and 31% of Argentina. The source rocks are represented by two thick sections of basinal kerogen type I and II organic-rich shales,more » deposited during transgressive peaks (Agrio Formation), with TOC content up to 5.1%. Lowstand sandstones bodies, 10 to 100 m thick, are composed of eolian and fluvial facies with good reservoir conditions (Avil and Troncoso Sandstones). The seals are provided by the organic-rich shales resting sharply upon the Avil Sandstone and a widespread Aptian-Albian evaporitic event (Huitrin Formation) on top of the Troncoso reservoir. Tertiary structural traps (duplex anticlines) are developed in the outer foothills, whereas structural, combined and stratigraphic traps are present in the adjacent stable structural platform. Oil-to-source rock and oil-to-oil correlation by chromatographic and biomarker fingerprints, carbon isotopic composition and the geological evidences support the proposed oil system.« less

Summary of the geology and resources of uranium in the San Juan Basin and adjacent region, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ridgley, Jennie L.; Green, M.W.; Pierson, C.T.; Finch, W.I.; Lupe, R.D.

1978-01-01

The San Juan Basin and adjacent region lie predominantly in the southeastern part of the uranium-rich Colorado Plateau of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Underlying the province are rocks of the Precambrian basement complex composed mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks; a thickness of about 3,600 meters of generally horizontal Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks; and a variety of Upper Cretaceous and Cenozoic igneous rocks. Sedimentary rocks of the sequence are commonly eroded and well exposed near the present basin margins where Tertiary tectonic activity has uplifted, folded, and faulted the sequence into its present geologic configuration of basins, platforms, monoclines, and other related structural features. Sedimentary rocks of Jurassic age in the southern part of the San Juan Basin contain the largest uranium deposits in the United States, and offer the promise of additional uranium deposits. Elsewhere in the basin and the adjacent Colorado Plateau, reserves and resources of uranium are known primarily in Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous strata. Only scattered occurrences of uranium are known in Paleozoic

Slab Roll-Back and Trench Retreat As Controlling Factor for Island-Arc Related Basin Evolution: A Case Study from Southern Central America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandes, C.; Winsemann, J.

2014-12-01

Slab roll-back and trench retreat are important factors for basin subsidence, magma generation and volcanism in arc-trench systems. From the sedimentary and tectonic record of the Central American island-arc it is evident that repeated slab roll-back and trench retreats occurred since the Late Cretaceous. These trench retreats were most probably related to the subduction of oceanic plateaus and seamounts. Evidence for trench retreats is given by pulses of uplift in the outer-arc area, followed by subsidence in both the fore-arc and back-arc basins. The first slab roll-back probably occurred during the Early Paleocene indicated by the collapse of carbonate platforms, and the re-deposition of large carbonate blocks into deep-water turbidites. At this time the island-arc was transformed from an incipient non-extensional stage into an extensional stage. A new pulse of uplift or decreased subsidence, respectively during the Late Eocene is attributed to subduction of rough crust, a subsequent slab detachment and the establishment of a new subduction zone further westward. Strong uplift especially affected the outer arc of the North Costa Rican arc segment. In the Sandino Fore-arc basin very coarse-grained deep-water channel-levee complexes were deposited. These deposits contain large well-rounded andesitic boulders and are rich in reworked shallow-water carbonates pointing to uplift of the inner fore-arc. Evidence for the subsequent trench retreat is given by an increased subsidence during the early Oligocene in the Sandino Fore-arc Basin and the collapse of the Barra Honda platform in North Costa Rica. Another trench retreat might have occurred in Miocene times. A phase of higher subsidence from 18 to 13 Ma is documented in the geohistory curve of the North Limon Back-arc Basin. After a short pulse of uplift the subsidence increased to approx. 300 m/myr.

Pre-natal exposures to cocaine and alcohol and physical growth patterns to age 8 years

PubMed Central

Lumeng, Julie C.; Cabral, Howard J.; Gannon, Katherine; Heeren, Timothy; Frank, Deborah A.

2007-01-01

Two hundred and two primarily African American/Caribbean children (classified by maternal report and infant meconium as 38 heavier, 74 lighter and 89 not cocaine-exposed) were measured repeatedly from birth to age 8 years to assess whether there is an independent effect of prenatal cocaine exposure on physical growth patterns. Children with fetal alcohol syndrome identifiable at birth were excluded. At birth, cocaine and alcohol exposures were significantly and independently associated with lower weight, length and head circumference in cross-sectional multiple regression analyses. The relationship over time of pre-natal exposures to weight, height, and head circumference was then examined by multiple linear regression using mixed linear models including covariates: child’s gestational age, gender, ethnicity, age at assessment, current caregiver, birth mother’s use of alcohol, marijuana and tobacco during the pregnancy and pre-pregnancy weight (for child’s weight) and height (for child’s height and head circumference). The cocaine effects did not persist beyond infancy in piecewise linear mixed models, but a significant and independent negative effect of pre-natal alcohol exposure persisted for weight, height, and head circumference. Catch-up growth in cocaine-exposed infants occurred primarily by 6 months of age for all growth parameters, with some small fluctuations in growth rates in the preschool age range but no detectable differences between heavier versus unexposed nor lighter versus unexposed thereafter. PMID:17412558

Scaphitid ammonites from the Upper Cretaceous of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kennedy, William James; Klinger, Herbert Christian

2013-12-01

Kennedy, W.J. and Klinger, H.C. 2013. Scaphitid ammonites from the Upper Cretaceous of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Acta Geologica Polonica, 63 (4), 527-543. Warszawa. Scaphitid ammonites are described and illustrated from the Upper Cretaceous of the coastal region of north-eastern South Africa. Scaphites kieslingswaldensis Langenhan and Grundey, 1891, Scaphites manasoaensis Collignon, 1965, and Yezoites concinna sp. nov. occur in the Coniacian part of the St Lucia Formation in northern KwaZulu-Natal. A further Yezoites sp. may also be from this level. Argentoscaphites corrugatus sp. nov. occurs in the Santonian to Lower Campanian Mzamba Formation on the northernmost coast of Eastern Cape Province. Yezoites australis sp. nov. occurs in the Upper Santonian part of the St Lucia and Mzamba formations of these areas, and Scaphites reesidei Collignon, 1969, is recorded from the Lower Campanian part of the Mzamba Formation. The scaphitid assemblage includes species previously described from Western Europe and Madagascar, together with Argentoscaphites, previously known only from Patagonia (and possibly South India). Dimorphism is recognised in Scaphites reesidei, Yezoites concinna sp. nov. and Y. australis sp. nov. Argentoscaphites corrugatus sp. nov. and Yezoites sp. are represented by microconchs only. Dimorphism has not been recognised in Scaphites kieslingswaldensis.

Regional implications of new chronostratigraphic and paleogeographic data from the Early Permian Darwin Basin, east-central California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stevens, Calvin H.; Stone, Paul; Magginetti, Robert T.

2015-01-01

The Darwin Basin developed in response to episodic subsidence of the western margin of the Cordilleran continental shelf from Late Pennsylvanian (Gzhelian) to Early Permian (late Artinskian) time. Subsidence of the basin was initiated in response to continental truncation farther to the west and was later augmented by thrust emplacement of the Last Chance allochthon. This deep-water basin was filled by voluminous fine-grained siliciclastic turbidites and coarse-grained limestone-gravity-flow deposits. Most of this sediment was derived from the Bird Spring carbonate shelf and cratonal platform to the northeast or east, but some came from an offshore tectonic ridge (Conglomerate Mesa Uplift) to the west that formed at the toe of the Last Chance allochthon. At one point in the late Artinskian the influx of extrabasinal sediment was temporarily cut off, resulting in deposition of a unique black limestone that allows precise correlation throughout the basin. Deep-water sedimentation in the Darwin Basin ended by Kungurian time when complex shallow-water to continental sedimentary facies spread across the region. Major expansion of the Darwin Basin occurred soon after the middle Sakmarian emplacement of the Last Chance allochthon. This tectonic event was approximately coeval with deformation in northeastern Nevada that formed the deep-water Dry Mountain Trough. We herein interpret the two basins to have been structurally continuous. Deposition of the unique black limestone is interpreted to mark a eustatic sea level rise that also can be recognized in Lower Permian sections in east-central Nevada and central Arizona.

An integrated multiscale river basin observing system in the Heihe River Basin, northwest China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, X.; Liu, S.; Xiao, Q.; Ma, M.; Jin, R.; Che, T.

2015-12-01

Using the watershed as the unit to establish an integrated watershed observing system has been an important trend in integrated eco-hydrologic studies in the past ten years. Thus far, a relatively comprehensive watershed observing system has been established in the Heihe River Basin, northwest China. In addition, two comprehensive remote sensing hydrology experiments have been conducted sequentially in the Heihe River Basin, including the Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (WATER) (2007-2010) and the Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (HiWATER) (2012-2015). Among these two experiments, an important result of WATER has been the generation of some multi-scale, high-quality comprehensive datasets, which have greatly supported the development, improvement and validation of a series of ecological, hydrological and quantitative remote-sensing models. The goal of a breakthrough for solving the "data bottleneck" problem has been achieved. HiWATER was initiated in 2012. This project has established a world-class hydrological and meteorological observation network, a flux measurement matrix and an eco-hydrological wireless sensor network. A set of super high-resolution airborne remote-sensing data has also been obtained. In addition, there has been important progress with regard to the scaling research. Furthermore, the automatic acquisition, transmission, quality control and remote control of the observational data has been realized through the use of wireless sensor network technology. The observation and information systems have been highly integrated, which will provide a solid foundation for establishing a research platform that integrates observation, data management, model simulation, scenario analysis and decision-making support to foster 21st-century watershed science in China.

Mapping the extent of thinned continental crust across the Orphan Basin, offshore Newfoundland, Canada, using a combination of vintage and new seismic refraction/wide-angle reflection data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welford, J. Kim; Dehler, Sonya; Funck, Thomas

2017-04-01

The SIGNAL (Seismic Investigations off Greenland, Newfoundland and Labrador) 2009 cruise was undertaken by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), with scientific contributions from Dalhousie University, to collect refraction/wide-angle reflection (RWAR) profiles as part of each country's continental shelf program under UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) Article 76. Line 1 extended from the Bonavista Platform off Newfoundland, across the Orphan Basin, to Orphan Knoll and beyond into oceanic crust. The line followed the same track as an earlier seismic refraction line and ocean-bottom seismometer (OBS) locations were chosen to complement and to extend the original station coverage. The final crustal velocity model across Orphan Basin shows thinned continental crust (15 to 20 km thick) beneath most of the basin with thinner crust (10 km thick) immediately outboard of the Bonavista Platform, interpreted as a failed rift zone. Seaward of the failed rift, the velocity structure of the thinned continental crust is generally uniform over 250 km toward Orphan Knoll. Immediately outboard of Orphan Knoll, the crust thins to 8 km and exhibits a velocity structure consistent with oceanic crust. The results from modelling of the combined refraction/wide-angle reflection dataset support an extension of Canada's continental shelf beyond the seaward limits of the Orphan Basin.

Development of an integrated water resources management plan for the Lake Manyara sub-basin, Northern Tanzania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ngana, J. O.; Mwalyosi, R. B. B.; Madulu, N. F.; Yanda, P. Z.

Water resources management in Lake Manyara sub-basin is an issue of very high significance as the sub-basin hosts a number of national and global assets of great socio-cultural, ecological and economic values. The sub-basin comprise of a Biosphere Reserve with boosting tourism from Lake Manyara National Park with a variety of wildlife population, large livestock population and highly fertile land for agricultural production. The prevailing system of uncoordinated water resources management in the sub-basin cannot sustain the ever increasing water needs of the various expanding sectors, therefore a strategy must be sought to integrate the various sectoral needs against the available water resources in order to attain both economic and ecological sustainability. Through participatory approach with the stakeholders, the study has established key issues, demonstrated considerable experience in water resources management in the sub-basin including existence of water boards, water committees in some districts as well as land resources management practices However, a number of constraints were noted which inhibit sustainable water resources management including ignorance of water policies, conflicting sectoral policies, lack of coordination between sectors, high in migration rates into the basin, heavy in migration of livestock, conflicts between sectors, poor land use resulting in soil erosion and sedimentation, lack of comprehensive data base on water resources and water needs for : domestic, tourism, livestock, irrigation, wild life and environmental flows. As a way forward it was recommended that a basin wide legally mandated body (involving all levels) be established to oversee water use in the sub-basin. Other strategies include capacity building of stakeholders on water natural resources management policies, water rights and enforcement of laws. This progress report paper highlights the wealth of knowledge that stakeholders possess on water resources management and

View from second floor platform looking up at subsequent platforms. ...

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

View from second floor platform looking up at subsequent platforms. Note the Shuttle assembly outlined by the platform edges. - Marshall Space Flight Center, Saturn V Dynamic Test Facility, East Test Area, Huntsville, Madison County, AL

Small pelagic fish reproductive strategies in upwelling systems: A natal homing evolutionary model to study environmental constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brochier, T.; Colas, F.; Lett, C.; Echevin, V.; Cubillos, L. A.; Tam, J.; Chlaida, M.; Mullon, C.; Fréon, P.

2009-12-01

Although little is known about the individual-level mechanisms that influence small pelagic fish species’ reproductive strategy, Mullon et al. [Mullon, C., Cury, P., Penven, P., 2002. Evolutionary individual-based model for the recruitment of anchovy ( Engraulis capensis) in the southern Benguela. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59, 910-922] showed that the observed anchovy spawning patterns in the southern Benguela Current system off South Africa could be accurately reproduced by simulating a natal homing reproductive strategy, i.e. individuals spawning at their natal date and place. Here we used a similar method, i.e., an individual-based model of the natal homing reproductive strategy, and applied it to other upwelling systems: the northern Humboldt Current system off Peru, the southern Humboldt Current system off Chile and the central Canary Current system off Morocco. We investigated the spatial (horizontal and vertical) and seasonal spawning patterns that emerged after applying different environmental constraints in the model, and compared these to observed spawning patterns of sardine and anchovy in their respective systems. The selective environmental constraints tested were: (1) lethal temperature; (2) retention over the continental shelf; and (3) avoidance of dispersive structures. Simulated horizontal spatial patterns and seasonal patterns compared reasonably well with field data, but vertical patterns in most cases did not. Similarly to what was found for the southern Benguela, temperature was a determinant constraint in the southern Humboldt. The shelf retention constraint led to selection of a particular spawning season during the period of minimum upwelling in all three of the upwelling regions considered, and to spatial patterns that matched observed anchovy spawning off Chile and sardine spawning off Morocco. The third constraint, avoidance of dispersive structures, led to the emergence of a spawning season during the period of

Neogene palaeogeography and basin evolution of the Western Carpathians, Northern Pannonian domain and adjoining areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kováč, Michal; Márton, Emő; Oszczypko, Nestor; Vojtko, Rastislav; Hók, Jozef; Králiková, Silvia; Plašienka, Dušan; Klučiar, Tomáš; Hudáčková, Natália; Oszczypko-Clowes, Marta

2017-08-01

The data on the Neogene geodynamics, palaeogeography, and basin evolution of the Western Carpathians, Northern Pannonian domain and adjoining areas (ALCAPA Mega-unit) are summarized, re-evaluated, supplemented, and newly interpreted. The proposed concept is illustrated by a series of palinspastic and palaeotopographic maps. The Miocene development of the Outer Carpathians reflects the vanishing subduction of the residual oceanic and/or thinned continental crust. A compression perpendicular to the front of the orogenic system led to the closing of residual flysch troughs and to accretionary wedge growth, as well as to the development of a foredeep on the margin of the European Platform. Docking of the Outer Western Carpathians accretionary wedge, together with the Central Western Carpathians and Northern Pannonian domain, was accompanied by stretching of the overriding microplate. An orogen parallel and perpendicular extension was associated with the opening and subsidence of the Early and Middle Miocene hinterland (back-arc) basin system that compensated counter-clockwise rotations of the individual crustal fragments of ALCAPA. The Late Miocene development relates to the opening of the Pannonian Basin System. This process was coupled with common stretching of both ALCAPA and Tisza-Dacia Mega-units due to the pull exerted by subduction rollback in front of the Eastern Carpathians. The filling up of the hinterland basin system was associated with thermal subsidence and was followed by the Pliocene tectonic inversion and consequent erosion of the basin system margins, as well as part of the interior.

Active transtensional intracontinental basins: Walker Lane in the western Great Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jayko, Angela S.; Bursik, Marcus

2012-01-01

The geometry and dimensions of sedimentary basins within the Walker Lane are a result of Plio-Pleistocene transtensive deformation and partial detachment of the Sierra Nevada crustal block from the North American plate. Distinct morpho-tectonic domains lie within this active transtensive zone. The northeast end of the Walker Lane is partly buried by active volcanism of the southern Cascades, and adjacent basins are filled or poorly developed. To the south, the basin sizes are moderate, 25–45km × 15–10 km, with narrow 8-12km wide mountain ranges mainly oriented N-S to NNE. These basins form subparallel arrays in discrete zones trending about 300° and have documented clockwise rotation. This is succeeded to the south by a releasing stepover domain ∼85-100km wide, where the basins are elongated E-W to ENE, small (∼15-30km long, 5-15km wide), and locally occupied by active volcanic centers. The southernmost part of the Walker Lane is structurally integrated, with high to extreme relief. Adjacent basins are elongate, 50-200km long and ∼5 -20km wide. Variations in transtensive basin orientations in the Walker Lane are largely attributable to variations in strain partitioning. Large basins in the Walker Lane have 2-6km displacement across basin bounding faults with up to 3 km of clastic accumulation based on gravity and drill hole data. The sedimentary deposits of the basins may include interbedded volcanic deposits with bimodal basaltic and rhyolitic associations. The basins may include lacustrine deposits that record a wide range of water chemistry from cold fresh water conditions to saline-evaporative

Crustal structure across the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze platform, central China, from seismic refraction/wide-angle reflection data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zhang, Z.; Bai, Z.; Mooney, W.; Wang, C.; Chen, X.; Wang, E.; Teng, J.; Okaya, N.

2009-01-01

We present active-source seismic data recorded along a 300??km-long profile across the Three Gorges area of the western Yangtze platform, central China. From west to east, the profile crosses the Zigui basin, Huangling dome and Jianghan basin. The derived crustal P-wave velocity structure changes significantly across the Tongchenghe fault that lies at the transition from the Huangling dome to the Jianghan basin. West of the Tongchenghe fault, beneath the Zigui basin and the Huangling dome, we observe a ~ 42??km thick crust of relatively low average velocity (6.3-6.4??km/s). In contrast, east of the Tongchenghe fault, beneath the Jianghan basin, the crust is only 30??km thick and has a high average velocity (6.6-6.7??km/s). A west-east variation in crustal composition along the Tongchenghe fault is also inferred. West of the fault, P-wave velocities suggest a felsic composition with an intermediate layer at the base of the crust, whilst, east of the fault, felsic, intermediate, and mafic crustal layers are apparent. Our results suggest that the crust beneath the Jianghan basin has been thinned by rifting, accompanied by intrusion of the lower crust by mafic dikes and sills. The west-to-east division of the crust in the Three Gorges area coincides with first-order geophysical contrasts in gravity, topography, crustal and lithospheric thickness. ?? 2009 Elsevier B.V.

First results on the crustal structure of the Natal Valley from combined wide-angle and reflection seismic data (MOZ3/5 cruise), South Mozambique Margin.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leprêtre, Angélique; Verrier, Fanny; Evain, Mikael; Schnurle, Philippe; Watremez, Louise; Aslanian, Daniel; de Clarens, Philippe; Dias, Nuno; Afilhado, Alexandra; Leroy, Sylvie; d'Acremont, Elia; Castilla, Raymi; Moulin, Maryline

2017-04-01

The Natal valley (South Mozambique margin) is a key area for the understanding of the SW Indian Ocean history since the Gondwana break-up, and widely, the structure of a margin system at the transition between divergent and strike-slip segments. As one part of the PAMELA project (PAssive Margins Exploration Laboratories), conducted by TOTAL, IFREMER, in collaboration with Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Université Rennes 1, Université Pierre and Marie Curie, CNRS et IFPEN, the Natal Valley and the East Limpopo margin have been explored during the MOZ3/5 cruise (2016), conducted onboard the R/V Pourquoi Pas?, through the acquisition of 7 wide-angle profiles and coincident marine multichannel (720 traces) seismic as well as potential field data. Simultaneously, land seismometers were deployed in the Mozambique coastal plains, extending six of those profiles on land for about 100 km in order to provide information on the onshore-offshore transition. Wide-angle seismic data are of major importance as they can provide constrains on the crustal structure of the margin and the position of the continent-ocean boundary in an area where the crustal nature is poorly known and largely controversial. The aim of this work is to present the first results on the crustal structure from P-waves velocity modeling along two perpendicular MZ1 & MZ7 wide-angle profiles crossing the Natal Valley in an E-W and NNW-SSE direction respectively, which reveal a crust up to 30 km thick below the Natal Valley and thus raises questions of a purely oceanic origin of the Valley. The post-doc of Angélique Leprêtre is co-funded by TOTAL and IFREMER as part of the PAMELA (Passive Margin Exploration Laboratories) scientific project.

Grande Ronde Basin Chinook Salmon Captive Brood and Conventional Supplementation Programs, 2002 Annual Report.

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

Carmichael, Richard W.

2003-07-01

Endangered Species Permit Number 1011 (formerly Permit No. 973) authorizes ODFW to take listed spring chinook salmon juveniles from Catherine Creek (CC), Lostine River (LR) and Grande Ronde River (GR) for research and enhancement purposes. Modification 2 of this permit authorizes ODFW to take adults for spawning and the production and release of smolts for the Captive and Conventional broodstock programs. This report satisfies the requirement that an annual report be submitted. Herein we report on activities conducted and provide cursory data analyses for the Grande Ronde spring chinook salmon Captive and Conventional broodstock projects from 1 January-31 December 2002.more » The Grande Ronde Basin Spring Chinook Salmon Captive Broodstock Project is designed to rapidly increase numbers of salmon in stocks that are in imminent danger of extirpation. Parr are captured in Catherine Creek, upper Grande Ronde River and Lostine River and reared to adulthood in captivity. Upon maturation, they are spawned (within stocks) and their progeny reared to smoltification before being released into the natal stream of their parents. This program is co-managed by ODFW, National Marine Fisheries Service, the Nez Perce Tribe and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.« less

Germline deletion of FAK-related non-kinase delays post-natal cardiomyocyte mitotic arrest

PubMed Central

O’Neill, Thomas J.; Mack, Christopher P.; Taylor, Joan M.

2012-01-01

The cardiomyocyte phenotypic switch from a proliferative to terminally differentiated state impacts normal heart development and pathologic myocardial remodeling, yet the signaling mechanisms that regulate this vital process are incompletely understood. Studies from our lab and others indicate that focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a critical regulator of cardiac growth and remodeling and we found that expression of the endogenous FAK inhibitor, FAK-related non kinase (FRNK) coincided with postnatal cardiomyocyte arrest. Mis-expression of FRNK in the embryonic heart led to pre-term lethality associated with reduced cardiomyocyte proliferation and led us to speculate that the postnatal FRNK surge might be required to promote quiescence in this growth promoting environment. Herein, we provide strong evidence that endogenous FRNK contributes to post-mitotic arrest. Depletion of FRNK promoted DNA synthesis in post-natal day (P) 10 hearts accompanied by a transient increase in DNA content and multi-nucleation by P14, indicative of DNA replication without cell division. Interestingly, a reduction in tri- and tetra-nucleated cardiomyocytes, concomitant with an increase in bi-nucleated cells by P21, indicated the possibility that FRNK-depleted cardiomyocytes underwent eventual cytokinesis. In support of this conclusion, Aurora B-labeled central spindles (a hallmark of cytokinesis) were observed in tetra-nucleated P20 FRNK−/− but not wt cardiomyocytes, while no evidence of apoptosis was observed. Moreover, hearts from FRNK null mice developed ventricular enlargement that persisted until young adulthood which resulted from myocyte expansion rather than myocyte hypertrophy or interstitial growth. These data indicate that endogenous FRNK serves an important role in limiting DNA synthesis and regulating the un-coupling between DNA synthesis and cytokinesis in the post-natal myocardium. PMID:22555221

HIV Stigma and Unprotected Sex among PLWH in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A Longitudinal Exploration of Mediating Mechanisms

PubMed Central

Earnshaw, Valerie A.; Smith, Laramie R.; Shuper, Paul A.; Fisher, William A.; Cornman, Deborah H.; Fisher, Jeffrey D.

2014-01-01

Social and structural factors including HIV stigma are theorized to drive global disparities in HIV prevalence. This study tests whether HIV self-stigma, or experiences of stigma at the individual level, is associated with engagement in unprotected sex among PLWH in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where 37.4% of adults are living with HIV compared with 0.8% worldwide. It further explores whether depressive symptoms, HIV status disclosure to sex partners, and/or condom use attitudes mediate potential associations between HIV self-stigma and unprotected sex. Participants, including 924 PLWH, were recruited from primary care clinics and completed baseline, 6-, 12-, and 18- month survey assessments between 2008 and 2011. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses were used to examine longitudinal within-subjects associations between HIV self-stigma, mediators, and unprotected sex with both HIV-negative/unknown and HIV-positive partners. Results demonstrate that HIV self-stigma was prospectively associated with greater likelihood of unprotected sex with HIV-negative/unknown partners. None of the variables explored significantly mediated this association. HIV self-stigma was also prospectively associated with greater likelihood of unprotected sex with HIV-positive partners via the mediators of greater depressive symptoms and more negative condom use attitudes. The current study suggests that HIV self-stigma undermines HIV secondary prevention and care efforts among PLWH in KwaZulu-Natal. It is therefore critical to address HIV stigma at the social/structural level to reduce HIV self-stigma at the individual level and ultimately curb global disparities in HIV prevalence. In the absence of widespread social/structural change, interventions that treat depressive symptoms and encourage more positive condom use attitudes despite the existence of HIV stigma may buffer associations between HIV self-stigma and unprotected sex with HIV-positive partners among PLWH in KwaZulu-Natal. PMID

Building a Future without Gender Violence: Rural Teachers and Youth in Rural Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Leading Community Dialogue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Lange, Naydene; Mitchell, Claudia

2014-01-01

This article advances the idea that rural youth and teachers are the key in leading community dialogue towards addressing gender-based violence (GBV) in their community through their film making. The youth voices on the realities of GBV in their school and community, in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, captured through the process of…

The (Dis)ownership of English: Language and Identity Construction among Zulu Students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parmegiani, Andrea

2014-01-01

This paper explores the role English and isiZulu play in the identity construction of a group of black South African university students from disadvantaged backgrounds enrolled in a bridge programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. I will discuss how, in post-apartheid South Africa, language practices continue to foster inequality, despite a…

Platform C Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-19

A heavy-lift crane lowers the first half of the C-level work platforms, C south, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, for installation on the south side of High Bay 3 in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. In view below Platform C are several of the previously installed platforms. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Web Platform for Sharing Spatial Data and Manipulating Them Online

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachelet, Dominique; Comendant, Tosha; Strittholt, Jim

2011-04-01

To fill the need for readily accessible conservation-relevant spatial data sets, the Conservation Biology Institute (CBI) launched in 2010 a Web-based platform called Data Basin (http://www.databasin.org). It is the first custom application of ArcGIS technology, which provides Web access to free maps and imagery using the most current version of Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI; http://www.esri.com/) geographic information system (GIS) software, and its core functionality is being made freely available. Data Basin includes spatial data sets (Arc format shapefiles and grids, or layer packages) that can be biological (e.g., prairie dog range), physical (e.g., average summer temperature, 1950-2000), or socioeconomic (e.g., locations of Alaska oil and gas wells); based on observations as well as on simulation results; and of local to global relevance. They can be uploaded, downloaded, or simply visualized. Maps (overlays of multiple data sets) can be created and customized (e.g., western Massachusetts protected areas, time series of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill). Galleries are folders containing data sets and maps focusing on a theme (e.g., sea level rise projections for the Pacific Northwest region from the National Wildlife Federation, soil data sets for the conterminous United States).

Defensive platform size and survivability. [Platform survivability

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

Canavan, Gregory H.

1988-06-01

This report discusses the survivability of space platforms, concentrating on space based kinetic energy interceptors. It evaluates the efficacy of hardening, maneuver, self-defense, and deception in extending the survivability of platforms of varying sizes to expected threats, concluding that they should be adequate in the near and mid terms.

Geosynchronous platform definition study. Volume 5: Geosynchronous platform synthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The development is described of the platform configurations, support subsystems, mission equipment, and servicing concepts. A common support module is developed; subsystem concepts are traded off; data relay, TDRS, earth observational, astro-physics, and advanced navigation and traffic control mission equipment concepts are postulated; and ancillary equipment required for delivery and on-orbit servicing interfaces with geosynchronous platforms is grossly defined. The general approach was to develop a platform concept capable of evolving through three on-orbit servicing modes: remote, EVA, and shirtsleeve. The definition of the equipment is to the assembly level. Weight, power, and volumetric data are compiled for all the platforms.

Water Balance in the Amazon Basin from a Land Surface Model Ensemble

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Getirana, Augusto C. V.; Dutra, Emanuel; Guimberteau, Matthieu; Kam, Jonghun; Li, Hong-Yi; Decharme, Bertrand; Zhang, Zhengqiu; Ducharne, Agnes; Boone, Aaron; Balsamo, Gianpaolo;

The Blake Plateau Basin and Carolina Trough

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dillon, William P.; Popenoe, Peter; Sheridan, R.E.; Grow, John A.

1988-01-01

Presently, the continental margin of the southeastern United States (Fig. 1) forms a zone of transition between the actively building, steep-fronted carbonate platform of the Bahamas and the typical eastern North American terrigenous clastic-dominated, drowned, shelf-slope-rise configuration. This region of the continental margin is underlain by two major sedimentary basins—the Blake Plateau Basin and the Carolina Trough (Fig. 2)—which are different in shape, basement structure, and history. Indeed, the two southern basins show some of the greatest contrasts of any basins of eastern North America, especially in their early response to rifting and in the change from rifting to drifting. The region has experienced abrupt major changes in geological conditions, most notably the onset of Gulf Stream flow in the early Tertiary.Morphologically, the area is dominated by the broad, flat Blake Plateau at about 800-1,000 m water depth (Fig. 1). The plateau is bounded to the east by the extremely steep Blake Escarpment, descending to 5,000 m water depths. To the west, a short continental slope rises to a continental shelf. This Blake Plateau morphology characterizes the margin east of Florida and north of the Bahamas. North of Florida the margin merges into the typical shelf-slope-rise morphology. Just north of the Blake Escarpment and its northern projection, the Blake Spur, the Blake Ridge extends away from the continental slope at water depths exceeding 2,000 m (Fig. 1). This broad ridge is a Cenozoic, sedimentary drift deposit controlled by bottom currents. (For the reader who is beginning to wonder why half of the features of this region seem to be named "Blake", the Blake was a Coast Survey steamer from which investigations off the southeastern U.S. were carried out in 1877 to 1880. Ferromanganese nodules were discovered on the Blake Plateau at that time [Murray, 1885].)

Between the Lines: Gender in the Reception of Texts by School Children in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balfour, Robert

2003-01-01

Explores the interface between literature, gender, culture, and language within an educational context. Examines the responses of Zulu boys and girls to the introduction of a new curriculum that integrated language and literary study in a rural school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Specifically, it shows how reading can lead to a more complex and…

HIV Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for Child Rape Survivors in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Who Qualifies and Who Complies?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collings, Steven J.; Bugwandeen, Shikaar R.; Wiles, Wendy A.

2008-01-01

Objective: Our objective was to audit the provision and utilization of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to child rape survivors in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods: A prospective design was used to collect data from a convenience sample of 200 consecutive cases of child rape referred for medico-legal assessment to a state…

Stabilized floating platforms

DOEpatents

Thomas, David G.

1976-01-01

The subject invention is directed to a floating platform for supporting nuclear reactors and the like at selected offshore sites. The platform is provided with a stabilizer mechanism which significantly reduces the effects of wave action upon the platform and which comprises a pair of relatively small floats attached by rigid booms to the platform at locations spaced therefrom for reducing wave pitch, acceleration, and the resonance period of the wave.

Seaweeds along KwaZulu-Natal coast of South Africa-3: elemental uptake by Ulva lactuca (Sea lettuce).

PubMed

Misheer, Natasha; Kindness, A; Jonnalagadda, S B

2006-01-01

The elemental uptake by Ulva lactuca (Sea lettuce), a marine macro-algae (chlorophyta, green alga) grown richly along KwaZulu-Natal coastline. The total elemental concentrations of seven important elements, namely manganese, iron, arsenic, boron, titanium, zinc and mercury, selected based on their abundance in U. lactuca were investigated for one year cycle (June 2002 to May 2003). The four selected sampling sites, Zinkwasi, Ballito, Treasure Beach and Park Ryrie are spread over 150 km wide along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline from North to South. The Ulva lectuca possess good manganese and arsenic accumulating ability and an excellent bio-indicator for most of the metals studied. A typical U. lectuca sample at Zinkwasi (in winter) recorded Mn (25.3 +/- 1.16 ppm), Fe (21.0 +/- 0.85 ppm), As (6.2 +/- 0.30 ppm), B (935 +/- 14 ppb), Ti (863 +/- 34 ppb), Zn (421 +/- 21 ppb), and Hg (61.3 +/- 1.2 ppb). The general trend found at all sites was high elemental concentrations in winter and a decrease in concentrations from winter to spring and summer. Iron uptake was lowest in summer and autumn at all sites. Ulva lactuca recorded highest mercury levels (>400 ppb) during the spring season at the Treasure Beach site near Durban.

Post-Natal Persistent Infection With Classical Swine Fever Virus in Wild Boar: A Strategy for Viral Maintenance?

PubMed

Cabezón, O; Colom-Cadena, A; Muñoz-González, S; Pérez-Simó, M; Bohórquez, J A; Rosell, R; Marco, I; Domingo, M; Lavín, S; Ganges, L

2017-04-01

In this study, fifteen wild boar piglets were intranasally inoculated <10 h after birth with the moderately virulent classical swine fever virus (CSFV) strain Catalonia 01. At 5 days post-inoculation, seven other animals within 48 h of birth were put in contact with them. Viral replication and innate and specific immune responses were evaluated. Of the inoculated animals, 46.67% remained post-natally persistently infected and were apparently healthy with neither humoral nor cellular immunological responses specific to CSFV and with high viral loads in their blood, organs and body secretions. Moreover, the present data extend the time period to 48 h after birth when a moderately virulent CSFV strain could lead to post-natal persistent infection given the generation of persistently infected wild boars in the contact group (33.33%). The innate immune response to the virus, as measured by type I IFN-α in serum, was mostly not impaired in the persistently infected wild boars. Interestingly, a decrease and lack of IFN-γ-producing cells against CSFV and PHA was observed. In endemic countries where wild swine species are increasing and low and moderate virulence CSFV strains are prevalent, the possible generation of this form of disease cannot be ruled out. © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Platform C Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-19

A heavy-lift crane lifts the first half of the C-level work platforms, C south, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, up from the transfer aisle floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Large Tandemloc bars have been attached to the platform to keep it level during lifting and installation. The C platform will be installed on the south side of High Bay 3. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Rocky Mountain Tertiary coal-basin models and their applicability to some world basins

USGS Publications Warehouse

Flores, R.M.

1989-01-01

Tertiary intermontane basins in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States contain large amounts of coal resources. The first major type of Tertiary coal basin is closed and lake-dominated, either mud-rich (e.g., North Park Basin, Colorado) or mud plus carbonate (e.g., Medicine Lodge Basin, Montana), which are both infilled by deltas. The second major type of Tertiary coal basin is open and characterized by a preponderance of sediments that were deposited by flow-through fluvial systems (e.g., Raton Basin, Colorado and New Mexico, and Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana). The setting for the formation of these coals varies with the type of basin sedimentation, paleotectonism, and paleoclimate. The mud-rich lake-dominated closed basin (transpressional paleotectonism and warm, humid paleoclimate), where infilled by sandy "Gilbert-type" deltas, contains thick coals (low ash and low sulfur) formed in swamps of the prograding fluvial systems. The mud- and carbonate-rich lake-dominated closed basin is infilled by carbonate precipitates plus coarse-grained fan deltas and fine-grained deltas. Here, thin coals (high ash and high sulfur) formed in swamps of the fine-grained deltas. The coarse-clastic, open basins (compressional paleotectonism and warm, paratropical paleoclimate) associated with flow-through fluvial systems contain moderately to anomalously thick coals (high to low ash and low sulfur) formed in swamps developed in intermittently abandoned portions of the fluvial systems. These coal development patterns from the Tertiary Rocky Mountain basins, although occurring in completely different paleotectonic settings, are similar to that found in the Tertiary, Cretaceous, and Permian intermontane coal basins in China, New Zealand, and India. ?? 1989.

Contrasting basin architecture and rifting style of the Vøring Basin, offshore mid-Norway and the Faroe-Shetland Basin, offshore United Kingdom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schöpfer, Kateřina; Hinsch, Ralph

2017-04-01

The Vøring and the Faroe-Shetland basins are offshore deep sedimentary basins which are situated on the outer continental margin of the northeast Atlantic Ocean. Both basins are underlain by thinned continental crust whose structure is still debated. In particular the nature of the lower continental crust and the origin of high velocity bodies located at the base of the lower crust are a subject of discussion in recent literature. Regional interpretation of 2D and 3D seismic reflection data, combined with well data, suggest that both basins share several common features: (i) Pre-Cretaceous faults that are distributed across the entire basin width. (ii) Geometries of pre-Jurassic strata reflecting at least two extensional phases. (iii) Three common rift phases, Late Jurassic, Campanian-Maastrichtian and Palaeocene. (iv) Large pre-Cretaceous fault blocks that are buried by several kilometres of Cretaceous and Cenozoic strata. (iii). (v) Latest Cretaceous/Palaeocene inversion. (vi) Occurrence of partial mantle serpentinization during Early Cretaceous times, as proposed by other studies, seems improbable. The detailed analysis of the data, however, revealed significant differences between the two basins: (i) The Faroe-Shetland Basin was a fault-controlled basin during the Late Jurassic but also the Late Cretaceous extensional phase. In contrast, the Vøring Basin is dominated by the late Jurassic rifting and subsequent thermal subsidence. It exhibits only minor Late Cretaceous faults that are localised above intra-basinal and marginal highs. In addition, the Cretaceous strata in the Vøring Basin are folded. (ii) In the Vøring Basin, the locus of Late Cretaceous rifting shifted westwards, affecting mainly the western basin margin, whereas in the Faroe-Shetland Basin Late Cretaceous rifting was localised in the same area as the Late Jurassic phase, hence masking the original Jurassic geometries. (iii) Devono-Carboniferous and Aptian/Albian to Cenomanian rift phases

Geology and physiography of the continental margin north of Alaska and implications for the origin of the Canada Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grantz, Arthur; Eittreim, Stephen L.; Whitney, O.T.

1979-01-01

The continental margin north of Alaska is of Atlantic type. It began to form probably in Early Jurassic time but possibly in middle Early Cretaceous time, when the oceanic Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean is thought to have opened by rifting about a pole of rotation near the Mackenzie Delta. Offsets of the rift along two fracture zones are thought to have divided the Alaskan margin into three sectors of contrasting structure and stratigraphy. In the Barter Island sector on the east and the Chukchi sector on the west the rift was closer to the present northern Alaska mainland than in the Barrow sector, which lies between them. In the Barter Island and Chukchi sectors the continental shelf is underlain by prisms of clastic sedimentary rocks that are inferred to include thick sections of Jurassic and Neocomian (lower Lower Cretaceous) strata of southern provenance. In the intervening Barrow sector the shelf is underlain by relatively thin sections of Jurassic and Neocomian strata derived from northern sources that now lie beneath the outer continental shelf. The rifted continental margin is overlain by a prograded prism of Albian (upper Lower Cretaceous) to Tertiary clastic sedimentary rocks that comprises the continental terrace of the western Beaufort and northern Chukchi Seas. On the south the prism is bounded by Barrow arch, which is a hingeline between the northward-tilted basement surface beneath the continental shelf of the western Beaufort Sea and the southward-tilted Arctic Platform of northern Alaska. The Arctic platform is overlain by shelf clastic and carbonate strata of Mississippian to Cretaceous age, and by Jurassic and Cretaceous clastic strata of the Colville foredeep. Both the Arctic platform and Colville foredeep sequences extend from northern Alaska beneath the northern Chukchi Sea. At Herald fault zone in the central Chukchi Sea they are overthrust by more strongly deformed Cretaceous to Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of Herald arch, which trends

Long-term changes in sediment barium inventories associated with drilling-related discharges in the Santa Maria Basin, California, USA

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

Phillips, C.; Evans, J.; Hom, W.

1998-09-01

Nine-year (1986--1995) records of barium (Ba) concentrations in surficial, subsurface, and suspended sediments near offshore oil and gas platforms in the Santa Maria Basin, California, USA, were analyzed to evaluate temporal trends related to drilling activities. These trends provide important information on the long-term effects of drilling discharges on geochemical conditions. Drilling during the 1986 through 1989 (phase II) monitoring period resulted in significant changes in Ba concentrations in suspended particles and surficial sediments, whereas the relatively shorter 1993 through 1994 (phase III) drilling operations resulted in only minor increases in Ba concentrations in suspended sediments. Residual excess Ba wasmore » present in some sediments within 500 m of the platforms at concentrations up to an order of magnitude above background. These elevated levels probably were associated with cuttings particles deposited near the base of the platforms. Calculated excess Ba in sediments within 500 m of the platforms represented 6 to 11% of the total Ba discharged during the two drilling periods.« less

Self-Efficacy Enhanced in a Cross-Cultural Context through an Initiative in Under-Resourced Schools in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maher, Marguerite

2016-01-01

This paper discusses the Khanyisa Programme, an initiative in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where learners from under-resourced schools are supported by teachers and high achievers in Grade 11 and 12 from a previously advantaged state school under apartheid. A qualitative, evaluative study was undertaken to identify key elements in the ongoing…

Potential for deep basin-centered gas accumulation in Hanna Basin, Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Michael S.; Dyman, Thaddeus S.; Nuccio, Vito F.

2001-01-01

The potential for a continuous-type basin-centered gas accumulation in the Hanna Basin in Carbon County, Wyoming, is evaluated using geologic and production data including mud-weight, hydrocarbon-show, formation-test, bottom-hole-temperature, and vitrinite reflectance data from 29 exploratory wells. This limited data set supports the presence of a hypothetical basin-centered gas play in the Hanna Basin. Two generalized structural cross sections illustrate our interpretations of possible abnormally pressured compartments. Data indicate that a gas-charged, overpressured interval may occur within the Cretaceous Mowry, Frontier, and Niobrara Formations at depths below 10,000 ft along the southern and western margins of the basin. Overpressuring may also occur near the basin center within the Steele Shale and lower Mesaverde Group section at depths below 18,000 to 20,000 ft. However, the deepest wells drilled to date (12,000 to 15,300 ft) have not encountered over-pressure in the basin center. This overpressured zone is likely to be relatively small (probably 20 to 25 miles in diameter) and is probably depleted of gas near major basement reverse faults and outcrops where gas may have escaped. Water may have invaded reservoirs through outcrops and fracture zones along the basin margins, creating an extensive normally pressured zone. A zone of subnormal pressure also may exist below the water-saturated, normal-pressure zone and above the central zone of overpressure. Subnormal pressures have been interpreted in the center of the Hanna Basin at depths ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 ft based on indirect evidence including lost-circulation zones. Three wells on the south side of the basin, where the top of the subnormally pressured zone is interpreted to cut across stratigraphic boundaries, tested the Niobrara Formation and recovered gas and oil shows with very low shut-in pressures.

Facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy of neoproterozoic Platform deposits in Adrar of Mauritania, Taoudeni basin, West Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benan, C. A. A.; Deynoux, M.

The Neoproterozoic and Palaeozoic Taoudeni basin forms the flat-lying and unmetamorphosed sedimentary cover of the West African Craton. In the western part of this basin, the Char Group and the lower part of the Atar Group make up a 400-m-thick Neoproterozoic siliciclastic succession which rests on the Palaeoproterozoic metamorphic and granitic basement. Five erosional bounding surfaces of regional extent have been identified in this succession. These surfaces separate five stratigraphic units with lithofacies associations ranging from fluvial to coastal and fluvial-, tide-, or wave-dominated shallow marine deposits. Owing to their regional extent and their position within the succession, the erosive bounding surfaces correspond to relative sea-level falls, and accordingly the five stratigraphic units they bound represent allocyclic transgressive-regressive depositional sequences (S1-S5). Changes in the nature of the deposits forming the transgressive-regressive cycles reflect landward or seaward shifts of the stacked sequences. These successive relative sea-level changes are related to the reactivation of basement faults and tilting during rifting of the Pan-Afro-Brasiliano supercontinent 1000 m.y. ago. The stromatolite bearing carbonate-shale sequences which form the rest of the Atar Group mark the onset of a quiet period of homogeneous subsidence contemporaneous with the Pan-African I oceanization 800-700 m.y. ago.

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction and evolution of an Upper Cretaceous lacustrine-fluvial-deltaic sequence in the Parecis Basin, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubert, Rogerio R.; Mizusaki, Ana Maria Pimentel; Martinelli, Agustín G.; Urban, Camile

2017-12-01

The Cretaceous in the Brazilian Platform records events of magmatism, tectonism and sedimentation coupled to the Gondwana breakup. Some of these events are registered as sedimentary sequences in interior basins, such as in the Cretaceous sequence of the Alto Xingu Sub-basin, Parecis Basin, Central Brazil. This article proposes the faciologic characterization and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Cretaceous sequence of the eastern portion of the Parecis Basin and its relation with some reactivated structures as, for instance, the Serra Formosa Arch. Based on both data from outcrops and core drillings a paleoenvironmental and evolutionary reconstruction of the sequence is herein presented. The base of the studied section is characterized by chemical and low energy clastic sedimentation of Lake Bottom and Shoreline, in a context of fast initial subsidence and low sedimentation rate. As the subsidence process decreased, a deltaic progradation became dominant with deposition in a prodelta environment, followed by a deltaic front and deltaic plain interbedded with fluvial plain, and aeolian deposition completing the sequence. The inferred Coniacian-Santonian age is based on vertebrate (fishes and notosuchians) and ostracod fossils with regional chrono-correlates in the Adamantina (Bauru Group), Capacete (Sanfranciscana Basin), and Bajo de la Carpa (Neuquén Group, in Argentina) formations. The formation of a Coniacian depocenter in the Alto Xingu Sub-basin is associated to the Turonian-Coniacian reactivation event in the Peruvian Orogenic Phase of the Andean Orogeny, with the transference of stresses to interplate setting, reactivating Proterozoic structures of the basement.

Platform C Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-19

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a construction worker assist with the installation of the first half of the C-level work platforms, C south, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The large bolts that hold the platform in place on the south wall are being secured. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Platform C Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-19

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, construction workers assist with the installation of the first half of the C-level work platforms, C south, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The large bolts that hold the platform in place on the south wall are being secured. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Platform C Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-19

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the first half of the C-level work platforms, C south, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, has been installed on the south side of the high bay. In view below are several levels of previously installed platforms. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Density-dependent natal dispersal patterns in a leopard population recovering from over-harvest.

PubMed

Fattebert, Julien; Balme, Guy; Dickerson, Tristan; Slotow, Rob; Hunter, Luke

2015-01-01

Natal dispersal enables population connectivity, gene flow and metapopulation dynamics. In polygynous mammals, dispersal is typically male-biased. Classically, the 'mate competition', 'resource competition' and 'resident fitness' hypotheses predict density-dependent dispersal patterns, while the 'inbreeding avoidance' hypothesis posits density-independent dispersal. In a leopard (Panthera pardus) population recovering from over-harvest, we investigated the effect of sex, population density and prey biomass, on age of natal dispersal, distance dispersed, probability of emigration and dispersal success. Over an 11-year period, we tracked 35 subadult leopards using VHF and GPS telemetry. Subadult leopards initiated dispersal at 13.6 ± 0.4 months. Age at commencement of dispersal was positively density-dependent. Although males (11.0 ± 2.5 km) generally dispersed further than females (2.7 ± 0.4 km), some males exhibited opportunistic philopatry when the population was below capacity. All 13 females were philopatric, while 12 of 22 males emigrated. Male dispersal distance and emigration probability followed a quadratic relationship with population density, whereas female dispersal distance was inversely density-dependent. Eight of 12 known-fate females and 5 of 12 known-fate male leopards were successful in settling. Dispersal success did not vary with population density, prey biomass, and for males, neither between dispersal strategies (philopatry vs. emigration). Females formed matrilineal kin clusters, supporting the resident fitness hypothesis. Conversely, mate competition appeared the main driver for male leopard dispersal. We demonstrate that dispersal patterns changed over time, i.e. as the leopard population density increased. We conclude that conservation interventions that facilitated local demographic recovery in the study area also restored dispersal patterns disrupted by unsustainable harvesting, and that this indirectly improved connectivity among

Density-Dependent Natal Dispersal Patterns in a Leopard Population Recovering from Over-Harvest

PubMed Central

Fattebert, Julien; Balme, Guy; Dickerson, Tristan; Slotow, Rob; Hunter, Luke

2015-01-01

Natal dispersal enables population connectivity, gene flow and metapopulation dynamics. In polygynous mammals, dispersal is typically male-biased. Classically, the ‘mate competition’, ‘resource competition’ and ‘resident fitness’ hypotheses predict density-dependent dispersal patterns, while the ‘inbreeding avoidance’ hypothesis posits density-independent dispersal. In a leopard (Panthera pardus) population recovering from over-harvest, we investigated the effect of sex, population density and prey biomass, on age of natal dispersal, distance dispersed, probability of emigration and dispersal success. Over an 11-year period, we tracked 35 subadult leopards using VHF and GPS telemetry. Subadult leopards initiated dispersal at 13.6 ± 0.4 months. Age at commencement of dispersal was positively density-dependent. Although males (11.0 ± 2.5 km) generally dispersed further than females (2.7 ± 0.4 km), some males exhibited opportunistic philopatry when the population was below capacity. All 13 females were philopatric, while 12 of 22 males emigrated. Male dispersal distance and emigration probability followed a quadratic relationship with population density, whereas female dispersal distance was inversely density-dependent. Eight of 12 known-fate females and 5 of 12 known-fate male leopards were successful in settling. Dispersal success did not vary with population density, prey biomass, and for males, neither between dispersal strategies (philopatry vs. emigration). Females formed matrilineal kin clusters, supporting the resident fitness hypothesis. Conversely, mate competition appeared the main driver for male leopard dispersal. We demonstrate that dispersal patterns changed over time, i.e. as the leopard population density increased. We conclude that conservation interventions that facilitated local demographic recovery in the study area also restored dispersal patterns disrupted by unsustainable harvesting, and that this indirectly improved

The medicinal animal markets in the metropolitan region of Natal City, northeastern Brazil.

PubMed

Oliveira, Eduardo S; Torres, Denise F; Brooks, Sharon E; Alves, Rômulo R N

2010-07-06

This study investigates the trade of animals for medicinal purposes in Natal metropolitan area, northeastern Brazil, to document which animal species are used, how and for what purposes. This study also discusses the implications of the use of zootherapeutics for wildlife conservation. Based on interviews with merchants of medicinal animals in all open fairs of the metropolitan region of Natal City, we calculated the informant consensus factor (ICF) to determine the consensus over which species are effective for particular ailments, as well as the species relative importance to determine the extent of potential utilization of each species. We describe the therapeutic effects of 23 animal species used medicinally. The zootherapeutical products sold commercially are used to treat 34 health problems that were classified into 14 broad categories. We also highlight those species valued for their effectiveness against a range of ailments. The highest ICF value (1.0) was cited for diseases of the circulatory system, which include relief of symptoms such as stroke, hemorrhage, varicose veins and edema. Our study indicated that the local population holds a great deal of ethnomedical knowledge about their local animal resources, and highlights the need for clinical investigations of these traditional remedies to test the safety and efficacy. The animal species identified in this study not only hold high medicinal value for local populations, but could potentially be a source of healing compounds that could aid pharmaceutical research. While the impact of these practices on animal populations is unknown, the high extractive value of these animal populations and the associated medicinal traditional knowledge, needs to be considered in any conservation strategy aimed at the faunistic resources of this area. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Drainage areas of the Twelvepole Creek basin, West Virginia; Big Sandy River basin, West Virginia; Tug Fork basin, Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, M.W.

1979-01-01

Drainage areas were determined for 61 basins in the Twelvepole Creek basin, West Virginia; 11 basins of the Big Sandy River Basin, West Virginia; and 210 basins in the Tug Fork basin of Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Most basins with areas greater than 5 square miles were included. Drainage areas were measured with electronic digitizing equipment, and supplementary measurements were made with a hand planimeter. Stream mileages were determined by measuring, with a graduated plastic strip, distances from the mouth of each stream to the measuring point on that stream. Mileages were reported to the nearest one-hundredth of a mile in all cases. The latitude and longitude of each measuring point was determined with electronic digitizing equipment and is reported to the nearest second. The information is listed in tabular form in downstream order. Measuring points for the basins are located in the tables by intersecting tributaries, by counties, by map quadrangles, or by latitude and longitude. (Woodard-USGS)

New Classification of Impact Basins and Its Implications for Basin Evolution on the Moon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, J.; Liu, J.; Guo, D.

2016-12-01

Large impact basins, the comprehensive results of internal and external dynamic geological processes, are the principal topographic features on the Moon. Study on evolution of those large impact basins provides important clues for understanding early history of the Moon. However, to classify the impact basins before anyone can link their characteristics to basin evolution, discrepancies occur among different classification systems, of which some did not to consider the effect of filled basalt [1] or some did not to consider the category of non-mascon basins [2, 3]. In order to clarify the ambiguous basin types caused by different classifications, we re-examined impact basins ≥ 200 km in diameter (66 in total; excluding SPA basin) using the GRAIL geophysical data, LRO DEM data and LP geochemical data from NASA Planetary Data System. We chose two major category labels: mascon or not [1, 2, 3] and the basin floor is covered by basalt/basaltic materials or not [4, 5]; plus, we considered topographic signatures as the clue of timescale. As a result, the 66 impact basins were classified into four categories: Type I (20), mascon basins with basalt or basaltic materials and most of them show well-preserved topography signature; Type II (28), mascon basins without basalt or basaltic materials, most of them are located on the farside with preserved topography signature; Type III (11), non-mascon basins with basalt or basaltic materials, most basins of this type are dated as Pre-Nectarian except for Van de Graaff basin and showing severely degraded topography; Type IV (6), non-mascon basins without basalt or basaltic materials, all basins of this type are dated as Pre-Nectarian with severely degraded topography. This new classification scheme can be easily applied to various lunar basins and help us to locate important information about early environment or thermal state of the Moon by comparison study of regional geological evolution of different basin types. References [1

A Web-Based Earth-Systems Knowledge Portal and Collaboration Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Agnese, F. A.; Turner, A. K.

2010-12-01

In support of complex water-resource sustainability projects in the Great Basin region of the United States, Earth Knowledge, Inc. has developed several web-based data management and analysis platforms that have been used by its scientists, clients, and public to facilitate information exchanges, collaborations, and decision making. These platforms support accurate water-resource decision-making by combining second-generation internet (Web 2.0) technologies with traditional 2D GIS and web-based 2D and 3D mapping systems such as Google Maps, and Google Earth. Most data management and analysis systems use traditional software systems to address the data needs and usage behavior of the scientific community. In contrast, these platforms employ more accessible open-source and “off-the-shelf” consumer-oriented, hosted web-services. They exploit familiar software tools using industry standard protocols, formats, and APIs to discover, process, fuse, and visualize earth, engineering, and social science datasets. Thus, they respond to the information needs and web-interface expectations of both subject-matter experts and the public. Because the platforms continue to gather and store all the contributions of their broad-spectrum of users, each new assessment leverages the data, information, and expertise derived from previous investigations. In the last year, Earth Knowledge completed a conceptual system design and feasibility study for a platform, which has a Knowledge Portal providing access to users wishing to retrieve information or knowledge developed by the science enterprise and a Collaboration Environment Module, a framework that links the user-access functions to a Technical Core supporting technical and scientific analyses including Data Management, Analysis and Modeling, and Decision Management, and to essential system administrative functions within an Administrative Module. The over-riding technical challenge is the design and development of a single

The use of pre-natal diagnostic techniques for sex selection: the Indian scene.

PubMed

Kusum

1993-04-01

The use of pre-natal diagnostic techniques only for sex determination followed by termination of pregnancy on a finding of female foetus, is an atrocious and unethical practice. The bias against a female has been stretched further back: from cradle to grave, it is now from womb to the grave. One cannot however ignore the conditions of the society which breed and encourage such practices. A girl suffers neglect and discrimination right from childhood; she is tortured, harassed and maltreated after marriage. At the work place she is exploited. A widow or a divorcee is looked down upon by the family and the society. All these things make her life miserable and not worth existence....

Platform C Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-19

A heavy-lift crane lifts the first half of the C-level work platforms, C south, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, high up from the transfer aisle floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The C platform will be installed on the south side of High Bay 3. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Platform C Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-19

A heavy-lift crane lifts the first half of the C-level work platforms, C south, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, high up from the transfer aisle floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The C platform will be moved into High Bay 3 for installation on the south wall. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

"Why We Don't Go to School on Fridays": On Youth Participation through Photo Voice in Rural KwaZulu-Natal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Claudia; Stuart, Jean; Moletsane, Relebohile; Nkwanyana, Callistus Bheka

2006-01-01

In this article, we draw on the example of the Friday Absenteeism Project, a photo voice project with sixth grade learners in a rural KwaZulu-Natal school, to interrogate the nature of participatory process and cultural production. In so doing, we explore a number of critical issues related to youth participation, including ethics, citizenship and…

Mobility platform coupling device and method for coupling mobility platforms

DOEpatents

Shirey, David L.; Hayward, David R.; Buttz, James H.

2002-01-01

A coupling device for connecting a first mobility platform to a second mobility platform in tandem. An example mobility platform is a robot. The coupling device has a loose link mode for normal steering conditions and a locking position, tight link mode for navigation across difficult terrain and across obstacles, for traversing chasms, and for navigating with a reduced footprint in tight steering conditions.

Geochemistry of volcanogenic clayey marine sediments from the Hazar-Maden Basin (Eastern Turkey)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akkoca, Dicle Bal; Kürüm, Sevcan; Huff, Warren D.

2013-12-01

The Hazar-Madeıı Basin sediments were deposited along the southern branch of the Neotethys Ocean margin during Late Maastrichtian-Middle Eocene times. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), ICP-AES, ICP-MS and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed on samples of the Upper Maastrichtian-Middle Eocene Hazar Group and the Middle Eocene Maden Complex from the Hazar-Maden Basin to investigate the main effects of depositional envi- ronmental parameters in three sections belonging to deeper marine (slope), proximal arc volcanic (Mastarhill and Yukaribag sections) and shallow platform marine (Sebken section) settings. Marine sediments contain clay minerals (smectite, smectite/chlorite, chlorite, illite, interstratified illite/smectite, illite/chlorite, palygorskite), clinoptilolite, quartz, feldspar, calcite, dolomite, opal-CT and hematite. The clays are dominated by iron-rich smectites. La, Zr and Th concentrations are high in the shallow marginal Sebken section where the terrestrial detrital contribution is significant, while Sc and Co are more dominant in the deeper marine (slope) Yukaribag section, which is represented by basic-type volcanism and a higher contribution of hydrothermal phases. In a chondrite-normalized REE diagram, the negative Eu anomaly in samples from Sebken, the section which was deposited in a shallow marine environment, is less significant than that of the other two sections indicating the presence of a high terrestrial contribution in that part of the basin. A decrease in LREE v/HREEiV and Lajv/Ybv, LaiV/Sin v ratios from Sebken to Mastarhill and the Yukaribag sections indi- cates deepening of the basin and an increasing contribution of volcanism in that direction.

Geologic Basin Boundaries (Basins_GHGRP) GIS Layer

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This is a coverage shapefile of geologic basin boundaries which are used by EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. For onshore production, the facility includes all emissions associated with wells owned or operated by a single company in a specific hydrocarbon producing basin (as defined by the geologic provinces published by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists). This layer is limited to the contiguous United States.

On Medium of Instruction and African Scholarship: The Case of isiZulu at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamwendo, Gregory; Hlongwa, Nobuhle; Mkhize, Nhlanhla

2014-01-01

After the demise of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, 11 languages (English, Afrikaans and 9 indigenous African languages) were given official status. In the higher education landscape, English remains the dominant language of scholarship. At the University of KwaZulu-Natal, English is the main medium of instruction but the institution's language…

Basin analysis of tertiary strata in the Pattani Basin, Gulf of Thailand

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

Chonchawalit, A.; Bustin, R.M.

The stratigraphic and structural evolution of the Pattani basin, the most prolific petroleum basin in Thailand, reflects the extensional tectonics of continental southeast Asia. East-west extension, a product of the northward collision of India with Eurasia since the early Tertiary resulted in the formation of a series of north-south-trending sedimentary basins including the Pattani basin. Subsidence and thermal histories of the basin can generally be accounted for by nonuniform lithospheric stretching. The validity of nonuniform lithospheric stretching as a mechanic for the formation of the Pattani basin is confirmed by a reasonably good agreement between modeled and observed vitrinite reflectancemore » at various depths and locations. The amount of stretching and surface heat flow generally increases from the basin margin to the basin center. Crustal stretching factor ([beta]) ranges from 1.3 at the basin margin to 2.8 in the center. Subcrustal stretching factor ([sigma]) ranges from 1.3 at the margin to more than 3.0 in the center. The stretching of the lithosphere may have extended basement rocks as much as 45 to 90 km and may have caused the upwelling of asthenosphere, resulting in high heat flow. The sedimentary succession in the Pattani basin is divisible into synrift and postrift sequences. The synrift sequences comprise (1) late Eocene ( ) to early Oligocene alluvial fan, braided river, and flood-plain deposits; (2) late Oligocene to early Miocene floodplain and channel deposits; and (3) an early Miocene regressive package of marine to nonmarine sediments. Deposition of synrift sequences corresponded to rifting and extension, which included episodic block faulting and rapid subsidence. Postrift succession comprises (1) an early to middle Miocene regressive package of shallow marine to nonmarine sediments, (2) a late early Miocene transgressive package; and (3) a late Miocene to Pleistocene transgression succession.« less

"To control their destiny": the politics of home and the feminisation of schooling in colonial Natal, 1885-1910.

PubMed

Healy, Meghan Elisabeth

2011-01-01

This article examines the contradictions that African girls' schooling presented for colonial governance in Natal, through the case study of Inanda Seminary, the region's first and largest all-female school for Africans. While patriarchal colonial law circumscribed the educational options of girls whose fathers opposed their schooling, the head of Natal's nascent educational bureaucracy argued that African girls' education in Western domesticity would be essential in creating different sorts of families with different sorts of needs. In monogamous families, Native Schools Inspector Robert Plant argued, husbands and sons would be taught to 'want' enough to impel them to labour for wages - but they would also be sufficiently satisfied by their domestic comforts to avoid political unrest. Thus, even as colonial educational officials clamped down on African boys' curricula - attempting to restrict their schooling to the barest preparation for unskilled wage labour - they allowed missionaries autonomy to educate young women whose fathers did not challenge their school attendance. This was because young women's role in the social reproduction of new sorts of families made their education ultimately appear to be a benefit to colonial governance. As young men pursued wage labour, young women began to comprise the majority of African students, laying the groundwork for the feminisation of schooling in modern southern Africa.

Platform C North Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-10

A heavy-lift crane lifts the second half of the C-level work platforms, C north, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, high up from the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The C platform will be moved into High Bay 3 for installation on the north side of High Bay 3. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. In view below Platform C are several of the previously installed platforms. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

SURVEY OF CROSS-BASIN BOAT TRAFFIC, ATCHAFALAYA BASIN, LOUISIANA

EPA Science Inventory

For flood control and for the preservation and enhancement of environmental quality of overflow swamp habitats, introduction of sediment from the Atchafalaya Basin Main Channel into backwater areas of the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway should be minimized. This introduction occurs ma...

San Mateo Creek Basin

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The San Mateo Creek Basin comprises approximately 321 square miles within the Rio San Jose drainage basin in McKinley and Cibola counties, New Mexico. This basin is located within the Grants Mining District (GMD).

The role of post-collisional strike-slip tectonics in the geological evolution of the late Neoproterozoic volcano-sedimentary Guaratubinha Basin, southern Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barão, Leonardo M.; Trzaskos, Barbara; Vesely, Fernando F.; de Castro, Luís Gustavo; Ferreira, Francisco J. F.; Vasconcellos, Eleonora M. G.; Barbosa, Tiago C.

2017-12-01

The Guaratubinha Basin is a late Neoproterozoic volcano-sedimentary basin included in the transitional-stage basins of the South American Platform. The aim of this study is to investigate its tectonic evolution through a detailed structural analysis based on remote sensing and field data. The structural and aerogeophysics data indicate that at least three major deformational events affected the basin. Event E1 caused the activation of the two main basin-bounding fault zones, the Guaratubinha Master Fault and the Guaricana Shear Zone. These structures, oriented N20-45E, are associated with well-defined right-lateral to oblique vertical faults, conjugate normal faults and vertical flow structures. Progressive transtensional deformation along the two main fault systems was the main mechanism for basin formation and the deposition of thick coarse-grained deposits close to basin-borders. The continuous opening of the basin provided intense intermediate and acid magmatism as well as deposition of volcaniclastic sediments. Event E2 characterizes generalized compression, recorded as minor thrust faults with tectonic transport toward the northwest and left-lateral activation of the NNE-SSW Palmital Shear Zone. Event E3 is related to the Mesozoic tectonism associated with the South Atlantic opening, which generated diabase dykes and predominantly right-lateral strike-slip faults oriented N10-50W. Its rhomboidal geometry with long axis parallel to major Precambrian shear zones, the main presence of high-angle, strike-slip or oblique faults, the asymmetric distribution of geological units and field evidence for concomitant Neoproterozoic magmatism and strike-slip movements are consistent with pull-apart basins reported in the literature.

Families' experiences of interaction with the public health nurse at the child health clinic in connection with mother's post-natal depression.

PubMed

Tammentie, T; Paavilainen, E; Tarkka, M-T; Astedt-Kurki, P

2009-10-01

The birth of a new family member causes many changes in the way a family functions. Annually some 10% of mothers giving birth suffer from post-natal depression. This depression affects the mother herself, the baby and the functioning of the entire family. The healthcare personnel are faced with an important task in supporting the family in the course of changes occasioned by the birth of a baby. According to earlier studies, families with small children are fairly satisfied with the service provided by the child health clinics. The purpose of the present study was to form a theory of interaction with the public health nurse in the child health clinic when the mother is suffering from post-natal depression from the viewpoint of family. The data for the study were gathered by interviewing nine families (nine mothers and five fathers) where the mother had displayed symptoms of post-natal depression. The data were analysed using continuous comparative analysis of grounded theory. The concepts of the theory emerged as a lack of continuing relationship, a need to be equal partners, a lack of individuality and a lack of family care. The relationships between categories were lack of discussing, lack of being confidential and lack of getting help enough. The core category emerging was lack of holistic cooperation with unique family. In spite of the emphasis placed on family centeredness in the operating principles of the work in child health clinics, its implementation in practical work cannot be taken for granted. Because of the limited resources available to the clinics, it is the experience of depressed mother in particular that they are not treated sufficiently as individuals and that they are subjected to adjudication in the clinics. The parents felt that the personality of the public health nurse was crucial to how they felt about the service they obtained from the clinic.

Redescription of Potamonautes sidneyi (Rathbun, 1904) (Decapoda, Potamonautidae) and description of a new congeneric species from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

PubMed Central

Peer, Nasreen; Gouws, Gavin; Lazo-Wasem, Eric; Perissinotto, Renzo; Miranda, Nelson A.F.

2017-01-01

Abstract A new species of freshwater crab, Potamonautes danielsi sp. n., is described from the southern region of the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Potamonautes danielsi most closely resembles Potamonautes sidneyi which is re-described here, but can be distinguished by a suite of key morphological characters including carapace shape and width, slim pereopods, inflated propodi of the chelipeds, and the shape and terminal segment length:subterminal segment length ratio of the 1st gonopod. In a previous study (Gouws et al. 2015), a 9.2–11.8 % divergence was found in the mitochondrial COI and 16S genes of the Potamonautes sidneyi clade, allowing for the delineation of a new species. Despite the clear molecular distinction between the two species, it is difficult to separate them based on individual morphological characters, as there is a great deal of overlap even among key features. The new species is found in slow-moving mountain streams and pools at high altitudes between Umhlanga and Mtamvuna, in KwaZulu-Natal. PMID:28331406

Temporal and spatial constraints on the evolution of a Rio Grande rift sub-basin, Guadalupe Mountain area, northern New Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, R. A.; Turner, K. J.; Cosca, M. A.; Drenth, B.; Hudson, M. R.; Lee, J.

2013-12-01

The Taos Plateau volcanic field (TPVF) in the southern San Luis Valley of northern New Mexico is the most voluminous of the predominantly basaltic Neogene (6-1 Ma) volcanic fields of the Rio Grande rift. Volcanic deposits of the TPVF are intercalated with alluvial deposits of the Santa Fe Group and compose the N-S-trending San Luis Basin, the largest basin of the northern rift (13,500 km2 in area). Pliocene volcanic rocks of the Guadalupe Mountain area of northern New Mexico are underlain by the southern end of one of the larger sub-basins of the San Luis Valley, the Sunshine sub-basin (~ 450 km2 in area) juxtaposed against the down-to-west frontal fault of the Precambrian-cored Sangre de Cristo Range. The sub-basin plunges northward and extends to near the Colorado-New Mexico border. The western margin (~15 km west of the Sangre de Cristo fault) is constrained by outcrops of Oligocene to Miocene volcanic rocks of the Latir volcanic field, interpreted here as a broad pre-Pliocene intra-rift platform underlying much of the northern TPVF. The southern sub-basin border is derived, in part, from modeling of gravity and aeromagnetic data and is interpreted as a subsurface extension of this intra-rift platform that extends southeastward to nearly the Sangre de Cristo range front. Broadly coincident with this subsurface basement high is the northwest-trending, curvilinear terminus of the down-to-northeast Red River fault zone. South of the gravity high, basin-fill alluvium and ~3.84 Ma Servilleta basalt lava flows thicken along a poorly exposed, down-to-south, basin-bounding fault of the northern Taos graben, the largest of the San Luis Valley sub-basins. The uppermost, western sub-basin fill is exposed along steep canyon walls near the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Red River. Unconformity-bound, lava flow packages are intercalated with paleo Red River fan alluvium and define six eruptive sequences in the Guadalupe Mountain area: (1) Guadalupe Mtn. lavas (dacite ~5

Turn Basin Construction

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-14

Modifications are underway at the Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the arrival of the agency's massive Space Launch System (SLS) core booster aboard the barge Pegasus. Construction workers with Southeast Cherokee Construction Inc. work to shore up the turn basin area. A crane will be used to lift up precast concrete poles and position them to be driven to a depth of about 70 feet into the bedrock below the water around the turn basin. The upgrades are necessary to accommodate the 300,000-pound core booster aboard the modified Pegasus barge. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing the upgrades to the turn basin wharf.

Detailed anatomy of a deep-water carbonate breccia lobe (Upper Jurassic, French subalpine basin)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Courjault, Thomas; Grosheny, Danièle; Ferry, Serge; Sausse, Judith

2011-06-01

Detailed correlations across Tithonian carbonate breccia deposits in the Drôme River area (northern part of the so-called "Vocontian Through") suggest the depositional system was that of an elongated deep-water lobe, up to 70 km long and 20 to 30 km wide, for a thickness reaching 200 m. The Drôme lobe, as it is now called, is mainly made of slope to basinal mudstones breccias with minor platform components, interpreted as debris flow and mud flow deposits, associated with slump deposits. It is basically a base-of-slope system, whose elongated depositional area implies it was a "point-sourced" gravity system, thus perhaps connected to a small canyon cut onto the western slope of the basin. But the mostly mudstone material of the breccias also suggests that the walls of this inferred canyon were the main supplier of the lobe, not the carbonate platform proper. The updip part of the lobe has a complex internal geometry as the deposition of breccia bed packages is interrupted by scourings locally 50 m-deep, indicating maybe a canyon mouth environment. The middle part of the lobe is dominated by pure vertical aggradation of breccia beds with minor intervening erosion. In the downdip part of the system a morphological compensation mechanism occurs as breccia beds tend to spread laterally. A huge slump carrying large mudstone olistoliths ends the breccia deposition at the beginning of the Berriasian. This megaslump deposit was mostly emplaced on the right side of the breccia lobe supporting the idea of a depositional relief. Our observations thus show that previous interpretations as a submarine canyon infilling or as shallow-water breccias formed in-situ by cyclic loading under attenuating hurricane waves approaching the platform are not consistent with our observations. The internal geometry of the system studied brings new data about a poorly-studied kind of "turbidite" systems that of deep-water carbonate breccias.

Platform C North Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-10

A heavy-lift crane lowers the second half of the C-level work platforms, C north, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, into High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The C platform will be installed on the north side of High Bay 3. In view below are several of the previously installed levels of platforms. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Type I intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells of early post-natal development correspond to the M4 subtype.

PubMed

Sexton, Timothy J; Bleckert, Adam; Turner, Maxwell H; Van Gelder, Russell N

2015-06-21

Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) mediate circadian light entrainment and the pupillary light response in adult mice. In early development these cells mediate different processes, including negative phototaxis and the timing of retinal vascular development. To determine if ipRGC physiologic properties also change with development, we measured ipRGC cell density and light responses in wild-type mouse retinas at post-natal days 8, 15 and 30. Melanopsin-positive cell density decreases by 17% between post-natal days 8 and 15 and by 25% between days 8 and 30. This decrease is due specifically to a decrease in cells co-labeled with a SMI-32, a marker for alpha-on ganglion cells (corresponding to adult morphologic type M4 ipRGCs). On multi-electrode array recordings, post-natal day 8 (P8) ipRGC light responses show more robust firing, reduced adaptation and more rapid recovery from short and extended light pulses than do the light responses of P15 and P30 ipRGCs. Three ipRGC subtypes - Types I-III - have been defined in early development based on sensitivity and latency on multielectrode array recordings. We find that Type I cells largely account for the unique physiologic properties of P8 ipRGCs. Type I cells have previously been shown to have relatively short latencies and high sensitivity. We now show that Type I cells show have rapid and robust recovery from long and short bright light exposures compared with Type II and III cells, suggesting differential light adaptation mechanisms between cell types. By P15, Type I ipRGCs are no longer detectable. Loose patch recordings of P8 M4 ipRGCs demonstrate Type I physiology. Type I ipRGCs are found only in early development. In addition to their previously described high sensitivity and rapid kinetics, these cells are uniquely resistant to adaptation and recover quickly and fully to short and prolonged light exposure. Type I ipRGCs correspond to the SMI-32 positive, M4 subtype and largely lose

Maturation of the growth axis in marsupials occurs gradually during post-natal life and over an equivalent developmental stage relative to eutherian species.

PubMed

Menzies, Brandon R; Shaw, Geoffrey; Fletcher, Terry P; Pask, Andrew J; Renfree, Marilyn B

2012-02-26

The separation of a nutrition-responsive insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system and a growth hormone (GH) responsive IGF system to control pre- and post-natal growth of developing mammals may originate from the constraints imposed by intra-uterine development. In eutherian species that deliver relatively precocial young, maturation of the GH regulatory system is coincident with the time of birth. We measured the hepatic expression of the four key growth axis genes GH-receptor, IGF-1 and -2, and IGFBBP-3, and plasma protein concentrations of IGF-1 from late fetal life through to adult stages of a marsupial, the tammar wallaby. The data clearly show that maturation of GH-regulated growth in marsupials occurs gradually over the course of post-natal life at an equivalent developmental stage to that of precocial eutherian mammals. This suggests that the timing of GH-regulated growth in marsupials is not related to parturition but instead to the relative developmental stage. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Timing of the Blount and Martinsburg foreland basin development during the Taconic Orogeny based on the Deicke and Millbrig K-bentonite marker horizons

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

McVey, D.E.; Huff, W.D.

1993-03-01

During the Taconic Orogeny (Middle and Late Ordovician), the eastern continental margin of North America developed several foreland basins as a result of the collision of one or more island arc/microplate complexes. These collisions occurred along a subduction zone characterized by a string of explosively eruptive volcanoes which produced widespread K-bentonite beds. Volcanism coincided with the filling of thick accumulations of sediment in two of the basins: the Blount (southern Appalachians) and the Martinsburg (central Appalachians). Two prominent K-bentonites, the Deicke and Millbrig, have been correlated across the two basins in this study. These two K-bentonites are stratigraphically significant becausemore » they are excellent time lines since they represent short-term events in geologic history. The foreland basins developed by the Taconic Orogeny become successively younger to the north due to a shift in the focus of collision (Read, 1980). The Blount basin was nearly filled with sediment by the time the Martinsburg basin began to form. This coincides with previous suggestions that the Taconic Orogeny was not one climactic event but a series of events where the collisions migrated northward like the closing of a zipper. The Deicke and Millbrig K-bentonites occur within the platform carbonates of the Eggleston and Liberty Hall formations and the red bed clastic facies of the Bays formation in the Blount basin, and they occur within the slope carbonates of the New Enterprise Member of the Salona formation and the black shale and turbidite facies of the Martinsburg formation in the Martinsburg basin. This correlation establishes a more precise time framework for the formation of the two foreland basins.« less

Simulation of streamflow in small drainage basins in the southern Yampa River basin, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parker, R.S.; Norris, J.M.

1989-01-01

Coal mining operations in northwestern Colorado commonly are located in areas that have minimal available water-resource information. Drainage-basin models can be a method for extending water-resource information to include periods for which there are no records or to transfer the information to areas that have no streamflow-gaging stations. To evaluate the magnitude and variability of the components of the water balance in the small drainage basins monitored, and to provide some method for transfer of hydrologic data, the U.S. Geological Survey 's Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System was used for small drainage basins in the southern Yampa River basin to simulate daily mean streamflow using daily precipitation and air-temperature data. The study area was divided into three hydrologic regions, and in each of these regions, three drainage basins were monitored. Two of the drainage basins in each region were used to calibrate the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System. The model was not calibrated for the third drainage basin in each region; instead, parameter values were transferred from the model that was calibrated for the two drainage basins. For all of the drainage basins except one, period of record used for calibration and verification included water years 1976-81. Simulated annual volumes of streamflow for drainage basins used in calibration compared well with observed values; individual hydrographs indicated timing differences between the observed and simulated daily mean streamflow. Observed and simulated annual average streamflows compared well for the periods of record, but values of simulated high and low streamflows were different than observed values. Similar results were obtained when calibrated model parameter values were transferred to drainage basins that were uncalibrated. (USGS)

Conodont and fusulinid biostratigraphy and history of the Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian Keeler Basin, east-central California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stevens, C.H.; Stone, P.; Ritter, S.M.

2001-01-01

The Pennsylvanian-Lower Permian Keeler Canyon Formation and lower part of the Lower Permian Lone Pine Formation in east-central California were deposited in a deep-water basin that originated in the Morrowan (Early Pennsylvanian), was fully established by the Desmoinesian (Middle Pennsylvanian), and lasted into the Sakmarian (Early Permian). Stratigraphic studies indicate that the Keeler Canyon Formation can be divided into members recognizable throughout the area of our detailed mapping. From older to younger they are the Tinemaha Reservoir, Tihvipah Limestone, Cerro Gordo Spring, and Salt Tram Members. Rocks in this basin, here referred to as the Keeler basin, contain numerous fusulinid and conodont faunas most of which were deposited by sediment-gravity flows probably originating at the margin of the Bird Spring carbonate platform to the northeast. Sixty-one species of Atokan to Sakmarian fusulinids and 38 species of Desmoinesian to Sakmarian conodonts are recognized. These, in addition to four species of Morrowan conodonts previously reported, show that every stage from the Morrowan to Sakmarian is represented in the basin. The fusulinid faunas are composed largely of taxa of the North American craton, especially the south-central USA, with important endemic constituents and some McCloud Limestone forms, representing the Eastern Klamath terrane. Conodonts are closely similar to species in the Ural Mountains region of Russia and Kazakhstan, as well as the American midcontinent. The co-occurrence of fusulinids and conodonts in the Keeler basin results in a better correlation of zones based on these two groups of fossils than generally is possible.

The location and nature of the Telemzan High Ghadames basin boundary in southern Tunisia based on gravity and magnetic anomalies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabtni, H.; Jallouli, C.; Mickus, K. L.; Zouari, H.; Turki, M. M.

2006-03-01

Gravity and magnetic data were analyzed to add constraints on the location and nature of the Telemzan-Ghadames boundary (TGB) and structure of the Ghadames basin in southern Tunisia. TGB is the boundary between the thick sedimentary cover of the intracratonic Ghadames basin to the south and the thin sedimentary cover of the Saharan platform to the north. The upward continuation of the Bouguer gravity anomalies showed that the TGB is a regional geophysical feature that may have controlled the amount of sediment being deposited both north and south of the boundary and the tectonic environment in the region since Paleozoic time. To emphasize the shorter wavelength gravity and magnetic anomalies, a series of gray scale images of the directional horizontal gradients were constructed that determined a series of previously unknown east-west-trending gravity and magnetic anomalies south of 31.6°N that correspond to lineaments seen on a Landsat 7 image and the location of the TGB. Also, an edge-enhancement analysis illustrated the same linear gravity anomalies and showed the subbasins and uplifts within the Ghadames basin had source depths of between 0.5 and 3.4 km. A north-south trending gravity model showed that the TGB is a relatively gradual feature (possibly basement stepped down by relatively low-displacement faulting) controlling the subsidence of the main Ghadames basin and confirms the edge-enhancement analysis that subbasin S3 and uplift U1 are the main structural features within the Ghadames basin. The knowledge of basement architecture of the Ghadames basin is important for future petroleum exploration within this intracratonic basin.

ADMS Evaluation Platform

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

2018-01-23

Deploying an ADMS or looking to optimize its value? NREL offers a low-cost, low-risk evaluation platform for assessing ADMS performance. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed a vendor-neutral advanced distribution management system (ADMS) evaluation platform and is expanding its capabilities. The platform uses actual grid-scale hardware, large-scale distribution system models, and advanced visualization to simulate realworld conditions for the most accurate ADMS evaluation and experimentation.

South Africa: Durban's ante-natal clinic environment and its impact on a woman's choice to test for HIV during pregnancy.

PubMed

Groves, Allison K; Eyakuze, Cynthia

2010-10-01

Informed consent, counselling and confidentiality are key tenets of a human rights approach to HIV testing. In this article, based on an oral poster presentation at AIDS 2010, Allison K. Groves and Cynthia Eyakuze discuss the results of a study on HIV testing of women in ante-natal clinics in Durban, South Africa and how communication about testing may undermine the practice of obtaining informed consent.

JACK CREEK BASIN, MONTANA.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kiilsgaard, Thor H.; Van Noy, Ronald M.

1984-01-01

A mineral survey of the Jack Creek basin area in Montana revealed that phosphate rock underlies the basin. The phosphate rock is in thin beds that dip steeply and are broken and offset by faults. These features plus the rugged topography of the region would make mining difficult; however, this study finds the area to have a probable mineral-resource potential for phosphate. Sedimentary rock formations favorable for oil and gas also underlie the basin. No oil or gas has been produced from the basin or from nearby areas in southwestern Montana, but oil and gas have been produced from the same favorable formations elsewhere in Montana. The possibility of oil and gas being produced from the basin is slight but it cannot be ignored.

Association between maternal depressive symptoms in the early post-natal period and responsiveness in feeding at child age 2 years.

PubMed

Mallan, Kimberley M; Daniels, Lynne A; Wilson, Jacinda L; Jansen, Elena; Nicholson, Jan M

2015-10-01

Maternal depression is a known risk factor for poor outcomes for children. Pathways to these poor outcomes relate to reduced maternal responsiveness or sensitivity to the child. Impaired responsiveness potentially impacts the feeding relationship and thus may be a risk factor for inappropriate feeding practices. The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal relationships between self-reported maternal post-natal depressive symptoms at child age 4 months and feeding practices at child age 2 years in a community sample. Participants were Australian first-time mothers allocated to the control group of the NOURISH randomized controlled trial when infants were 4 months old. Complete data from 211 mothers (of 346 allocated) followed up when their children were 2 years of age (51% girls) were available for analysis. The relationship between Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score (child age 4 months) and child feeding practices (child age 2 years) was tested using hierarchical linear regression analysis adjusted for maternal and child characteristics. Higher EPDS score was associated with less responsive feeding practices at child age 2 years: greater pressure [β = 0.18, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04-0.32, P = 0.01], restriction (β = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.001-0.28, P = 0.05), instrumental (β = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.005-0.27, P = 0.04) and emotional (β = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.01-0.29, P = 0.03) feeding practices (ΔR(2) values: 0.02-0.03, P < 0.05). This study provides evidence for the proposed link between maternal post-natal depressive symptoms and lower responsiveness in child feeding. These findings suggest that the provision of support to mothers experiencing some levels of depressive symptomatology in the early post-natal period may improve responsiveness in the child feeding relationship. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Automated Platform Management System Scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hull, Larry G.

1990-01-01

The Platform Management System was established to coordinate the operation of platform systems and instruments. The management functions are split between ground and space components. Since platforms are to be out of contact with the ground more than the manned base, the on-board functions are required to be more autonomous than those of the manned base. Under this concept, automated replanning and rescheduling, including on-board real-time schedule maintenance and schedule repair, are required to effectively and efficiently meet Space Station Freedom mission goals. In a FY88 study, we developed several promising alternatives for automated platform planning and scheduling. We recommended both a specific alternative and a phased approach to automated platform resource scheduling. Our recommended alternative was based upon use of exactly the same scheduling engine in both ground and space components of the platform management system. Our phased approach recommendation was based upon evolutionary development of the platform. In the past year, we developed platform scheduler requirements and implemented a rapid prototype of a baseline platform scheduler. Presently we are rehosting this platform scheduler rapid prototype and integrating the scheduler prototype into two Goddard Space Flight Center testbeds, as the ground scheduler in the Scheduling Concepts, Architectures, and Networks Testbed and as the on-board scheduler in the Platform Management System Testbed. Using these testbeds, we will investigate rescheduling issues, evaluate operational performance and enhance the platform scheduler prototype to demonstrate our evolutionary approach to automated platform scheduling. The work described in this paper was performed prior to Space Station Freedom rephasing, transfer of platform responsibility to Code E, and other recently discussed changes. We neither speculate on these changes nor attempt to predict the impact of the final decisions. As a consequence some of our

A framework model for water-sharing among co-basin states of a river basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garg, N. K.; Azad, Shambhu

2018-05-01

A new framework model is presented in this study for sharing of water in a river basin using certain governing variables, in an effort to enhance the objectivity for a reasonable and equitable allocation of water among co-basin states. The governing variables were normalised to reduce the governing variables of different co-basin states of a river basin on same scale. In the absence of objective methods for evaluating the weights to be assigned to co-basin states for water allocation, a framework was conceptualised and formulated to determine the normalised weighting factors of different co-basin states as a function of the governing variables. The water allocation to any co-basin state had been assumed to be proportional to its struggle for equity, which in turn was assumed to be a function of the normalised discontent, satisfaction, and weighting factors of each co-basin state. System dynamics was used effectively to represent and solve the proposed model formulation. The proposed model was successfully applied to the Vamsadhara river basin located in the South-Eastern part of India, and a sensitivity analysis of the proposed model parameters was carried out to prove its robustness in terms of the proposed model convergence and validity over the broad spectrum values of the proposed model parameters. The solution converged quickly to a final allocation of 1444 million cubic metre (MCM) in the case of the Odisha co-basin state, and to 1067 MCM for the Andhra Pradesh co-basin state. The sensitivity analysis showed that the proposed model's allocation varied from 1584 MCM to 1336 MCM for Odisha state and from 927 to 1175 MCM for Andhra, depending upon the importance weights given to the governing variables for the calculation of the weighting factors. Thus, the proposed model was found to be very flexible to explore various policy options to arrive at a decision in a water sharing problem. It can therefore be effectively applied to any trans-boundary problem where

Exploration and development of natural gas, Pattani basin, Gulf of Thailand

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

Lian, H.M.; Bradley, K.

The geology of the Gulf of Thailand features a series of north-south-trending ridges and linear, fault-bounded basins with a sedimentary section predominantly of upper Tertiary sediments. The Pattani basin, located near the geographic center of the Gulf of Thailand, contains up to 8 km of almost entirely nonmarine fluvial-deltaic sediments. The gas/condensate fields described in this paper are on the west flank of the Pattani basin. Gas reservoirs are thin, randomly distributed sandstone beds occurring between 1200 and 3000 m below sea level. At greater depths, very high temperatures cause a degradation of reservoir properties. The gas fields occur onmore » intensely faulted structures. The high fault density superimposed on the stratigraphic model limits the size of individual gas accumulations. Extensive three-dimensional seismic surveys were essential for delineating and developing these complex fields. An interactive computer system was used to interpret the 23,000 line-km of three-dimensional data. A new era in Thailand began when gas production commenced from Erawan field in August 1981. Baanpot, Satun, and Platong fields came on production between October 1983 and March 1985. In these four fields, 238 development wells have been drilled from 22 platforms. The wells can presently produce 475 MMCFGD, considerably in excess of Thailand's current requirements. The condensate ratios average 40 bbl/mmcf of gas. The commercial limits of each field have yet to be established. The advent of gas production has created a new industry in Thailand, with significant social and economic benefits to the country.« less

Investigations into regional ozone concentrations in the Bakken-Williston Basin using ARTEMIS, a mobile measurment platform.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donohoue, D.; Jumes, D.; Jaglowski, J.

2017-12-01

During a campaign launched in August 2015, concentrations of ozone, nitrogen oxides, and weather conditions were measured throughout the Bakken-Williston Basin. The data was collected using a new in-situ monitoring system ARTEMIS (Atmospheric Research Trailer for Environmental Monitoring and Interactive Science). ARTEMIS is a self-sustaining trailer equipped with a solar panel and four 80 Ah batteries, which can power an instrumental suite. It provided a temporary sampling station which could be erected in five minutes. During this campaign we collected data for one hour at sites throughout North Dakota and Montana. Preliminary results from this data suggests that near active mining or methane flaring regions ozone concentrations appear to be elevated from the background.

On the soil moisture estimate at basin scale in Mediterranean basins with the ASAR sensor: the Mulargia basin case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fois, Laura; Montaldo, Nicola

2017-04-01

Soil moisture plays a key role in water and energy exchanges between soil, vegetation and atmosphere. For water resources planning and managementthesoil moistureneeds to be accurately and spatially monitored, specially where the risk of desertification is high, such as Mediterranean basins. In this sense active remote sensors are very attractive for soil moisture monitoring. But Mediterranean basinsaretypicallycharacterized by strong topography and high spatial variability of physiographic properties, and only high spatial resolution sensorsare potentially able to monitor the strong soil moisture spatial variability.In this regard the Envisat ASAR (Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar) sensor offers the attractive opportunity ofsoil moisture mapping at fine spatial and temporal resolutions(up to 30 m, every 30 days). We test the ASAR sensor for soil moisture estimate in an interesting Sardinian case study, the Mulargia basin withan area of about 70 sq.km. The position of the Sardinia island in the center of the western Mediterranean Sea basin, its low urbanization and human activity make Sardinia a perfect reference laboratory for Mediterranean hydrologic studies. The Mulargia basin is a typical Mediterranean basinin water-limited conditions, and is an experimental basin from 2003. For soil moisture mapping23 satellite ASAR imagery at single and dual polarization were acquired for the 2003-2004period.Satellite observationsmay bevalidated through spatially distributed soil moisture ground-truth data, collected over the whole basin using the TDR technique and the gravimetric method, in days with available radar images. The results show that ASAR sensor observations can be successfully used for soil moisture mapping at different seasons, both wet and dry, but an accurate calibration with field data is necessary. We detect a strong relationship between the soil moisture spatial variability and the physiographic properties of the basin, such as soil water storage capacity

Deep inflow into the Mozambique Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Read, J. F.; Pollard, R. T.

1999-02-01

More than 200 conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) stations were worked around the Southwest Indian Ridge and Del Caño Rise as part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment. A selection of these data provides information about the inflow of bottom water into the Mozambique Basin. The basin is closed below 3000 m, yet the inflow is significantly large, of order 1 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s-1). Estimates of the basin-scale upwelling at 4000 m suggest that the vertical velocity is also large, 10 × 10-5 cm s-1 or more, an order of magnitude greater than global ocean estimates. Examination of the characteristics of the bottom water in the Mozambique and Agulhas Basins and the Prince Edward Fracture Zone shows that bottom water enters the Mozambique Basin from the Agulhas Basin and also directly from the Enderby Basin. Most of the transport enters the Mozambique Basin via the Agulhas Basin, where two regions of northward flow below 4000 m are found. The major flow, on the eastern flank of the Mozambique Ridge, is through and above the deep, extending (5900 m) trench that connects the Agulhas and Mozambique Basins. The second, weaker flow enters the Transkei Basin along the deep eastern flank of the Agulhas Plateau, then turning east into the Mozambique Basin. The only source of bottom water to the Agulhas Basin is the Enderby Basin, but a more direct route between the Enderby and Mozambique Basins exists via the Prince Edward fracture, which extends deeper than 4000 m throughout its length and links the two basins directly across the Southwest Indian Ridge. Full depth CTD stations trace the changing characteristics of the deep and bottom water in the fracture, and moored current meter data show the strength and persistence of the throughflow. Strong mixing with the overlying deep water elevates the salt content of the bottom water by comparison with the other water in the Mozambique Basin. Thus two distinct bottom waters of the Mozambique Basin originate in the same place

Experiences of families caring for an HIV-infected child in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Demmer, Craig

2011-07-01

In South Africa, 2.5% of children are living with HIV. KwaZulu-Natal is the province most affected by the epidemic and has the highest number of pregnant women living with HIV. This study reports on a qualitative study to assess the views and experiences of those involved in caring for a child with HIV/AIDS. In-depth interviews were conducted in KwaZulu-Natal with 13 women who were the primary caregivers of a child with HIV/AIDS and 12 key informants who worked with children and families living with HIV/AIDS. The combination of widespread poverty and HIV-related stigma was perceived to compromise the health of a child with HIV/AIDS. Caregivers' primary focus was on economic survival and there was little income to meet basic human needs including the child's. Stigmatizing attitudes caused some caregivers to keep their child's sickness a secret and symptoms were sometimes ignored or treatment delayed. Little material and emotional support was available to caregivers who were overwhelmed by multiple stresses in this context. Support group interventions for caregivers of children with HIV/AIDS can be a useful resource provided that they jointly address the economic and psychological needs of caregivers. A stronger commitment at the national level to reduce poverty and HIV-related stigma is needed to strengthen the capacity of families who are caring for children with HIV/AIDS.

Platform C North Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-10

A heavy-lift crane lifts the second half of the C-level work platforms, C north, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, up from the transfer aisle floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The C platform will be installed on the north side of High Bay 3. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Composition and physical properties of the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer and the North American Tropospheric Aerosol Layer: Composition of ATAL and NATAL

DOE PAGES

Yu, Pengfei; Toon, Owen B.; Neely, Ryan R.; ...

2015-04-10

Recent studies revealed layers of enhanced aerosol scattering in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over Asia (Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL)) and North America (North American Tropospheric Aerosol Layer (NATAL)). We use a sectional aerosol model (Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres (CARMA)) coupled with the Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1) to explore the composition and optical properties of these aerosol layers. The observed aerosol extinction enhancement is reproduced by CESM1/CARMA. Both model and observations indicate a strong gradient of the sulfur-to-carbon ratio from Europe to the Asia on constant pressure surfaces. We found that themore » ATAL is mostly composed of sulfates, surface-emitted organics, and secondary organics; the NATAL is mostly composed of sulfates and secondary organics. In conclusion, the model also suggests that emission increases in Asia between 2000 and 2010 led to an increase of aerosol optical depth of the ATAL by 0.002 on average which is consistent with observations.« less

Composition and physical properties of the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer and the North American Tropospheric Aerosol Layer: Composition of ATAL and NATAL

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

Yu, Pengfei; Toon, Owen B.; Neely, Ryan R.

Recent studies revealed layers of enhanced aerosol scattering in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over Asia (Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL)) and North America (North American Tropospheric Aerosol Layer (NATAL)). We use a sectional aerosol model (Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres (CARMA)) coupled with the Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1) to explore the composition and optical properties of these aerosol layers. The observed aerosol extinction enhancement is reproduced by CESM1/CARMA. Both model and observations indicate a strong gradient of the sulfur-to-carbon ratio from Europe to the Asia on constant pressure surfaces. We found that themore » ATAL is mostly composed of sulfates, surface-emitted organics, and secondary organics; the NATAL is mostly composed of sulfates and secondary organics. In conclusion, the model also suggests that emission increases in Asia between 2000 and 2010 led to an increase of aerosol optical depth of the ATAL by 0.002 on average which is consistent with observations.« less

Basins in ARC-continental collisions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Draut, Amy E.; Clift, Peter D.; Busby, Cathy; Azor, Antonio

2012-01-01

Arc-continent collisions occur commonly in the plate-tectonic cycle and result in rapidly formed and rapidly collapsing orogens, often spanning just 5-15 My. Growth of continental masses through arc-continent collision is widely thought to be a major process governing the structural and geochemical evolution of the continental crust over geologic time. Collisions of intra-oceanic arcs with passive continental margins (a situation in which the arc, on the upper plate, faces the continent) involve a substantially different geometry than collisions of intra-oceanic arcs with active continental margins (a situation requiring more than one convergence zone and in which the arc, on the lower plate, backs into the continent), with variable preservation potential for basins in each case. Substantial differences also occur between trench and forearc evolution in tectonically erosive versus tectonically accreting margins, both before and after collision. We examine the evolution of trenches, trench-slope basins, forearc basins, intra-arc basins, and backarc basins during arc-continent collision. The preservation potential of trench-slope basins is low; in collision they are rapidly uplifted and eroded, and at erosive margins they are progressively destroyed by subduction erosion. Post-collisional preservation of trench sediment and trench-slope basins is biased toward margins that were tectonically accreting for a substantial length of time before collision. Forearc basins in erosive margins are usually floored by strong lithosphere and may survive collision with a passive margin, sometimes continuing sedimentation throughout collision and orogeny. The low flexural rigidity of intra-arc basins makes them deep and, if preserved, potentially long records of arc and collisional tectonism. Backarc basins, in contrast, are typically subducted and their sediment either lost or preserved only as fragments in melange sequences. A substantial proportion of the sediment derived from

Relict basin closure accommodates continental convergence with minimal crustal shortening or deceleration of plate motion as inferred from detrital zircon provenance in the Caucasus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowgill, E.; Forte, A. M.; Niemi, N. A.; Avdeev, B.; Tye, A. R.; Trexler, C. C.; Javakhishvili, Z.; Elashvili, M.; Godoladze, T.

2016-12-01

Comparison of plate convergence with the timing and magnitude of upper-crustal shortening in collisional orogens indicates both shortening deficits (200-1700 km) and significant (30-40%) plate deceleration during collision, the cause(s) for which remain debated. The Greater Caucasus Mountains, which result from post-collisional Cenozoic closure of a relict Mesozoic back-arc basin on the northern margin of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone, help reconcile these debates. Here we use U-Pb detrital zircon provenance data and the regional geology of the Caucasus to investigate the width of the now-consumed Mesozoic back-arc basin and its closure history. The provenance data record distinct southern and northern provenance domains that persisted until at least the Miocene; maximum basin width was likely 350-400 km. We propose that closure of the back-arc basin initiated at 35 Ma, coincident with initial (soft) Arabia-Eurasia collision along the Bitlis suture, eventually leading to 5 Ma (hard) collision between the Lesser Caucasus arc and the Scythian platform to form the Greater Caucasus Mountains. Final basin closure triggered deceleration of plate convergence and tectonic reorganization throughout the collision. Post-collisional subduction of such small (500-1000 km wide) relict ocean basins can account for both shortening deficits and delays in plate deceleration by accommodating convergence via subduction/underthrusting, although such shortening is easily missed if it occurs along structures hidden within flysch/slate belts. Relict-basin closure is likely typical early in continental collision at the end of a Wilson cycle due to the irregularity of colliding margins and extensive back-arc basin development during closure of long-lived ocean basins.

Onshore and offshore basins of northeast Libya: Their origin and hydrocarbon potential

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

Shegewi, O.M.

1992-01-01

A comprehensive data base of more than 3000 km of seismic lines, gravity and magnetic data, more than 30 subsurface well logs, and surface geology data were utilized to examine and interpret the sedimentary and tectonic history of the onshore and offshore parts of Northeast Libya and their hydrocarbon potential. The Dernah-Tobruk and Benghazi offshore basins form the northern parts of the study area. The Cyrenaica Stable Platform represents the southern parts. The Sirual Trough stretches E-W and opens into the Antelat Trough in the west. Between these elements is the uplifted areas of the Al Jabal Al Akhdar. Sixmore » principal tectonic phases were responsible for the formation and development of these structural elements: the pre-Mesozoic phase, the Triassic-Jurassic rifting phase, the Neocomian and the Aptian-Albian renewed rifting phases, the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene uplifting phase; and the Eocene-Middle Oligocene rifting phase. Oceanic crust of probable Aptian-Albian age is evident on the seismic lines north of the master fault marking the southern boundary of the rift separating the north African plate and Apulia. The western boundary of the Dernah High displayed clearly NE-SW strike-slip movement of these trajectories. Oceanic crust is also present west of the Dernah High. Positive gravity and magnetic anomalies traverse parallel to the boundary of this oceanic plate Mesogea. The prerequisites for commercial hydrocarbon production are present in abundance. Reservoirs ranging in age from Paleozoic clastics in the Cyrenaica Stable Platform to Mesozoic and Tertiary carbonates throughout the rest of the region. Several deep sites for the generation of hydrocarbons were also present, including the rifted northern parts of the Dernah-Tobruk basin, the Antelat Trough and the Cyrenaica Passive Margin. The Cretaceous and Tertiary section in the study area contain several potential seal rocks. Several potential trap types are also present.« less

Carboxylate platform: the MixAlco process part 1: comparison of three biomass conversion platforms.

PubMed

Holtzapple, Mark T; Granda, Cesar B

2009-05-01

To convert biomass to liquid fuels, three platforms are compared: thermochemical, sugar, and carboxylate. To create a common basis, each platform is fed "ideal biomass," which contains polysaccharides (68.3%) and lignin (31.7%). This ratio is typical of hardwood biomass and was selected so that when gasified and converted to hydrogen, the lignin has sufficient energy to produce ethanol from the carboxylic acids produced by the carboxylate platform. Using balanced chemical reactions, the theoretical yield and energy efficiency were determined for each platform. For all platforms, the ethanol yield can be increased by 71% to 107% by supplying external hydrogen produced from other sources (e.g., solar, wind, nuclear, fossil fuels). The alcohols can be converted to alkanes with a modest loss of energy efficiency (3 to 5 percentage points). Of the three platforms considered, the carboxylate platform has demonstrated the highest product yields.

Basin-scale hydrogeologic modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Person, Mark; Raffensperger, Jeff P.; Ge, Shemin; Garven, Grant

1996-02-01

Mathematical modeling of coupled groundwater flow, heat transfer, and chemical mass transport at the sedimentary basin scale has been increasingly used by Earth scientists studying a wide range of geologic processes including the formation of excess pore pressures, infiltration-driven metamorphism, heat flow anomalies, nuclear waste isolation, hydrothermal ore genesis, sediment diagenesis, basin tectonics, and petroleum generation and migration. These models have provided important insights into the rates and pathways of groundwater migration through basins, the relative importance of different driving mechanisms for fluid flow, and the nature of coupling between the hydraulic, thermal, chemical, and stress regimes. The mathematical descriptions of basin transport processes, the analytical and numerical solution methods employed, and the application of modeling to sedimentary basins around the world are the subject of this review paper. The special considerations made to represent coupled transport processes at the basin scale are emphasized. Future modeling efforts will probably utilize three-dimensional descriptions of transport processes, incorporate greater information regarding natural geological heterogeneity, further explore coupled processes, and involve greater field applications.

Sedimentary and Paleoceanographic Responses to the South China Sea Basin Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jian, Z.; Liu, Z.; Jin, H.; Larsen, H. C.; Alvarez Zarikian, C. A.; Stock, J. M.; Sun, Z.; Klaus, A.

2017-12-01

As the largest marginal sea of the western Pacific, the South China Sea (SCS) has experienced a complete Wilson cycle, which had inevitably exerted a profound impact on the sedimentary environment and ocean circulation. Based on the results of four ODP/IODP expeditions to the SCS since 1999, together with other research data in this region, this study aims to explore the sedimentary and paleoceanographic responses to the tectonic events and basin evolution in the SCS. The early history of the SCS from land to deep sea was revealed by foraminiferal fauna: (1) The SCS evolved from continental shelf to an upper bathyal environment around the Oligocene/Eocene boundary, and significantly deepened at the turn of Oligocene/Miocene; (2) The early Oligocene SCS was deep but its shelf was narrow, evidenced by the Para-Tethys type deep-sea agglutinated benthic foraminifers and abundant transported shallow-water species at ODP Site 1148. Along with the SCS basin formation and the development of this semi-closed basin, the deep-sea benthic foraminiferal δ13C decreased when the Antarctic ice sheet began to reestablish at 14 Ma, the Indonesian Seaway and the southern SCS deep-water channel were closed at 10 Ma, the Luzon arc collided with Taiwan at 6.5 Ma, and the Bashi Strait was restricted at 1.2 Ma. Nd isotopes of shark teeth at ODP Site 1148 also support these inferences. An early to middle Miocene succession of red clay was found at all sites deeper than 3500 m water depth, which may be correlated to a basin-wide event related to deep circulation of oxygenated water from the western Pacific. After the earliest late Miocene carbonate crash, the red clay disappeared while the large carbonate platforms were drowned and remarkably shrank in the SCS. Late Miocene sediments display a succession of hemi-pelagic and turbidite deposits, indicating that the deep basin entered its modern state below the CCD. Frequent turbidites ended when Pliocene growth of deep-sea manganese

Superposition of tectonic structures leading elongated intramontane basin: the Alhabia basin (Internal Zones, Betic Cordillera)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez-Martos, Manuel; Galindo-Zaldivar, Jesús; Martínez-Moreno, Francisco José; Calvo-Rayo, Raquel; Sanz de Galdeano, Carlos

2017-10-01

The relief of the Betic Cordillera was formed since the late Serravallian inducing the development of intramontane basins. The Alhabia basin, situated in the central part of the Internal Zones, is located at the intersection of the Alpujarran Corridor, the Tabernas basin, both trending E-W, and the NW-SE oriented Gádor-Almería basin. The geometry of the basin has been constrained by new gravity data. The basin is limited to the North by the Sierra de Filabres and Sierra Nevada antiforms that started to develop in Serravallian times under N-S shortening and to the south by Sierra Alhamilla and Sierra de Gádor antiforms. Plate convergence in the region rotated counter-clockwise in Tortonian times favouring the formation of E-W dextral faults. In this setting, NE-SW extension, orthogonal to the shortening direction, was accommodated by normal faults on the SW edge of Sierra Alhamilla. The Alhabia basin shows a cross-shaped depocentre in the zone of synform and fault intersection. This field example serves to constrain recent counter-clockwise stress rotation during the latest stages of Neogene-Quaternary basin evolution in the Betic Cordillera Internal Zones and underlines the importance of studying the basins' deep structure and its relation with the tectonic structures interactions.

Platform C North Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-10

A heavy-lift crane lifts the second half of the C-level work platforms, C north, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, high up from the transfer aisle floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The C platform will be installed on the north side of High Bay 3. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Platform C North Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-10

A heavy-lift crane lifts the second half of the C-level work platforms, C north, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, high up from the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The C platform will be moved into High Bay 3 for installation on the north side of High Bay 3. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Platform C North Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-10

A heavy-lift crane lifts the second half of the C-level work platforms, C north, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, high up from the transfer aisle floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The C platform will be moved into High Bay 3 for installation on the north wall. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Platform B North Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-12-16

A construction worker solders a section of steel during the installation of the second half of the B-level work platforms, B north, for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, in High Bay 3 in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Construction workers will secure the large bolts that hold the platform in place on the north wall. The B platforms are the ninth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Geospatial analysis of land use change in the Savannah River Basin using Google Earth Engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zurqani, Hamdi A.; Post, Christopher J.; Mikhailova, Elena A.; Schlautman, Mark A.; Sharp, Julia L.

2018-07-01

Climate and land use/cover change are among the most pervasive issues facing the Southeastern United States, including the Savannah River basin in South Carolina and Georgia. Land use directly affects the natural environment across the Savannah River basin and it is important to analyze these impacts. The objectives of this study are to: 1) determine the classes and the distribution of land cover in the Savannah River basin; 2) identify the spatial and the temporal change of the land cover that occurs as a consequence of land use change in the area; and 3) discuss the potential effects of land use change in the Savannah River basin. The land cover maps were produced using random forest supervised classification at four time periods for a total of thirteen common land cover classes with overall accuracy assessments of 79.18% (1999), 79.41% (2005), 76.04% (2009), and 76.11% (2015). The major land use change observed was due to the deforestation and reforestation of forest areas during the entire study period. The change detection results using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) indicated that the proportion areas of the deforestation were 5.93% (1999-2005), 4.63% (2005-2009), and 3.76% (2009-2015), while the proportion areas of the reforestation were 1.57% (1999-2005), 0.44% (2005-2009), and 1.53% (2009-2015). These results not only indicate land use change, but also demonstrate the advantage of utilizing Google Earth Engine and the public archive database in its platform to track and monitor this change over time.

Community replacement instead of drowning: Evolution of proto-North Atlantic carbonate-platform production in the run-up to of the Early Aptian OAE1a

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huck, Stefan; Stein, Melody; Adatte, Thierry; Föllmi, Karl B.; Immenhauser, Adrian; Heimhofer, Ulrich

2014-05-01

In the proto-North Atlantic realm (Lusitanian Basin, Portugal), carbonate platform production witnessed a major biotic turnover during the Early Aptian. Here, Urgonian-type rudist-nerinid dominated limestones were replaced by an orbitolinid-rich, oyster and serpulid-bearing marly facies. Integrated biostratigraphic-chemostratigraphic studies (Burla et al., 2008; Huck et al., 2012) provided evidence that this change coincides with the Early Aptian carbonate platform drowning episode in the run-up of oceanic anoxic event (OAE) 1a (transition D. forbesi to D. deshayesi ammonite zones), which has been recorded, from many localities in the Tethyan Ocean (Godet, 2013). Unlike Helvetic and Arabian carbonate platforms, which are characterised by a punctuated mass occurrence of orbitolinids marking the onset of the Aptian (Rawil and Hawar members, respectively), orbitolinids are an abundant constituent of the proto-North Atlantic carbonate platform community from the Late Barremian onwards. Orbitolinid-rich packstones and marls showing mass-occurrences of orbitolinids indicate repeated short-term installation of specific environmental conditions (eutrophication and/or deepening). In order to critically assess the influence of regional palaeoenvironmental against global palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic changes on the Proto-North Atlantic carbonate platform evolution, several outcrop successions in the Lusitanian Basin covering the critical interval have been investigated in detail with regard to facies and petrographic characteristics and geochemical (C-/O-isotopes, P content, bulk-rock and clay mineralogy,) inventory. The aims of the present study are three-fold: (1) to characterise proto-North Atlantic Lower Aptian shallow-water carbonates with respect to diagenetic history, microfacies, and distribution of fossils useful for the analysis of palaeoenvironments (corals, rudists and orbitolinids); (2) to evaluate the influence of sea-level and humidity changes

Los Angeles Basin

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-06-29

The Los Angeles Basin is bordered on the north by the San Gabriel Mountains. Other smaller basins are separated by smaller mountain ranges, like the Verdugo Hills, and the Santa Monica Mountains in this image from NASA Terra spacecraft.

Intra-Platform Repeatability and Inter-Platform Comparability of MicroRNA Microarray Technology

PubMed Central

Sato, Fumiaki; Tsuchiya, Soken; Terasawa, Kazuya; Tsujimoto, Gozoh

2009-01-01

Over the last decade, DNA microarray technology has provided a great contribution to the life sciences. The MicroArray Quality Control (MAQC) project demonstrated the way to analyze the expression microarray. Recently, microarray technology has been utilized to analyze a comprehensive microRNA expression profiling. Currently, several platforms of microRNA microarray chips are commercially available. Thus, we compared repeatability and comparability of five different microRNA microarray platforms (Agilent, Ambion, Exiqon, Invitrogen and Toray) using 309 microRNAs probes, and the Taqman microRNA system using 142 microRNA probes. This study demonstrated that microRNA microarray has high intra-platform repeatability and comparability to quantitative RT-PCR of microRNA. Among the five platforms, Agilent and Toray array showed relatively better performances than the others. However, the current lineup of commercially available microRNA microarray systems fails to show good inter-platform concordance, probably because of lack of an adequate normalization method and severe divergence in stringency of detection call criteria between different platforms. This study provided the basic information about the performance and the problems specific to the current microRNA microarray systems. PMID:19436744

BASINS Technical Notes

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA has developed several technical notes that provide in depth information on a specific function in BASINS. Technical notes can be used to answer questions users may have, or to provide additional information on the application of features in BASINS.

PLAY ANALYSIS AND DIGITAL PORTFOLIO OF MAJOR OIL RESERVOIRS IN THE PERMIAN BASIN: APPLICATION AND TRANSFER OF ADVANCED GEOLOGICAL AND ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES FOR INCREMENTAL PRODUCTION OPPORTUNITIES

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

Shirley P. Dutton; Eugene M. Kim; Ronald F. Broadhead

2003-04-01

A play portfolio is being constructed for the Permian Basin in west Texas and southeast New Mexico, the largest petroleum-producing basin in the US. Approximately 1300 reservoirs in the Permian Basin have been identified as having cumulative production greater than 1 MMbbl of oil through 2000. Of these major reservoirs, approximately 1,000 are in Texas and 300 in New Mexico. On a preliminary basis, 32 geologic plays have been defined for Permian Basin oil reservoirs and assignment of each of the 1300 major reservoirs to a play has begun. The reservoirs are being mapped and compiled in a Geographic Informationmore » System (GIS) by play. Detailed studies of three reservoirs are in progress: Kelly-Snyder (SACROC unit) in the Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian Horseshoe Atoll Carbonate play, Fullerton in the Leonardian Restricted Platform Carbonate play, and Barnhart (Ellenburger) in the Ellenburger Selectively Dolomitized Ramp Carbonate play. For each of these detailed reservoir studies, technologies for further, economically viable exploitation are being investigated.« less

An Open Source approach to automated hydrological analysis of ungauged drainage basins in Serbia using R and SAGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zlatanovic, Nikola; Milovanovic, Irina; Cotric, Jelena

2014-05-01

Drainage basins are for the most part ungauged or poorly gauged not only in Serbia but in most parts of the world, usually due to insufficient funds, but also the decommission of river gauges in upland catchments to focus on downstream areas which are more populated. Very often, design discharges are needed for these streams or rivers where no streamflow data is available, for various applications. Examples include river training works for flood protection measures or erosion control, design of culverts, water supply facilities, small hydropower plants etc. The estimation of discharges in ungauged basins is most often performed using rainfall-runoff models, whose parameters heavily rely on geomorphometric attributes of the basin (e.g. catchment area, elevation, slopes of channels and hillslopes etc.). The calculation of these, as well as other paramaters, is most often done in GIS (Geographic Information System) software environments. This study deals with the application of freely available and open source software and datasets for automating rainfall-runoff analysis of ungauged basins using methodologies currently in use hydrological practice. The R programming language was used for scripting and automating the hydrological calculations, coupled with SAGA GIS (System for Automated Geoscientivic Analysis) for geocomputing functions and terrain analysis. Datasets used in the analyses include the freely available SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) terrain data, CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) Land Cover data, as well as soil maps and rainfall data. The choice of free and open source software and datasets makes the project ideal for academic and research purposes and cross-platform projects. The geomorphometric module was tested on more than 100 catchments throughout Serbia and compared to manually calculated values (using topographic maps). The discharge estimation module was tested on 21 catchments where data were available and compared

IODP expedition 347: Baltic Sea basin paleoenvironment and biosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrén, T.; Barker Jørgensen, B.; Cotterill, C.; Green, S.; IODP expedition 347 scientific party, the

2015-12-01

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition 347 cored sediments from different settings of the Baltic Sea covering the last glacial-interglacial cycle. The main aim was to study the geological development of the Baltic Sea in relation to the extreme climate variability of the region with changing ice cover and major shifts in temperature, salinity, and biological communities. Using the Greatship Manisha as a European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) mission-specific platform, we recovered 1.6 km of core from nine sites of which four were additionally cored for microbiology. The sites covered the gateway to the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean, several sub-basins in the southern Baltic Sea, a deep basin in the central Baltic Sea, and a river estuary in the north. The waxing and waning of the Scandinavian ice sheet has profoundly affected the Baltic Sea sediments. During the Weichselian, progressing glaciers reshaped the submarine landscape and displaced sedimentary deposits from earlier Quaternary time. As the glaciers retreated they left a complex pattern of till, sand, and lacustrine clay, which in the basins has since been covered by a thick deposit of Holocene, organic-rich clay. Due to the stratified water column of the brackish Baltic Sea and the recurrent and widespread anoxia, the deeper basins harbor laminated sediments that provide a unique opportunity for high-resolution chronological studies. The Baltic Sea is a eutrophic intra-continental sea that is strongly impacted by terrestrial runoff and nutrient fluxes. The Holocene deposits are recorded today to be up to 50 m deep and geochemically affected by diagenetic alterations driven by organic matter degradation. Many of the cored sequences were highly supersaturated with respect to methane, which caused strong degassing upon core recovery. The depth distributions of conservative sea water ions still reflected the transition at the end of the last glaciation from fresh-water clays to

Platform B North Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-12-16

Construction workers wearing safety harnesses and tethered lines assist with the installation of the second half of the B-level work platforms, B north, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, high up in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They are securing the large bolts that hold the platform securely in place on the north side of High Bay 3. The B platforms are the ninth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Late Paleozoic SEDEX deposits in South China formed in a carbonate platform at the northern margin of Gondwana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Wenhong Johnson; Zhou, Mei-Fu; Liu, Zerui Ray

2018-05-01

SEDEX sulfide deposits hosted in black shale and carbonate are common in the South China Block. The Dajiangping pyrite deposit is the largest of these deposits and is made up of stratiform orebodies hosted in black shales. Sandstone interlayered with stratiform orebodies contains detrital zircon grains with the youngest ages of 429 Ma. Pyrite from the orebodies has a Re-Os isochron age of 389 ± 62 Ma, indicative of formation of the hosting strata and syngenetic pyrite ores in the mid-late Devonian. The hosting strata is a transgression sequence in a passive margin and composed of carbonaceous limestone in the lower part and black shales in the upper part. The ore-hosting black shales have high TOC (total organic carbon), Mo, As, Pb, Zn and Cd, indicating an anoxic-euxinic deep basin origin. The high redox proxies, V/(V + Ni) > 0.6 and V/Cr > 1, and the positive correlations of TOC with Mo and V in black shales are also consistent with an anoxic depositional environment. The Dajiangping deposit is located close to the NE-trending Wuchuan-Sihui fault, which was active during the Devonian. The mid-late Devonian mineralization age and the anoxic-euxinic deep basinal condition of this deposit thus imply that the formation of this deposit was causally linked to hydrothermal fluid exhalation in an anoxic fault-bounded basin that developed in a carbonate platform of the South China Block. The regional distribution of many Devonian, stratiform, carbonaceous sediment-hosted sulfide deposits along the NE-trending fault-bounded basins in South China, similar to the Dajiangping deposit, indicates that these deposits formed at a basin developed in the passive margin setting of the South China Block during the Devonian. This environment was caused by the break-up and northward migration of the South China Block from Gandwana.

SimBasin: serious gaming for integrated decision-making in the Magdalena-Cauca basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craven, Joanne; Angarita, Hector; Corzo, Gerald

2016-04-01

The Magdalena-Cauca macrobasin covers 24% of the land area of Colombia, and provides more than half of the country's economic potential. The basin is also home a large proportion of Colombia's biodiversity. These conflicting demands have led to problems in the basin, including a dramatic fall in fish populations, additional flooding (such as the severe nationwide floods caused by the La Niña phenomenon in 2011), and habitat loss. It is generally believed that the solution to these conflicts is to manage the basin in a more integrated way, and bridge the gaps between decision-makers in different sectors and scientists. To this end, inter-ministerial agreements are being formulated and a decision support system is being developed by The Nature Conservancy Colombia. To engage stakeholders in this process SimBasin, a "serious game", has been developed. It is intended to act as a catalyst for bringing stakeholders together, an illustration of the uncertainties, relationships and feedbacks in the basin, and an accessible introduction to modelling and decision support for non-experts. During the game, groups of participants are led through a 30 year future development of the basin, during which they take decisions about the development of the basin and see the impacts on four different sectors: agriculture, hydropower, flood risk, and environment. These impacts are displayed through seven indicators, which players should try to maintain above critical thresholds. To communicate the effects of uncertainty and climate variability, players see the actual value of the indicator and also a band of possible values, so they can see if their decisions have actually reduced risk or if they just "got lucky". The game works as a layer on top of a WEAP water resources model of the basin, adapted from a basin-wide model already created, so the fictional game basin is conceptually similar to the Magdalena-Cauca basin. The game is freely available online, and new applications are being

Mechanics of forearc basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cassola, Teodoro; Willett, Sean D.; Kopp, Heidrun

2010-05-01

In this study, the mechanics of forearc basins will be the object of a numerical investigation to understand the relationships between wedge deformation and forearc basin formation. The aim of this work is to gain an insight into the dynamics of the formation of the forearc basin, in particular the mechanism of formation of accommodation space and the preservation of basin stratigraphy. Our tool is a two-dimensional numerical model that includes the rheological properties of the rock, including effective internal friction angle, effective basal friction angle and thermally-dependent viscosity. We also simulate different sedimentation rates in the basin, to study the influence of underfilled and overfilled basin conditions on wedge deformation. The stratigraphy of the basin will also be studied, because in underfilled conditions the sediments are more likely to undergo tectonic deformation due to inner wedge deformation. We compare the numerical model with basins along the Sunda-Java Trench. This margin shows a variety of structural-settings and basin types including underfilled and overfilled basins and different wedge geometries. We interpret and document these structural styles, using depth migrated seismic sections of the Sunda Trench, obtained in three surveys, GINCO (11/98 - 01/99), MERAMEX (16/09/04 - 7/10/04) and SINDBAD (9/10/06 - 9/11/06) and made available through the IFM-GEOMAR and the Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften and Rohstoffe (BGR). One important aspect of these margins that we observe is the presence of a dynamic backstop, characterized by older accreted material, that, although deformed during and after accretion, later becomes a stable part of the upper plate. We argue that, following critical wedge theory, it entered into the stable field of a wedge either by steepening or weakening of the underlying detachment. As a stable wedge, this older segment of the wedge acts as a mechanical backstop for the frontal deforming wedge. This dynamic

Geophysical evidence of pre-sag rifting and post-rifting fault reactivation in the Parnaíba basin, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopes de Castro, David; Hilário Bezerra, Francisco; Adolfo Fuck, Reinhardt; Vidotti, Roberta Mary

2016-04-01

This study investigated the rifting mechanism that preceded the prolonged subsidence of the Paleozoic Parnaíba basin in Brazil and shed light on the tectonic evolution of this large cratonic basin in the South American platform. From the analysis of aeromagnetic, aerogravity, seismic reflection and borehole data, we concluded the following: (1) large pseudo-gravity and gravity lows mimic graben structures but are associated with linear supracrustal strips in the basement. (2) Seismic data indicate that 120-200 km wide and up to 300 km long rift zones occur in other parts of the basins. These rift zones mark the early stage of the 3.5 km thick sag basin. (3) The rifting phase occurred in the early Paleozoic and had a subsidence rate of 47 m Myr-1. (4) This rifting phase was followed by a long period of sag basin subsidence at a rate of 9.5 m Myr-1 between the Silurian and the late Cretaceous, during which rift faults propagated and influenced deposition. These data interpretations support the following succession of events: (1) after the Brasiliano orogeny (740-580 Ma), brittle reactivation of ductile basement shear zones led to normal and dextral oblique-slip faulting concentrated along the Transbrasiliano Lineament, a continental-scale shear zone that marks the boundary between basement crustal blocks. (2) The post-orogenic tectonic brittle reactivation of the ductile basement shear zones led to normal faulting associated with dextral oblique-slip crustal extension. In the west, pure-shear extension induced the formation of rift zones that crosscut metamorphic foliations and shear zones within the Parnaíba block. (3) The rift faults experienced multiple reactivation phases. (4) Similar processes may have occurred in coeval basins in the Laurentia and Central African blocks of Gondwana.

Paleozoic evolution of active margin basins in the southern Central Andes (northwestern Argentina and northern Chile)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahlburg, H.; Breitkreuz, C.

originated as an extensional structure at the continental margin of Gondwana. Independent lines of evidence imply that basin evolution was not connected to subduction. Thus, the basin could not have been in a fore-arc position as previously postulated. Above the folded Devonian-Early Carboniferous strata, a continental volcanic arc developed from the Late Carboniferous to the Middle Triassic. It represents the link between the Choiyoi Province in central Chile and Argentina, and the Mitu Group rift in southern Peru. The volcanic arc succession is characterized by the prevalence of silicic lavas and tuffs and volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks. During the latest Carboniferous, a thick ostracod-bearing lacustrine unit formed in an extended lake in the area of the Depresión Preandina. This lake basin originated in an intra-arc tensional setting. During the Early Permian, marine limestones were deposited on a marine platform west and east of the volcanic arc, connected to the depositional area of the Copacabana Formation in southern Peru.

Isotopic composition and elemental concentrations in groundwater in the Kuiseb Basin and the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin, Namibia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kgabi, Nnenesi A.; Atekwana, Eliot; Ithindi, Johanna; Uugwanga, Martha; Knoeller, Kay; Motsei, Lebogang; Mathuthu, Manny; Kalumbu, Gideon; Amwele, Hilma R.; Uusizi, Rian

2018-05-01

We assessed environmental tracers in groundwater in two contrasting basins in Namibia; the Kuiseb Basin, which is a predominantly dry area and the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin, which is prone to alternating floods and droughts. We aimed to determine why the quality of groundwater was different in these two basins which occur in an arid environment. We analysed groundwater and surface water for the stable isotope ratios of hydrogen (δ2H) and oxygen (δ18O) by cavity ring-down spectroscopy and metals by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The δ2H and δ18O of surface water in the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin plot on an evaporation trend below the global meteoric water line (GMWL) and the local meteoric water line (LMWL). The δ2H and δ18O of some groundwater samples in the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin also plot on the evaporation trend, indicating recharge by evaporated rain or evaporated surface water. In contrast, the δ2H and δ18O of groundwater samples in the Kuiseb Basin plot mostly along the GMWL and the LMWL, indicating direct recharge from unevaporated rain or unevaporated surface water. Fifty percent of groundwater samples in the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin was potable (salinity < 1 ppt) compared to 79 % in the Kuiseb Basin. The high salinity in the groundwater of the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin does not appear to be caused by evaporation of water (evapo-concentration) on surface prior to groundwater recharge, but rather by the weathering of the Kalahari sediments. The low salinity in the Kuiseb Basin derives from rapid recharge of groundwater by unevaporated rain and limited weathering of the crystalline rocks. The order of abundance of cations in the Kuiseb Basin is Na > K > Ca > Mg vs. Na > Mg > Ca > K for the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin. For metals in the Kuiseb Basin the order of abundance is Fe > Al > V > As > Zn vs. Al > Fe > V> As > Zn for the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin. The relative abundance of cations and metals are attributed to the differences in geology of the basins and the

Performance of a Single Liquid Column Damper for the Control of Dynamic Responses of a Tension Leg Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaksic, V.; Wright, C.; Chanayil, Afeef; Faruque Ali, Shaikh; Murphy, Jimmy; Pakrashi, Vikram

2015-07-01

Tuned liquid column dampers have been proved to be successful in mitigating the dynamic responses of civil infrastructure. There have been some recent applications of this concept on wind turbines and this passive control system can help to mitigate responses of offshore floating platforms and wave devices. The control of dynamic responses of these devices is important for reducing loads on structural elements and facilitating operations and maintenance (O&M) activities. This paper outlines the use of a tuned single liquid column damper for the control of a tension leg platform supported wind turbine. Theoretical studies were carried out and a scaled model was tested in a wave basin to assess the performance of the damper. The tests on the model presented in this paper correspond to a platform with a very low natural frequency for surge, sway and yaw motions. For practical purposes, it was not possible to tune the liquid damper exactly to this frequency. The consequent approach taken and the efficiency of such approach are presented in this paper. Responses to waves of a single frequency are investigated along with responses obtained from wave spectra characterising typical sea states. The extent of control is quantified using peak and root mean squared dynamic responses respectively. The tests present some guidelines and challenges for testing scaled devices in relation to including response control mechanisms. Additionally, the results provide a basis for dictating future research on tuned liquid column damper based control on floating platforms.

Turn Basin Construction

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-14

Modifications are underway at the Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the arrival of the agency's massive Space Launch System (SLS) core stage aboard the barge Pegasus. Precast concrete poles are being driven to a depth of about 70 feet into the bedrock below the water around the turn basin. The upgrades are necessary to accommodate the increased weight of the core stage along with ground support and transportation equipment aboard the modified barge Pegasus. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing the upgrades to the turn basin wharf.

Large Sanjiang basin groups outside of the Songliao Basin Meso-Senozoic Tectonic-sediment evolution and hydrocarbon accumulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, M.; Wu, X.

2015-12-01

The basis geological problem is still the bottleneck of the exploration work of the lager Sanjiang basin groups. In general terms, the problems are including the prototype basins and basin forming mechanism of two aspects. In this paper, using the field geological survey and investigation, logging data analysis, seismic data interpretation technical means large Sanjiang basin groups and basin forming mechanism of the prototype are discussed. Main draw the following conclusions： 1. Sanjiang region group-level formation can be completely contrasted. 2. Tension faults, compressive faults, shear structure composition and structure combination of four kinds of compound fracture are mainly developed In the study area. The direction of their distribution can be divided into SN, EW, NNE, NEE, NNW, NWW to other groups of fracture. 3. Large Sanjiang basin has the SN and the EW two main directions of tectonic evolution. Cenozoic basins in Sanjiang region in group formation located the two tectonic domains of ancient Paleo-Asian Ocean and the Pacific Interchange. 4. Large Sanjiang basin has experienced in the late Mesozoic tectonic evolution of two-stage and nine times. The first stage, developmental stage basement, they are ① Since the Mesozoic era and before the Jurassic; ② Early Jurassic period; The second stage, cap stage of development, they are ③ Late Jurassic depression developmental stages of compression; ④ Early Cretaceous rifting stage; ⑤ depression in mid-Early Cretaceous period; ⑥ tensile Early Cretaceous rifting stage; ⑦ inversion of Late Cretaceous tectonic compression stage; ⑧ Paleogene - Neogene; ⑨ After recently Ji Baoquan Sedimentary Ridge. 5. Large Sanjiang basin group is actually a residual basin structure, and Can be divided into left - superimposed (Founder, Tangyuan depression, Hulin Basin), residual - inherited type (Sanjiang basin), residual - reformed (Jixi, Boli, Hegang basin). there are two developed depression and the mechanism

Basin-centered gas evaluated in Dnieper-Donets basin, Donbas foldbelt, Ukraine

USGS Publications Warehouse

Law, B.E.; Ulmishek, G.F.; Clayton, J.L.; Kabyshev, B.P.; Pashova, N.T.; Krivosheya, V.A.

1998-01-01

An evaluation of thermal maturity, pore pressures, source rocks, reservoir quality, present-day temperatures, and fluid recovery data indicates the presence of a large basin-centered gas accumulation in the Dnieper-Donets basin (DDB) and Donbas foldbelt (DF) of eastern Ukraine (Fig. 1).

Science-society collaboration for robust adaptation planning in water management - The Maipo River Basin in Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ocampo Melgar, Anahí; Vicuña, Sebastián; Gironás, Jorge

2015-04-01

The Metropolitan Region (M.R.) in Chile is populated by over 6 million people and supplied by the Maipo River and its large number of irrigation channels. Potential environmental alterations caused by global change will extremely affect managers and users of water resources in this semi-arid basin. These hydro-climatological impacts combined with demographic and economic changes will be particularly complex in the city of Santiago, due to the diverse, counterpoised and equally important existing activities and demands. These challenges and complexities request the implementation of flexible plans and actions to adapt policies, institutions, infrastructure and behaviors to a new future with climate change. Due to the inherent uncertainties in the future, a recent research project entitled MAPA (Maipo Adaptation Plan for its initials in Spanish) has formed a collaborative science-society platform to generate insights into the vulnerabilities, challenges and possible mitigation measures that would be necessary to deal with the potential changes in the M.R. This large stakeholder platform conformed by around 30 public, private and civil society organizations, both at the local and regional level and guided by a Robust Decision Making Framework (RDMF) has identified vulnerabilities, future scenarios, performance indicators and mitigation measures for the Maipo River basin. The RDMF used in this project is the XLRM framework (Lempert et al. 2006) that incorporates policy levers (L), exogenous uncertainties (X), measures of performance standards (M) and relationships (R) in an interlinked process. Both stakeholders' expertise and computational capabilities have been used to create hydrological models for the urban, rural and highland sectors supported also by the Water Evaluation and Planning system software (WEAP). The identification of uncertainties and land use transition trends was used to develop future development scenarios to explore possible water management

The Impact of Gender, Socioeconomic Status and Home Language on Primary School Children's Reading Comprehension in KwaZulu-Natal.

PubMed

Völkel, Gabriela; Seabi, Joseph; Cockcroft, Kate; Goldschagg, Paul

2016-03-15

The current study constituted part of a larger, longitudinal, South African-based study, namely, The Road and Aircraft Noise Exposure on Children's Cognition and Health (RANCH-South Africa). In the context of a multicultural South Africa and varying demographic variables thereof, this study sought to investigate and describe the effects of gender, socioeconomic status and home language on primary school children's reading comprehension in KwaZulu-Natal. In total, 834 learners across 5 public schools in the KwaZulu-Natal province participated in the study. A biographical questionnaire was used to obtain biographical data relevant to this study, and the Suffolk Reading Scale 2 (SRS2) was used to obtain reading comprehension scores. The findings revealed that there was no statistical difference between males and females on reading comprehension scores. In terms of socioeconomic status (SES), learners from a low socioeconomic background performed significantly better than those from a high socioeconomic background. English as a First Language (EL1) speakers had a higher mean reading comprehension score than speakers who spoke English as an Additional Language (EAL). Reading comprehension is indeed affected by a variety of variables, most notably that of language proficiency. The tool to measure reading comprehension needs to be standardized and administered in more than one language, which will ensure increased reliability and validity of reading comprehension scores.

Dynamic Gaming Platform (DGP)

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

GAMING PLATFORM (DGP) Lockheed Martin Corporation...YYYY) APR 09 2. REPORT TYPE Final 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) Jul 07 – Mar 09 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE DYNAMIC GAMING PLATFORM (DGP) 5a...CMU Carnegie Mellon University DGP Dynamic Gaming Platform GA Genetic Algorithm IARPA Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity LM ATL Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories PAINT ProActive INTelligence

Seismicity and gravimetric studies of Cyrenaica platform and adjacent regions, northeastern Libya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben Suleman, abdunnur

2013-04-01

Cyrenaica, located in northeastern Libya, consists of two distinct tectonic provinces; the tectonically unstable northern Cyrenaica and the more stable Cyernaican platform to the south. This study represents detailed investigations that aim to focus on the structure and tectonic setting through a detailed Seismicity and gravity analysis. Seismicity of northeastern Libya is documented back to 262 A.D. when an earthquake destroyed the city of Ceryne. The same area was destroyed by an earthquake in 365 A.D, The city of Al-Maraj was heavily damaged in 1963 by an earthquake measuring 5,3 in the Richter scale. Data collected by the recently established Libyan National Seismograph Network confirms that northeastern Libya is seismically active with most of the activity concentrates on the northern part particularly in the city of Al-Maraj area. Seismic activity is also noticeable in the offshore area. Focal mechanism studies for a number of earthquakes recorded by the Libyan National Seismograph Network suggest that normal faulting is predominant. A gravity data base collected from a variety of sources was compiled to generate a Bouguer gravity anomaly map that represents the basic map used in the overall interpretations, as well as in generating more specialized gravity maps used in the detailed investigations. The Bouguer gravity map demonstrates that the northern inverted basins of Cyrenaica and the coastal plain of Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar show a raped northward increase in gravity values to up to 130 Mgal. In addition a series of steep faults that separates the unstable Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar from the more stable Cyrenaica platform as well as other faults within the platform were well delineated.

Full 40 km crustal reflection seismic datasets in several Indonesian basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinkelman, M. G.; Granath, J. W.; Christ, J. M.; Emmet, P. A.; Bird, D. E.

2010-12-01

Long offset, deep penetration regional 2D seismic data sets have been acquired since 2002 by GX Technology in a number of regions worldwide (www.iongeo.com/Data_Libraries/Spans/). Typical surveys consist of 10+ lines located to image specific critical aspects of basin structure. Early surveys were processed to 20 km, but more recent ones have extended to 40-45 km from 16 sec records. Pre-stack time migration is followed by pre-stack depth migration using gravity and in some cases magnetic modeling to constrain the velocity structure. We illustrate several cases in the SE Asian and Australasian area. In NatunaSPAN™ two generations of inversion can be distinguished, one involving Paleogene faults with Neogene inversion and one involving strike slip-related uplift in the West Natuna Basin. Crustal structure in the very deep Neogene East Natuna Basin has also been imaged. The JavaSPAN™ program traced Paleogene sediments onto oceanic crust of the Flores Sea, thus equating back arc spreading there to the widespread Eocene extension. It also imaged basement in the Makassar Strait beneath as much as 6 km of Cenozoic sedimentary rocks that accumulated Eocene rift basins (the North and South Makassar basins) on the edge of Sundaland, the core of SE Asia. The basement is seismically layered: a noisy upper crust overlies a prominent 10 km thick transparent zone, the base of which marks another change to slightly noisier reflectivity. Eocene normal faults responsible for the opening of extensional basins root in the top of the transparent layer which may be Moho or a brittle-ductile transition within the extended continental crust. Of particular significance is the first image of thick Precambrian basins comprising the bulk of continental crust under the Arafura Sea in the ArafuraSPAN™ program. Four lines some 1200 km long located between Australia and New Guinea on the Arafura platform image a thin Phanerozoic section overlying a striking Precambrian basement composed of

Mechanisms of intracratonic and rift basin formation: Insights from Canning Basin, northwest Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bender, Andre Adriano

2000-10-01

The Canning basin was investigated in order to determine the mechanisms responsible for its initiation and development. The basement morphology, determined using magnetic and gravity inversion techniques, was used to map the distribution, amplitude and subsidence history of the basin. The sag development of the Canning basin is hypothesized to be a consequence of a major late Proterozoic thermal event that induced broad-scale uplift, extrusion of tholeiitic basalt, and substantial crustal erosion. The development of the Canning basin is consistent with removal of up to 11 km of crustal rocks, followed by isostatic re-adjustment during the cooling of the lithosphere. Earlier models that employed both lower crustal metamorphism and erosion are considered inappropriate mechanisms for intracratonic basin formation because this work has shown that their effects are mutually exclusive. The time scale for the metamorphic-related subsidence is typically short (<10 m.y.) and the maximum subsidence is small (<4 km) compared to the long subsidence (ca. 200 m.y.) and maximum depths (6--7 km) recorded in the Canning basin. Observed amplitudes and rates of basement subsidence are compatible with a thermal anomaly that began to dissipate in the early Cambrian and lasted until the Permian. Punctuating the long-lived intracratonic basin subsidence is a series of extensional pulses that in Silurian to Carboniferous/Permian time led to the development of several prominent normal faults in the northeastern portion of the Canning basin (Fitzroy graben). Stratigraphic and structural data and section-balancing techniques have helped to elucidate the geometry and evolution of the basin-bounding fault of the Fitzroy graben. The fault is listric, with a dip that decreases from approximately 50° at the surface to 20° at a depth of 20 km, and with an estimated horizontal offset of 32--41 km. The southern margin of the Fitzroy graben was tilted, truncated, and onlapped from the south

Problematic Substance Use in Urban Adolescents: Role of Intrauterine Exposures to Cocaine and Marijuana and Post-Natal Environment

PubMed Central

Frank, Deborah A.; Kuranz, Seth; Appugliese, Danielle; Cabral, Howard; Chen, Clara; Crooks, Denise; Heeren, Timothy; Liebschutz, Jane; Richardson, Mark; Rose-Jacobs, Ruth

2014-01-01

Background Linkages between intrauterine exposures to cocaine and marijuana and adolescents’ problematic substance use have not been fully delineated. Methods Prospective longitudinal study with assessors unaware of intrauterine exposure history followed 157 urban participants from birth until late adolescence. Level of intrauterine exposures was identified by mother's report and infant’s meconium. Problematic substance use, identified by the Voice Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (V-DISC) or the Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interview (ACASI) and urine assay, was a composite encompassing DSM-IV indication of tolerance, abuse, and dependence on alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco and any use of cocaine, glue, or opiates. Results Twenty percent (32/157) of the sample experienced problematic substance use by age 18 years, of whom the majority (22/157) acknowledged abuse, tolerance or dependence on marijuana with or without other substances. Structural equation models examining direct and indirect pathways linking a Cox survival model for early substance initiation to a logistic regression models found effects of post-natal factors including childhood exposure to violence and household substance use, early youth substance initiation, and ongoing youth violence exposure contributing to adolescent problematic substance use. Conclusion We did not identify direct relationships between intrauterine cocaine or marijuana exposure and problematic substance use, but did find potentially modifiable post-natal risk factors also noted to be associated with problematic substance use in the general population including earlier substance initiation, exposure to violence and to household substance use. PMID:24999059

Origin of the earth's ocean basins

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frex, H.

1977-01-01

The earth's original ocean basins were mare-type basins produced 4 billion years ago by the flux of asteroid-sized objects responsible for the lunar mare basins. Scaling upwards from the observed number of lunar basins for the greater capture cross-section and impact velocity of the Earth indicates that at least 50 percent of an original global crust would have been converted to basin topography. These basins were flooded by basaltic liquids in times short compared to the isostatic adjustment time for the basin. The modern crustal dichotomy (60 percent oceanic, 40 percent continental crust) was established early in the history of the earth, making possible the later onset of plate tectonic processes. These later processes have subsequently reworked, in several cycles, principally the oceanic parts of the earth's crust, changing the configuration of the continents in the process. Ocean basins (and oceans themselves) may be rare occurrences on planets in other star systems.

Soil moisture monitoring in Candelaro basin, Southern Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campana, C.; Gigante, V.; Iacobellis, V.

2012-04-01

The signature of the hydrologic regime can be investigated, in principle, by recognizing the main mechanisms of runoff generation that take place in the basin and affect the seasonal behavior or the rainfall-driven events. In this framework, besides the implementation of hydrological models, a crucial role should be played by direct observation of key state variables such as soil moisture at different depths and different distances from the river network. In fact, understanding hydrological systems is often limited by the frequency and spatial distribution of observations. Experimental catchments, which are field laboratories with long-term measurements of hydrological variables, are not only sources of data but also sources of knowledge. Wireless distributed sensing platforms are a key technology to address the need for overcoming field limitations such as conflicts between soil use and cable connections. A stand-alone wireless network system has been installed for continuous monitoring of soil water contents at multiple depths along a transect located in Celone basin (sub-basin of Candelaro basin in Puglia, Southern Italy). The transect consists of five verticals, each one having three soil water content sensors at multiple depths: 0,05 m, 0,6 m and 1,2 m below the ground level. The total length of the transect is 307 m and the average distance between the verticals is 77 m. The main elements of the instrumental system installed are: fifteen Decagon 10HS Soil Moisture Sensors, five Decagon Em50R Wireless Radio Data Loggers, one Rain gauge, one Decagon Data Station and one Campbell CR1000 Data Logger. Main advantages of the system as described and presented in this work are that installation of the wireless network system is fast and easy to use, data retrieval and monitoring information over large spatial scales can be obtained in (near) real-time mode and finally other type of sensors can be connected to the system, also offering wide potentials for future

Miocene tectono-stratigraphic history of La Mision basin, northwestern Baja California: implications for early tectonic development of southern California continental borderland

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

Ashby, J.R.; Minch, J.

1988-03-01

The middle Miocene La Mision basin in northwestern Baja California, Mexico, provides a rare opportunity to study an onshore portion of the southern California continental borderland. Stratigraphy, geometry of dispersal, and a variety of lithotypes within the volcanic and volcaniclastic sediments of the Rosarito Beach Formation provide clues to the nature of early tectonic evolution of this area during the Miocene. The elongated, trough-shaped La Mision basin formed in response to peninsular basement uplifts and the formation of volcanic highlands west of the present coastline. Lithologies and depositional environments represented within the basin sediments include: subaerial basalt flows and airfallmore » tuffs, submarine muddy- and sandy-matrix mudflow breccias, lapilli tuffs, crystal tuffs, tuffaceous sandstones,d diatomites, and conglomerates. The environments of deposition range from fluvatile to intertidal to shallow marine. Early basin infilling is characterized by sediments and basalts, with a western source terrane, that were deposited against the faulted seacliffs. progressive infilling against the seacliff resulted in the formation of an extensive eastward-sloping basaltic platform extending eastward to the foothill coastal belt of the Peninsular Ranges. Marine transgression and subsequent regression are recorded by diverse marine volcaniclastic lithologies. Abundant fossils, K-Ar dates, and paleomagnetic data obtained from the La Mision basin allow precise correlation with other areas in the continental borderland and provide conclusive evidence that this block of the borderland was formed and in its present position by 16-14 Ma.« less

Midplate seismicity exterior to former rift-basins

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dewey, J.W.

1988-01-01

Midplate seismicity associated with some former rift-zones is distributed diffusely near, but exterior to, the rift basins. This "basin-exterior' seismicity cannot be attributed to reactivation of major basin-border faults on which uppercrustal extension was concentrated at the time of rifting, because the border faults dip beneath the basins. The seismicity may nonetheless represent reactivation of minor faults that were active at the time of rifting but that were located outside of the principal zones of upper-crustal extension; the occurrence of basin-exterior seismicity in some present-day rift-zones supports the existence of such minor basin-exterior faults. Other hypotheses for seismicity exterior to former rift-basins are that the seismicity reflects lobes of high stress due to lithospheric-bending that is centered on the axis of the rift, that the seismicity is localized on the exteriors of rift-basins by basin-interiors that are less deformable in the current epoch than the basin exteriors, and that seismicity is localized on the basin-exteriors by the concentration of tectonic stress in the highly elastic basin-exterior upper-crust. -from Author

Platform C North Arrival

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-08-30

A section of the second half of the C-level platforms, C North, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, arrives at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform was offloaded from a heavy lift transport truck and secured in a staging area in the west parking lot of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing.

Seismic Characterization of the Jakarta Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cipta, A.; Saygin, E.; Cummins, P. R.; Masturyono, M.; Rudyanto, A.; Irsyam, M.

2015-12-01

Jakarta, Indonesia, is home to more than 10 million people. Many of these people live in seismically non-resilient structures in an area that historical records suggest is prone to earthquake shaking. The city lies in a sedimentary basin composed of Quaternary alluvium that experiences rapid subsidence (26 cm/year) due to groundwater extraction. Forecasts of how much subsidence may occur in the future are dependent on the thickness of the basin. However, basin geometry and sediment thickness are poorly known. In term of seismic hazard, thick loose sediment can lead to high amplification of seismic waves, of the kind that led to widespread damage in Mexico city during the Michoacan Earthquake of 1985. In order to characterize basin structure, a temporary seismograph deployment was undertaken in Jakarta in Oct 2013- Jan 2014. A total of 96 seismic instrument were deployed throughout Jakarta were deployed throughout Jakarta at 3-5 km spacing. Ambient noise tomography was applied to obtain models of the subsurface velocity structure. Important key, low velocity anomalies at short period (<8s) correspond to the main sedimentary sub-basins thought to be present based on geological interpretations of shallow stratigraphy in the Jakarta Basin. The result shows that at a depth of 300 m, shear-wave velocity in the northern part (600 m/s) of the basin is lower than that in the southern part. The most prominent low velocity structure appears in the northwest of the basin, down to a depth of 800 m, with velocity as low as 1200 m/s. This very low velocity indicates the thickness of sediment and the variability of basin geometry. Waveform computation using SPECFEM2D shows that amplification due to basin geometry occurs at the basin edge and the thick sediment leads to amplification at the basin center. Computation also shows the longer shaking duration occurrs at the basin edge and center of the basin. The nest step will be validating the basin model using earthquake events

Bioavailable metals in tourist beaches of Richards Bay, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.

PubMed

Vetrimurugan, E; Jonathan, M P; Roy, Priyadarsi D; Shruti, V C; Ndwandwe, O M

2016-04-15

Acid Leachable Trace Metal (ALTMs) concentrations in tourist beaches of Richards Bay, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa were assessed. 53 surface sediment samples were collected from five different beaches (Kwambonambi Long Beach; Nhlabane Beach; Five Mile Beach; Alkanstrand Beach and Port Durnford Beach). The results of ALTMs (Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu, Ni, Co, Pb, Cd, Zn, As, Hg) suggest that they are enriched naturally and with some local industrial sources for (avg. in μgg(-1)) Fe (3530-7219), Mn (46-107.11), Cd (0.43-1.00) and Zn (48-103.98). Statistical results indicate that metal concentrations were from natural origin attributed to leaching, weathering process and industrial sources. Comparative studies of metal concentrations with sediment quality guidelines and ecotoxicological values indicate that there is no adverse biological effect. Enrichment factor and geoaccumulation indices results indicate moderate enhancement of Fe (Igeo class 1 in FMB), Cd (EF>50; Igeo classes 2-4) and Zn (Igeo classes 1 & 2). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microfacies and depositional environments of the Late Ordovician Lianglitage Formation at the Tazhong Uplift in the Tarim Basin of Northwest China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Da; Lin, Changsong; Yang, Haijun; Zuo, Fanfan; Cai, Zhenzhong; Zhang, Lijuan; Liu, Jingyan; Li, Hong

2014-04-01

The Late Ordovician Lianglitage Formation comprises 13 microfacies (Mf1-Mf13) that were deposited on a carbonate platform at the Tazhong Uplift of the Tarim Basin in Northwest China. Each type of microfacies indicates a specific depositional environment with a certain level of wave energy. Four primary groups of microfacies associations (MA1-MA4) were determined. These associations represent different depositional facies, including reef-shoal facies in the platform margin (MA1), carbonate sand shoal facies (MA2) and oncoid shoal (MA3) on open platforms, and lagoon and tidal flat facies (MA4) in the platform interior. Each microfacies association was generated in a fourth-order sedimentary sequence developing within third-order sequences (SQ1, SQ2, and SQ3, from bottom to top), showing a shallowing-upward trend. High-frequency sequences and facies correlation between wells suggests that the reef-shoal facies more successively developed in the southeastern part of the platform margin, and high-energy microfacies were more strictly confined by the top boundary of fourth-order sequences in the northwestern part of the platform. The highstand systems tract (HST) of the SQ2 is characterized by reef-shoals that developed along the platform margin and tidal flats and lagoons that developed in the platform interior, while the SQ3 is characterized by the oncoid shoal facies that generally developed on the uplift due to a regionally extensive transgression that occurred during the latter part of the Late Ordovician. The results of this study can be used for investigating the development and distribution of potential reservoirs; the reservoirs in southeastern part of the platform margin may be of premium quality because the high-energy microfacies were best preserved there.

Active intra-basin faulting in the Northern Basin of Lake Malawi from seismic reflection data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shillington, D. J.; Chindandali, P. R. N.; Scholz, C. A.; Ebinger, C. J.; Onyango, E. A.; Peterson, K.; Gaherty, J. B.; Nyblade, A.; Accardo, N. J.; McCartney, T.; Oliva, S. J.; Kamihanda, G.; Ferdinand, R.; Salima, J.; Mruma, A. H.

2016-12-01

Many questions remain about the development and evolution of fault systems in weakly extended rifts, including the relative roles of border faults and intra-basin faults, and segmentation at various scales. The northern Lake Malawi (Nyasa) rift in the East African Rift System is an early stage rift exhibiting pronounced tectonic segmentation, which is defined by 100-km-long border faults. The basins also contain a series of intrabasinal faults and associated synrift sediments. The occurrence of the 2009 Karonga Earthquake Sequence on one of these intrabasinal faults indicates that some of them are active. Here we present new multichannel seismic reflection data from the Northern Basin of the Malawi Rift collected in 2015 as a part of the SEGMeNT (Study of Extension and maGmatism in Malawi aNd Tanzania) project. This rift basin is bound on its east side by the west-dipping Livingstone border fault. Over 650 km of seismic reflection profiles were acquired in the Northern Basin using a 500 to 1540 cu in air gun array and a 1200- to 1500-m seismic streamer. Dip lines image a series of north-south oriented west-dipping intra-basin faults and basement reflections up to 5 s twtt near the border fault. Cumulative offsets on intra-basin faults decrease to the west. The largest intra-basin fault has a vertical displacement of >2 s two-way travel time, indicating that it has accommodated significant total extension. Some of these intra-basin faults offset the lake bottom and the youngest sediments by up to 50 s twtt ( 37 m), demonstrating they are still active. The two largest intra-basin faults exhibit the largest offsets of young sediments and also correspond to the area of highest seismicity based on analysis of seismic data from the 89-station SEGMeNT onshore/offshore network (see Peterson et al, this session). Fault patterns in MCS profiles vary along the basin, suggesting a smaller scale of segmentation of faults within the basin; these variations in fault patterns

Basin fill evolution and paleotectonic patterns along the Samfrau geosyncline: the Sauce Grande basin-Ventana foldbelt (Argentina) and Karoo basin-Cape foldbelt (South Africa) revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López-Gamundí, O. R.; Rossello, E. A.

As integral parts of du Toit's (1927) ``Samfrau Geosyncline'', the Sauce Grande basin-Ventana foldbelt (Argentina) and Karoo basin-Cape foldbelt (South Africa) share similar paleoclimatic, paleogeographic, and paleotectonic aspects related to the Late Paleozoic tectono-magmatic activity along the Panthalassan continental margin of Gondwanaland. Late Carboniferou-earliest Permian glacial deposits were deposited in the Sauce Grande (Sauce Grande Formation) and Karoo (Dwyka Formation) basins and Falkland-Malvinas Islands (Lafonia Formation) during an initial (sag) phase of extension. The pre-breakup position of the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands on the easternmost part of the Karoo basin (immediately east of the coast of South Africa) is supported by recent paleomagnetic data, lithofacies associations, paleoice flow directions and age similarities between the Dwyka and the Lafonia glacial sequences. The desintegration of the Gondwanan Ice Sheet (GIS) triggered widespread transgressions, reflected in the stratigraphic record by the presence of inter-basinally correlatable, open marine, fine-grained deposits (Piedra Azul Formation in the Sauce Grande basin, Prince Albert Formation in the Karoo basin and Port Sussex Formation in the Falkland Islands) capping glacial marine sediments. These early postglacial transgressive deposits, characterised by fossils of the Eurydesma fauna and Glossopteris flora, represent the maximum flooding of the basins. Cratonward foreland subsidence was triggered by the San Rafael orogeny (ca. 270 Ma) in Argentina and propogated along the Gondwanan margin. This subsidence phase generated sufficient space to accommodate thick synorogenic sequences derived from the orogenic flanks of the Sauce Grande and Karoo basins. Compositionally, the initial extensional phase of these basins was characterized by quartz-rich, craton-derived detritus and was followed by a compressional (foreland) phase characterized by a paleocurrent reversal and dominance of

Effect of basin physical characteristics on solute fluxes in nine alpine/subalpine basins, Colorado, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sueker, J.K.; Clow, D.W.; Ryan, J.N.; Jarrett, R.D.

2001-01-01

Alpine/subalpine basins may exhibit substantial variability in solute fluxes despite many apparent similarities in basin characteristics. An evaluation of controls on spatial patterns in solute fluxes may allow development of predictive tools for assessing basin sensitivity to outside perturbations such as climate change or deposition of atmospheric pollutants. Relationships between basin physical characteristics, determined from geographical information system (GIS) tools, and solute fluxes and mineral weathering rates were explored for nine alpine/subalpine basins in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, using correlation analyses for 1993 and 1994 data. Stream-water nitrate fluxes were correlated positively with basin characteristics associated with the talus environment; i.e., the fractional amounts of steep slopes (??? 30??), unvegetated terrain and young debris (primarily Holocene till) in the basins, and were correlated negatively with fractional amounts of subalpine meadow terrain. Correlations with nitrate indicate the importance of the talus environment in promoting nitrate flux and the mitigating effect of areas with established vegetation, such as subalpine meadows. Total mineral weathering rates for the basins ranged from about 300 to 600 mol ha-1 year -1. Oligoclase weathering accounted for 30 to 73% of the total mineral weathering flux, and was positively correlated with the amount of old debris (primarily Pleistocene glacial till) in the basins. Although calcite is found in trace amounts in bedrock, calcite weathering accounted for up to 44% of the total mineral weathering flux. Calcite was strongly correlated with steep slope, unvegetated terrain, and young debris-probably because physical weathering in steep-gradient areas exposes fresh mineral surfaces that contain calcite for chemical weathering. Oligoclase and calcite weathering are the dominant sources of alkalinity in the basins. However, atmospherically deposited acids consume much of the

Effect of basin physical characteristics on solute fluxes in nine alpine/subalpine basins, Colorado, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sueker, Julie K.; Clow, David W.; Ryan, Joseph N.; Jarrett, Robert D.

2001-10-01

Alpine/subalpine basins may exhibit substantial variability in solute fluxes despite many apparent similarities in basin characteristics. An evaluation of controls on spatial patterns in solute fluxes may allow development of predictive tools for assessing basin sensitivity to outside perturbations such as climate change or deposition of atmospheric pollutants. Relationships between basin physical characteristics, determined from geographical information system (GIS) tools, and solute fluxes and mineral weathering rates were explored for nine alpine/subalpine basins in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, using correlation analyses for 1993 and 1994 data. Stream-water nitrate fluxes were correlated positively with basin characteristics associated with the talus environment; i.e., the fractional amounts of steep slopes ( 30°), unvegetated terrain and young debris (primarily Holocene till) in the basins, and were correlated negatively with fractional amounts of subalpine meadow terrain. Correlations with nitrate indicate the importance of the talus environment in promoting nitrate flux and the mitigating effect of areas with established vegetation, such as subalpine meadows. Total mineral weathering rates for the basins ranged from about 300 to 600 mol ha-1 year-1. Oligoclase weathering accounted for 30 to 73% of the total mineral weathering flux, and was positively correlated with the amount of old debris (primarily Pleistocene glacial till) in the basins. Although calcite is found in trace amounts in bedrock, calcite weathering accounted for up to 44% of the total mineral weathering flux. Calcite was strongly correlated with steep slope, unvegetated terrain, and young debris - probably because physical weathering in steep-gradient areas exposes fresh mineral surfaces that contain calcite for chemical weathering. Oligoclase and calcite weathering are the dominant sources of alkalinity in the basins. However, atmospherically deposited acids consume much of the

The Impact of Entrepreneurial Competencies on Household Food Security Among Smallholder Farmers in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

PubMed

Sinyolo, Sikhulumile; Mudhara, Maxwell

2018-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of entrepreneurial competencies on food security among rural farming households in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (SA). A total of 513 rural households were randomly selected, and the descriptive results indicated that 51% of these households were food insecure, and they were somewhat negative about their entrepreneurial competencies. The estimated results indicated that entrepreneurship had a positive impact on food security. The study findings suggest that stimulating entrepreneurship through developing entrepreneurial competencies among the farming households is important for improved food security among rural households in SA.

Description of a new species of Lamellothyrea Krikken (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae) from the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)

PubMed Central

Perissinotto, Renzo

2017-01-01

Abstract Recent data and material obtained from northern KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) and Maputo Bay (Mozambique) have provided support for the description of a new species of the genus Lamellothyrea Krikken, 1980. The genus previously included only one species, L. descarpentriesi, with uncertain and poorly defined type locality, i.e. “Transvaal”. It is now evident that two different species are actually involved, L. descarpentriesi with currently known distribution limited to the coastal area north of Maputo, and L. isimangaliso sp. n. with a known distribution range virtually restricted to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal. The two species appear to be separated by a substantial discontinuity in southern Mozambique and can be easily separated on the basis of their clypeal structure, extent of white dorsal tomentum and shape of aedeagal parameres. Both species appear to be restricted to the coastal belt, with L. isimangaliso sp. n. occupying almost exclusively dune forest habitats. In this species, adult activity depends on rainfall and shows two peaks, one at the onset of summer and the second in autumn. PMID:29118591

The radioisotopically constrained Viséan onset of turbidites in the Moravian-Silesian part of the Rhenohercynian foreland basin (Central European Variscides)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jirásek, Jakub; Otava, Jiří; Matýsek, Dalibor; Sivek, Martin; Schmitz, Mark D.

2018-03-01

The Březina Formation represents the initiation of siliciclastic flysch turbidite sedimentation at the eastern margin of Bohemian Massif or within the Rhenohercynian foreland basin. Its deposition started after drowning of the Devonian carbonate platform during Viséan (Mississippian) times, resulting in a significant interval of black siliceous shale and variegated fossiliferous shale deposition in a starved basin. Near the top of the Březina Formation an acidic volcanoclastic layer (tuff) of rhyolitic composition has been dated with high precision U-Pb zircon chemical abrasion isotope dilution method at 337.73 ± 0.16 Ma. This new radiometric age correlates with the previously inferred stratigraphic age of the locality and the current calibration of the Early Carboniferous geologic time scale. Shales of the Březina Formation pass gradually upwards into the siliciclastics of the Rozstání Formation of the Drahany culm facies. Thus our new age offers one of the few available radioisotopic constraints on the time of onset of siliciclastic flysch turbidites in the Rhenohercynian foreland basin of the European Variscides.

Turn Basin Construction

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-14

Modifications are underway at the Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the arrival of the agency's massive Space Launch System (SLS) core stage aboard the barge Pegasus. A crane will be used to lift up precast concrete poles and position them to be driven to a depth of about 70 feet into the bedrock below the water around the turn basin. The upgrades are necessary to accommodate the 300,000-pound core booster aboard the modified Pegasus barge. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing the upgrades to the turn basin wharf.

Analysis of the seismic wavefield in the Moesian Platform (Bucharest area)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

-Florinela Manea, Elena; Hobiger, Manuel-Thomas; Michel, Clotaire; Fäh, Donat; -Ortanza Cioflan, Carmen

2016-04-01

Bucharest is located in the center of the Moesian platform, in a large and deep sedimentary basin (450 km long, 300 km wide and in some places up to 20 km depth). During large earthquakes generated by the Vrancea seismic zone, located approximately 140 km to the North, the ground motion recorded in Bucharest area is characterized by predominant long periods and large amplification. This phenomenon has been explained by the influence of both source mechanism (azimuth and type of incident waves) and mechanical properties of the local structure (geological layering and geometry). The main goal of our study is to better characterize and understand the seismic wave field produced by earthquakes in the area of Bucharest. We want to identify the contribution of different seismic surface waves, such as the ones produced at the edges of the large sedimentary basin or multipath interference waves (Airy phases of Love and Rayleigh waves) to the ground motion. The data from a 35 km diameter array (URS experiment) installed by the National Institute for Earth Physics during 10 months in 2003 and 2004 in the urban area of Bucharest and adjacent zones was used. In order to perform the wave field characterization of the URS array, the MUSIQUE technique was used. This technique consists in a combination of the classical MUSIC and the quaternion-MUSIC algorithms and analyzes the three-component signals of all sensors of a seismic array together in order to analyze the Love and Rayleigh wave dispersion curves as well as the Rayleigh wave ellipticity curve. The analysis includes 20 regional earthquakes with Mw >3 and 5 teleseismic events with Mw> 7 that have enough energy at low frequency (0.1 - 1 Hz), i.e. in the resolution range of the array. For all events, the greatest energy is coming from the backazimuth of the source and the wave field is dominated by Love waves. The results of the array analyses clearly indicate a significant scattering corresponding to 2D or 3D effects in the

Mapping Monthly Water Scarcity in Global Transboundary Basins at Country-Basin Mesh Based Spatial Resolution.

PubMed

Degefu, Dagmawi Mulugeta; Weijun, He; Zaiyi, Liao; Liang, Yuan; Zhengwei, Huang; Min, An

2018-02-01

Currently fresh water scarcity is an issue with huge socio-economic and environmental impacts. Transboundary river and lake basins are among the sources of fresh water facing this challenge. Previous studies measured blue water scarcity at different spatial and temporal resolutions. But there is no global water availability and footprint assessment done at country-basin mesh based spatial and monthly temporal resolutions. In this study we assessed water scarcity at these spatial and temporal resolutions. Our results showed that around 1.6 billion people living within the 328 country-basin units out of the 560 we assessed in this study endures severe water scarcity at least for a month within the year. In addition, 175 country-basin units goes through severe water scarcity for 3-12 months in the year. These sub-basins include nearly a billion people. Generally, the results of this study provide insights regarding the number of people and country-basin units experiencing low, moderate, significant and severe water scarcity at a monthly temporal resolution. These insights might help these basins' sharing countries to design and implement sustainable water management and sharing schemes.

The vacuum platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNab, A.

2017-10-01

This paper describes GridPP’s Vacuum Platform for managing virtual machines (VMs), which has been used to run production workloads for WLCG and other HEP experiments. The platform provides a uniform interface between VMs and the sites they run at, whether the site is organised as an Infrastructure-as-a-Service cloud system such as OpenStack, or an Infrastructure-as-a-Client system such as Vac. The paper describes our experience in using this platform, in developing and operating VM lifecycle managers Vac and Vcycle, and in interacting with VMs provided by LHCb, ATLAS, ALICE, CMS, and the GridPP DIRAC service to run production workloads.

Assignment tests, telemetry and tag-recapture data converge to identify natal origins of leatherback turtles foraging in Atlantic Canadian waters.

PubMed

Stewart, Kelly R; James, Michael C; Roden, Suzanne; Dutton, Peter H

2013-07-01

Investigating migratory connectivity between breeding and foraging areas is critical to effective management and conservation of highly mobile marine taxa, particularly threatened, endangered, or economically important species that cross through regional, national and international boundaries. The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea, Vandelli 1761) is one such transboundary species that spends time at breeding areas at low latitudes in the northwest Atlantic during spring and summer. From there, they migrate widely throughout the North Atlantic, but many show fidelity to one region off eastern Canada, where critical foraging habitat has been proposed. Our goal was to identify nesting beach origins for turtles foraging here. Using genetics, we identified natal beaches for 288 turtles that were live-captured off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Turtles were sampled (skin or blood) and genotyped using 17 polymorphic microsatellite markers. Results from three assignment testing programs (ONCOR, GeneClass2 and Structure) were compared. Our nesting population reference data set included 1417 individuals from nine Atlantic nesting assemblages. A supplementary data set for 83 foraging turtles traced to nesting beaches using flipper tags and/or PIT tags (n = 72), or inferred from satellite telemetry (n = 11), enabled ground-truthing of the assignments. We first assigned turtles using only genetic information and then used the supplementary recapture information to verify assignments. ONCOR performed best, assigning 64 of the 83 recaptured turtles to natal beaches (77·1%). Turtles assigned to Trinidad (164), French Guiana (72), Costa Rica (44), St. Croix (7), and Florida (1) reflect the relative size of those nesting populations, although none of the turtles were assigned to four other potential source nesting assemblages. Our results demonstrate the utility of genetic approaches for determining source populations of foraging marine animals and include the first

Great Basin Experimental Range: Annotated bibliography

Treesearch

E. Durant McArthur; Bryce A. Richardson; Stanley G. Kitchen

2013-01-01

This annotated bibliography documents the research that has been conducted on the Great Basin Experimental Range (GBER, also known as the Utah Experiment Station, Great Basin Station, the Great Basin Branch Experiment Station, Great Basin Experimental Center, and other similar name variants) over the 102 years of its existence. Entries were drawn from the original...

Thermal regimes of Malaysian sedimentary basins

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

Abdul Halim, M.F.

1994-07-01

Properly corrected and calibrated thermal data are important in estimating source-rock maturation, diagenetics, evolution of reservoirs, pressure regimes, and hydrodynamics. Geothermal gradient, thermal conductivity, and heat flow have been determined for the sedimentary succession penetrated by exploratory wells in Malaysia. Geothermal gradient and heat-flow maps show that the highest average values are in the Malay Basin. The values in the Sarawak basin are intermediate between those of the Malay basin and the Sabah Basin, which contains the lowest average values. Temperature data were analyzed from more than 400 wells. An important parameter that was studied in detail is the circulationmore » time. The correct circulation time is essential in determining the correct geothermal gradient of a well. It was found that the most suitable circulation time for the Sabah Basin is 20 hr, 30 hr for the Sarawak Basin and 40 hr for the Malay Basin. Values of thermal conductivity, determined from measurement and calibrated calculations, were grouped according to depositional units and cycles in each basin.« less

Platform C South Arrival

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-08-04

A heavy load transport truck from Tillett Heavy Hauling in Titusville, Florida, arrives at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying a section of the first half of the C-level work platforms, C south, for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The platform will be delivered to the VAB staging area in the west parking lot. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing.

Remote platform power conserving system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurvin, C. W. (Inventor)

1974-01-01

A system is described where an unattended receiver and transmitter equipped data collection platform is interrogated by a substantially polar orbiting satellite. The method and apparatus involve physically representing the orbit of the satellite and the spin of the planetary body with timers, and using these representations to turn on the platform's receiver only when the satellite should be in radio range of the platform, whereby battery power at the platform is conserved.

Frequency and sources of basin floor turbidites in alfonso basin, Gulf of California, Mexico: Products of slope failures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez-Yajimovich, Oscar E.; Gorsline, Donn S.; Douglas, Robert G.

2007-07-01

Alfonso Basin is a small margin basin formed by extensional tectonics in the actively rifting, seismically active Gulf of California. The basin is centered at 24°40' N and 110° 38' W, and is a closed depression (maximum depth 420 m) with an effective sill depth of about 320 m (deepest sill), a width of 20 km and length of 25 km. Basin floor area below a depth of 350 m is about 260 km 2. The climate is arid to semiarid but was wetter during the early (ca. 10,000-7000 Calendar years Before Present [BP]) and middle Holocene (ca. 7000-4000 Cal. Years BP). Basin-wide turbidity currents reach the floor of Alfonso Basin at centennial to millennial intervals. The peninsular drainages tributary to the basin are small and have maximum flood discharges of the order of 10 4m 3. The basin-floor turbidites thicker than 1 cm have volumes of the order of 10 6m 3 to 10 8m 3 and require a much larger source. The largest turbidite seen in our cores is ca. 1 m thick in the central basin floor and was deposited 4900 Calendar Years Before Present (BP). Two smaller major events occurred about 1500 and 2800 Cal. Years BP. Seismicity over the past century of record shows a clustering of larger epicenters along faults forming the eastern Gulf side of Alfonso Basin. In that period there have been four earthquakes with magnitudes above 7.0 but all are distant from the basin. Frequency of such earthquakes in the basin vicinity is probably millennial. It is concluded that the basin-wide turbidites thicker than 1 cm must be generated by slope failures on the eastern side of the basin at roughly millennial intervals. The thin flood turbidites have a peninsular source at centennial frequencies.

Intra- and inter-basin mercury comparisons: Importance of basin scale and time-weighted methylmercury estimates

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bradley, Paul M.; Journey, Celeste A.; Bringham, Mark E.; Burns, Douglas A.; Button, Daniel T.; Riva-Murray, Karen

2013-01-01

To assess inter-comparability of fluvial mercury (Hg) observations at substantially different scales, Hg concentrations, yields, and bivariate-relations were evaluated at nested-basin locations in the Edisto River, South Carolina and Hudson River, New York. Differences between scales were observed for filtered methylmercury (FMeHg) in the Edisto (attributed to wetland coverage differences) but not in the Hudson. Total mercury (THg) concentrations and bivariate-relationships did not vary substantially with scale in either basin. Combining results of this and a previously published multi-basin study, fish Hg correlated strongly with sampled water FMeHg concentration (p = 0.78; p = 0.003) and annual FMeHg basin yield (p = 0.66; p = 0.026). Improved correlation (p = 0.88; p < 0.0001) was achieved with time-weighted mean annual FMeHg concentrations estimated from basin-specific LOADEST models and daily streamflow. Results suggest reasonable scalability and inter-comparability for different basin sizes if wetland area or related MeHg-source-area metrics are considered.

Analysis of the seismic wavefield in the Moesian Platform (Bucharest area) for hazard assessment purposes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manea, Elena Florinela; Michel, Clotaire; Hobiger, Manuel; Fäh, Donat; Cioflan, Carmen Ortanza; Radulian, Mircea

2017-09-01

During large earthquakes generated at intermediate depth in the Vrancea seismic zone, the ground motion recorded in Bucharest (Romania) is characterized by predominant long periods with strong amplification. Time-frequency analysis highlights the generation of low frequency surface waves (<1 Hz) for sufficiently strong and superficial events. This phenomenon has been explained by the influence of both source mechanism (radiation pattern, directivity effects) and mechanical properties of the local geological structure (geological layering and geometry). The main goal of our study is to better characterize and understand the seismic wavefield produced by earthquakes in the area of Bucharest, taking into account its location in the centre of the Moesian Platform, a large sedimentary basin (450 km long, 300 km wide and up to 20 km deep). To this aim, we identify the contribution of different seismic surface waves, such as the ones produced at the edges of this large sedimentary basin or multipath interference waves (Airy phases of Love and Rayleigh waves), on ground motion. The data from a 35 km diameter array (URS experiment) were used. The array was installed by the National Institute for Earth Physics in cooperation with the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology and operated during 10 months in 2003 and 2004 in the urban area of Bucharest and adjacent zones. The earthquake wavefield recorded by the URS array was analysed using the MUSIQUE technique. This technique analyses the three-component signals of all sensors of a seismic array together. The analysis includes 19 earthquakes with epicentral distances from 100 to 1560 km and with various backazimuths with enough energy at low frequencies (0.1-1 Hz), within the resolution range of the array. For all events, the largest portion of energy is arriving from the source direction and the wavefield is dominated by Love waves. The results of the array analyses clearly indicate a significant scattering corresponding to 2-D

Imaging the mantle tranzition zone beneath the South American platform using P- and S-wave receiver functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bianchi, M.; Heit, B.; Yuan, X.; Assumpcao, M.; Kind, R.

2009-04-01

While the Andean cordillera grab most of the seismological attention due to it's active tectonics, the stable platform is of mainly importance in understanding what could be considered the normal, out of anomaly earth and, may help to understand what are the final and long term results from such a dynamic process like subduction and other types of convergent and divergent plate boundaries interaction. During the last 15 year the Brazilian Lithospheric Seismological Project (BLSP) has been operating more than 60 temporary three-component broadband seismological stations, collecting seismological data mainly in the Brazilian part of the platform. The stations are mainly distributed from 35°W to 60°W and from 10°S to 25°S, covering most of the Parana basin, Tocantins fold beld, Ribeira fold belt and the San Francisco craton. Beyond this central region, there are still some stations distributed over the northern Brazilian margin, covering parts of the Amazon craton and the Parnaiba basin. To complement our dataset we use data from the GT/CPUP station (Vila Florinda/PY FDSN/IRIS). The processing steps included event selection, rotation to LQT coordinate system using an automatic algorithm based on diagonalization of the coherence matrix (for P-wave receiver function only) and deconvolution of the Q by L component for P-wave receiver function and L by Q for S-wave receiver function. The profile images were made by stacking the resulted receiver functions by piercing points locations following pre-defined lines crossing the main tectonic units. At each profile we highlighted the desired Ps and Sp conversion phase for each of the discontinuities and its time readings and errors were estimated by bootstrapping the traces during the stacking procedure. For drawing the conclusions we compared the times each other and with theoretical times computed from the IASPEI91 model and models that presented a ± 5% change in the P- and S-wave mantle velocities. The most important

Diagnosis of the hydrology of a small Arctic basin at the tundra-taiga transition using a physically based hydrological model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krogh, Sebastian A.; Pomeroy, John W.; Marsh, Philip

2017-07-01

A better understanding of cold regions hydrological processes and regimes in transitional environments is critical for predicting future Arctic freshwater fluxes under climate and vegetation change. A physically based hydrological model using the Cold Regions Hydrological Model platform was created for a small Arctic basin in the tundra-taiga transition region. The model represents snow redistribution and sublimation by wind and vegetation, snowmelt energy budget, evapotranspiration, subsurface flow through organic terrain, infiltration to frozen soils, freezing and thawing of soils, permafrost and streamflow routing. The model was used to reconstruct the basin water cycle over 28 years to understand and quantify the mass fluxes controlling its hydrological regime. Model structure and parameters were set from the current understanding of Arctic hydrology, remote sensing, field research in the basin and region, and calibration against streamflow observations. Calibration was restricted to subsurface hydraulic and storage parameters. Multi-objective evaluation of the model using observed streamflow, snow accumulation and ground freeze/thaw state showed adequate simulation. Significant spatial variability in the winter mass fluxes was found between tundra, shrubs and forested sites, particularly due to the substantial blowing snow redistribution and sublimation from the wind-swept upper basin, as well as sublimation of canopy intercepted snow from the forest (about 17% of snowfall). At the basin scale, the model showed that evapotranspiration is the largest loss of water (47%), followed by streamflow (39%) and sublimation (14%). The models streamflow performance sensitivity to a set of parameter was analysed, as well as the mean annual mass balance uncertainty associated with these parameters.

An investigation into the level of empowerment of rural women in the Zululand district of KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

PubMed

Bhengu, B R

2010-06-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate the outcome of the empowerment of rural women in relation to gender issues, power, and communication within the Zululand District of KwaZulu-Natal in SouthAfrica after implementation of a four-year Primary Health Care project in partnership with the Provincial Department of Health, and two Schools of Nursing at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and McMaster University in Canada. This project is based on substantial evidence which reveals that rural women are being neglected to the extent that these women have missed out on opportunities for development. The reasons for this disempowerment of women, particularly rural women, are thought to be due to the feminisation of poverty, as well as female submission, educational deprivation, privacy of domestic violence, exploitation, domination by men and cultural oppression (patriarchy). A qualitative research approach was used. Focus group discussion was utilised as the data collection technique, and this was also applied during the collection of baseline data. An interview guide covered issues of concern in the communities and households, including what the women would, or had done about these, how they engaged in decision-making in their families, how they handled situations when there was a difference of opinion, and their awareness of, and ability to claim their rights, including control of their lives. The data was collected from six clinics, from groups of six to ten women in the predominantly rural Zululand District of KwaZulu-Natal. The project has revealed improvement in the women's realisation of their rights, albeit limited, in communication, self-confidence, and reliance, including partnerships between Primary Health Care Nurses and women's groups. The formation of women's groups facilitated community development and participation in their own health, socio-economic and emotional development. The project suggests that such groups be encouraged and allowed to network for

Watershed prioritization in the upper Han River basin for soil and water conservation in the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (middle route) of China.

PubMed

Wu, Haibing

2018-01-01

Watershed prioritization with the objective of identifying critical areas to undertake soil and water conservation measures was conducted in the upper Han River basin, the water source area of approximately 95,000 km 2 for the middle route of China's South-to-North Water Transfer Project. Based on the estimated soil erosion intensity in uplands and clustering analysis of measured nutrient concentrations in rivers, the basin was grouped into very-high-, high-, moderate-, and low-priority regions for water and soil conservation, respectively. The results indicated that soil erosion was primarily controlled by topography, and nutrients in rivers were associated with land use and land cover in uplands. Also, there was large spatial disparity between soil erosion intensity in the uplands and nutrient concentrations in the rivers across the basin. Analysis was then performed to prioritize the basin by the integration of the soil erosion intensity and water quality on a GIS platform in order to identify critical areas for water and soil conservation in the basin. The identified high-priority regions which occupy 5.74% of the drainage areas need immediate attention for soil and water conservation treatments, of which 5.28% is critical for soil erosion prevention and 0.46% for water conservation. Understandings of the basin environment and pollutant loading with spatial explicit are critical to the soil and water resource conservation for the interbasin water transfer project.

Constraining Basin Depth and Fault Displacement in the Malombe Basin Using Potential Field Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beresh, S. C. M.; Elifritz, E. A.; Méndez, K.; Johnson, S.; Mynatt, W. G.; Mayle, M.; Atekwana, E. A.; Laó-Dávila, D. A.; Chindandali, P. R. N.; Chisenga, C.; Gondwe, S.; Mkumbwa, M.; Kalaguluka, D.; Kalindekafe, L.; Salima, J.

2017-12-01

The Malombe Basin is part of the Malawi Rift which forms the southern part of the Western Branch of the East African Rift System. At its southern end, the Malawi Rift bifurcates into the Bilila-Mtakataka and Chirobwe-Ntcheu fault systems and the Lake Malombe Rift Basin around the Shire Horst, a competent block under the Nankumba Peninsula. The Malombe Basin is approximately 70km from north to south and 35km at its widest point from east to west, bounded by reversing-polarity border faults. We aim to constrain the depth of the basin to better understand displacement of each border fault. Our work utilizes two east-west gravity profiles across the basin coupled with Source Parameter Imaging (SPI) derived from a high-resolution aeromagnetic survey. The first gravity profile was done across the northern portion of the basin and the second across the southern portion. Gravity and magnetic data will be used to constrain basement depths and the thickness of the sedimentary cover. Additionally, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data is used to understand the topographic expression of the fault scarps. Estimates for minimum displacement of the border faults on either side of the basin were made by adding the elevation of the scarps to the deepest SPI basement estimates at the basin borders. Our preliminary results using SPI and SRTM data show a minimum displacement of approximately 1.3km for the western border fault; the minimum displacement for the eastern border fault is 740m. However, SPI merely shows the depth to the first significantly magnetic layer in the subsurface, which may or may not be the actual basement layer. Gravimetric readings are based on subsurface density and thus circumvent issues arising from magnetic layers located above the basement; therefore expected results for our work will be to constrain more accurate basin depth by integrating the gravity profiles. Through more accurate basement depth estimates we also gain more accurate displacement

Three-dimensional modeling of pull-apart basins: implications for the tectonics of the Dead Sea Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Katzman, Rafael; ten Brink, Uri S.; Lin, Jian

1995-01-01

We model the three-dimensional (3-D) crustal deformation in a deep pull-apart basin as a result of relative plate motion along a transform system and compare the results to the tectonics of the Dead Sea Basin. The brittle upper crust is modeled by a boundary element technique as an elastic block, broken by two en echelon semi-infinite vertical faults. The deformation is caused by a horizontal displacement that is imposed everywhere at the bottom of the block except in a stress-free “shear zone” in the vicinity of the fault zone. The bottom displacement represents the regional relative plate motion. Results show that the basin deformation depends critically on the width of the shear zone and on the amount of overlap between basin-bounding faults. As the width of the shear zone increases, the depth of the basin decreases, the rotation around a vertical axis near the fault tips decreases, and the basin shape (the distribution of subsidence normalized by the maximum subsidence) becomes broader. In contrast, two-dimensional plane stress modeling predicts a basin shape that is independent of the width of the shear zone. Our models also predict full-graben profiles within the overlapped region between bounding faults and half-graben shapes elsewhere. Increasing overlap also decreases uplift near the fault tips and rotation of blocks within the basin. We suggest that the observed structure of the Dead Sea Basin can be described by a 3-D model having a large overlap (more than 30 km) that probably increased as the basin evolved as a result of a stable shear motion that was distributed laterally over 20 to 40 km.

Cross-platform learning: on the nature of children's learning from multiple media platforms.

PubMed

Fisch, Shalom M

2013-01-01

It is increasingly common for an educational media project to span several media platforms (e.g., TV, Web, hands-on materials), assuming that the benefits of learning from multiple media extend beyond those gained from one medium alone. Yet research typically has investigated learning from a single medium in isolation. This paper reviews several recent studies to explore cross-platform learning (i.e., learning from combined use of multiple media platforms) and how such learning compares to learning from one medium. The paper discusses unique benefits of cross-platform learning, a theoretical mechanism to explain how these benefits might arise, and questions for future research in this emerging field. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Turn Basin Construction

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-14

Modifications are underway at the Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the arrival of the agency's massive Space Launch System (SLS) core stage aboard the barge Pegasus. Equipment is staged and a crane will be used to lift up precast concrete poles and position them to be driven to a depth of about 70 feet into the bedrock below the water around the turn basin. The upgrades are necessary to accommodate the increased weight of the core stage along with ground support and transportation equipment aboard the modified barge Pegasus. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing the upgrades to the turn basin wharf.

Turn Basin Construction

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-14

Modifications are underway at the Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the arrival of the agency's massive Space Launch System (SLS) core stage aboard the barge Pegasus. A crane will be used to lift up precast concrete poles and position them to be driven to a depth of about 70 feet into the bedrock below the water around the turn basin. The upgrades are necessary to accommodate the increased weight of the core stage along with ground support and transportation equipment aboard the modified barge Pegasus. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing the upgrades to the turn basin wharf.

Pre-natal diagnosis of thalassaemia in Sri Lanka: A ten year review.

PubMed

Nanayakkara, Kalinga Khemal; Rodrigo, Undugodage Ganganath; Perera, Kuda Liyanage Nandika; Nanayakkara, Chinthani Deepthi

2017-10-01

Thalassaemia is the commonest monogenic disease in Sri Lanka, affecting over 3500 children and half-a-million thalassaemia carriers. This is a review of 82 amniocenteses performed from 2006 to 2016, in the largest prenatal diagnoses study for thalassaemia carried out in Sri Lanka. Amniocenteses were performed between 11 and 12 weeks of ultrasonically confirmed gestation, on mothers with previous thalassaemia major children pregnant for the second time and nulliparous thalassaemia trait women married to trait partners. The Consultant Radiologist, using local analgesia, under ultrasound cover, performed these as an outpatient procedure, at the Teaching Hospital Kandy & Suwasevana Hospital Kandy. The amniotic fluid was analysed by the team of Senior Geneticists, at the Genetech Molecular Diagnostics and School of Gene Technology, Colombo, via the polymerase-chain-reaction based ARMS (Amplification Refractory Mutation Systems) assay. The genetic results indicated the presence of 21% thalassaemia major foetuses, 53% thalassaemia traits and 26% foetuses without thalassaemia mutations. The predominance of the IVS1-5(G-C) mutation in the Sri Lankan population is exemplified, with a low prevalence of HbE thalassaemia. Impact statement Thalassaemia is the commonest monogenic disease in Sri Lanka affecting over 3500 children and half-a-million thalassaemia carriers. Although pre-natal diagnosis by amniocentesis was practised universally for many years, this could not be performed in Sri Lanka as genetic diagnostic facilities were not available until 2005. Therefore, parents with a thalassaemia major child limited their families to one child, by choice or by termination. The results of this study point to a 21% probability of thalassaemia major in the next child, giving the parents a guarded optimism to conceive another child without thalassaemia disease. With siblings being the highest HLA compatibility for Bone Marrow Transplant, that is now being established in Sri Lanka

Laramide basin CSI: Comprehensive stratigraphic investigations of Paleogene sediments in the Colorado Headwaters Basin, north-central Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dechesne, Marieke; Cole, James Channing; Trexler, James H.; Cashman, Patricia; Peterson, Christopher D

2013-01-01

The Paleogene sedimentary deposits of the Colorado Headwaters Basin provide a detailed proxy record of regional deformation and basin subsidence during the Laramide orogeny in north-central Colorado and southern Wyoming. This field trip presents extensive evidence from sedimentology, stratigraphy, structure, palynology, and isotope geochronology that shows a complex history that is markedly different from other Laramide synorogenic basins in the vicinity.We show that the basin area was deformed by faulting and folding before, during, and after deposition of the Paleogene rocks. Internal unconformities have been identified that further reflect the interaction of deformation, subsidence, and sedimentation. Uplift of Proterozoic basement blocks that make up the surrounding mountain ranges today occurred late in basin history. Evidence is given to reinterpret the Independence Mountain uplift as the result of significant normal faulting (not thrusting), probably in middle Tertiary time.While the Denver and Cheyenne Basins to the east were subsiding and accumulating sediment during Late Cretaceous time, the Colorado Headwaters Basin region was experiencing vertical uplift and erosion. At least 1200 m of the upper part of the marine Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale was regionally removed, along with Fox Hills Sandstone shoreline deposits of the receding Interior Seaway as well as any Laramie Formation–type continental deposits. Subsidence did not begin in the Colorado Headwaters Basin until after 60.5 Ma, when coarse, chaotic, debris-flow deposits of the Paleocene Windy Gap Volcanic Member of the Middle Park Formation began to accumulate along the southern basin margin. These volcaniclastic conglomerate deposits were derived from local, mafic-alkalic volcanic sources (and transitory deposits in the drainage basin), and were rapidly transported into a deep lake system by sediment gravity currents. The southern part of the basin subsided rapidly (roughly 750–1000 m

Seismic Characterization of the Terrebonne Mini-basin, a Hydrate Rich Depositional System in the Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dafov, L. N.; Eze, P. C.; Haines, S. S.; Graham, S. A.; McHargue, T.; Hosford Scheirer, A.

2017-12-01

Basin depositional system and basin fill dynamics will inform a 3D basin and petroleum system model through time. The Earth model may serve as a platform within which future lab and production test findings can be integrated.

Platform C South Arrival

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-08-04

A heavy load transport truck from Tillett Heavy Hauling in Titusville, Florida, arrives at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying a section of the first half of the C-level work platforms, C South, for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The platform is being lifted and transferred onto support stands in the VAB staging area in the west parking lot. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing.

Platform C South Arrival

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-08-05

A heavy load transport truck from Tillett Heavy Hauling in Titusville, Florida, arrives at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the second section of the first half of the C-level work platforms, C South, for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The platform will be offloaded in the VAB staging area in the west parking lot. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing.

Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Permian-Triassic extension event in the Zagros basin (Iran): results from analogue modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madani-kivi, M.; Zulauf, G.

2015-12-01

Since the 1970s, the largest oil and gas reservoirs have been discovered in the Permian-Early Triassic formationsin Saudi Arabia. Thus, this time period is important for the discovery of new oil reserves in Iran. The Arabian passivecontinental margin has undergone lithospheric extension during the Permian-Triassic, which led to the formation of theNeo-Tethys. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of the continental rift basin in the Zagros region basedon the tectono-sedimentological evolution. We have studied well-log data to specify the distribution of synrift depositsin the Zagros and have related this information to the modelling. Environmental changes indicated by various sedimentarysequences, from a siliciclastic basin to a carbonate platform setting, are described. The Cambrian Hormuz salt, whichoverlies the metamorphosed Precambrian basement, becomes effective as a basal detachment layer influencing the styleof overburden deformation during the Permian-Triassic extension event. We have investigated the formation of variousstructures linked to the presence or absence of the Hormuz layer by analogue modelling and relating these structures to theLate Palaeozoic sedimentation. Based on results of the analogue modelling, we argue that the basal detachment layer (Hormuzseries) has contributed to the various structural styles of the extensional basin development in the Fars domain and theLorestan domain.

Stratigraphy of the Caloris Basin, Mercury: Implications for Volcanic History and Basin Impact Melt

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ernst, Carolyn M.; Denevi, Brett W.; Barnouin, Olivier S.; Klimczak, Christian; Chabot, Nancy L.; Head, James W.; Murchie, Scott L.; Neumann, Gregory A.; Prockter, Louis M.; Robinson, Mark S.;

Tectonic setting of Cretaceous basins on the NE Tibetan Plateau: Insights from the Jungong basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Craddock, W.H.; Kirby, E.; Dewen, Z.; Jianhui, L.

2012-01-01

Quantifying the Cenozoic growth of high topography in the Indo-Asian collision zone remains challenging, due in part to significant shortening that occurred within Eurasia before collision. A growing body of evidence suggests that regions far removed from the suture zone experienced deformation before and during the early phases of Himalayan orogenesis. In the present-day north-eastern Tibetan Plateau, widespread deposits of Cretaceous sediment attest to significant basin formation; however, the tectonic setting of these basins remains enigmatic. We present a study of a regionally extensive network of sedimentary basins that are spatially associated with a system of SE-vergent thrust faults and are now exposed in the high ranges of the north-eastern corner of the Tibetan Plateau. We focus on a particularly well-exposed basin, located ~20km north of the Kunlun fault in the Anyemaqen Shan. The basin is filled by ~900m of alluvial sediments that become finer-grained away from the basin-bounding fault. Additionally, beds in the proximal footwall of the basin-bounding fault exhibit progressive, up-section shallowing and several intraformational unconformities which can be traced into correlative conformities in the distal part of the basin. The observations show sediment accumulated in the basin during fault motion. Regional constraints on the timing of sediment deposition are provided by both fossil assemblages from the Early Cretaceous, and by K-Ar dating of volcanic rocks that floor and cross-cut sedimentary fill. We argue that during the Cretaceous, the interior NE Tibetan Plateau experienced NW-SE contractional deformation similar to that documented throughout the Qinling-Dabie orogen to the east. The Songpan-Ganzi terrane apparently marked the southern limit of this deformation, such that it may have been a relatively rigid block in the Tibetan lithosphere, separating regions experiencing deformation north of the convergent Tethyan margin from regions deforming

Carbonate Channel-Levee Systems Influenced by Mass-Transport Deposition, Browse Basin, Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunlap, D.; Janson, X.; Sanchez-Phelps, C.; Covault, J. A.

2017-12-01

Submarine channels are primary conduits for clastic sediment transport to deep-water basins, thereby controlling the location of marine depocenters and sediment bypass. The evolution and depositional character of submarine channels have broad implications to sediment dispersal, sediment quality, and hydrocarbon exploration potential. Siliciclastic channel systems have been extensively studied in modern environments, seismic and outcrop; however, carbonate channel-levee deposits have only recently been explored. Here we utilize newly released high-resolution (90 Hz) seismic-reflection data from the Australian Browse Basin to document the influence of mass-transport complex (MTC) deposition on the stratigraphic architecture of carbonate channel-levee systems. The 2014 vintage seismic survey is 2500 km2 and hosts numerous large Miocene-age carbonate channel-levee complexes basinward of the shelf edge. Regional horizons and individual channel forms were mapped. Channels range from 200-300 m wide and are bounded by high-relief levee-overbank wedges (>100 ms TWTT). These channels extend across the survey area >70 km. The leveed-channels were sourced from middle and late Miocene slope gullies linked to platform carbonates. Slope-attached and locally derived MTC's are evident throughout the Miocene section likely related to periods of basin inversion and shelf-edge gully incision. We interpret that regionally extensive (>1000 km2) slope-attached MTC's can shut down a channel-levee system and trigger the initiation of a new system, whereas more locally derived (<100 km2) MTC's can promote changes in channel map-view pattern, including avulsion in some cases. The stratigraphic architectures of the carbonate channel-levee systems and their interactions with MTC's are similar to siliciclastic analogs. The similarity in stratigraphic patterns between siliciclastic and carbonate depositional systems suggests similar formative processes related to submarine mass wasting and

HIV/AIDS, growth and poverty in KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa: an integrated survey, demographic and economy-wide analysis

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background This paper estimates the economic impact of HIV/AIDS on the KwaZulu-Natal province and the rest of South Africa. Methods We extended previous studies by employing: an integrated analytical framework that combined firm surveys of workers' HIV prevalence by sector and occupation; a demographic model that produced both population and workforce projections; and a regionalized economy-wide model linked to a survey-based micro-simulation module. This framework permits a full macro-microeconomic assessment. Results Results indicate that HIV/AIDS greatly reduces annual economic growth, mainly by lowering the long-run rate of technical change. However, impacts on income poverty are small, and inequality is reduced by HIV/AIDS. This is because high unemployment among low-income households minimises the economic costs of increased mortality. By contrast, slower economic growth hurts higher income households despite lower HIV prevalence. Conclusion We conclude that the increase in economic growth that results from addressing HIV/AIDS is sufficient to offset the population pressure placed on income poverty. Moreover, incentives to mitigate HIV/AIDS lie not only with poorer infected households, but also with uninfected higher income households. Our findings reveal the substantial burden that HIV/AIDS places on future economic development in KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa, and confirms the need for policies to curb the economic costs of the pandemic. PMID:19758444

Species and life-history affects the utility of otolith chemical composition to determine natal stream-of-origin in Pacific salmon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zimmerman, Christian E.; Swanson, Heidi K.; Volk, Eric C.; Kent, Adam J.R.

2013-01-01

To test the utility of otolith chemical composition as a tool for determining the natal stream of origin for salmon, we examined water chemistry and otoliths of juvenile and adult Chum Salmon Oncorhynchus keta and Coho Salmon O. kisutch from three watersheds (five rivers) in the Norton Sound region of Alaska. The two species are characterized by different life histories: Coho Salmon rear in freshwater for up to 3 years, whereas Chum Salmon emigrate from freshwater shortly after emergence. We used laser ablation (LA) inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry (MS) to quantify element: Ca ratios for Mg, Mn, Zn, Sr, and Ba, and we used multicollector LA-ICP-MS to determine 87Sr:86Sr ratios in otolith regions corresponding to the period of freshwater residence. Significant differences existed in both water and otolith elemental composition, suggesting that otolith composition could be used to discriminate the natal origin of Coho Salmon and Chum Salmon but only when 87Sr:86Sr ratios were included in the discriminant function analyses. The best discriminant model included 87Sr:86Sr ratios, and without 87Sr:86Sr ratios it was difficult to discriminate among watersheds and rivers. Classification accuracy was 80% for Coho Salmon and 68% for Chum Salmon, indicating that this method does not provide sufficient sensitivity to estimate straying rates of Pacific salmon at the scale we studied.

The Impact of Gender, Socioeconomic Status and Home Language on Primary School Children’s Reading Comprehension in KwaZulu-Natal

PubMed Central

Völkel, Gabriela; Seabi, Joseph; Cockcroft, Kate; Goldschagg, Paul

2016-01-01

The current study constituted part of a larger, longitudinal, South African-based study, namely, The Road and Aircraft Noise Exposure on Children’s Cognition and Health (RANCH—South Africa). In the context of a multicultural South Africa and varying demographic variables thereof, this study sought to investigate and describe the effects of gender, socioeconomic status and home language on primary school children’s reading comprehension in KwaZulu-Natal. In total, 834 learners across 5 public schools in the KwaZulu-Natal province participated in the study. A biographical questionnaire was used to obtain biographical data relevant to this study, and the Suffolk Reading Scale 2 (SRS2) was used to obtain reading comprehension scores. The findings revealed that there was no statistical difference between males and females on reading comprehension scores. In terms of socioeconomic status (SES), learners from a low socioeconomic background performed significantly better than those from a high socioeconomic background. English as a First Language (EL1) speakers had a higher mean reading comprehension score than speakers who spoke English as an Additional Language (EAL). Reading comprehension is indeed affected by a variety of variables, most notably that of language proficiency. The tool to measure reading comprehension needs to be standardized and administered in more than one language, which will ensure increased reliability and validity of reading comprehension scores. PMID:26999169

BASINS Tutorials and Training

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

A series of lectures and exercises on how to use BASINS for water quality modeling and watershed assessment. The lectures follow sequentially. Companion exercises are provided for users to practice different BASINS water quality modeling techniques.

Refined modeling of Seattle basin amplification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vidale, J. E.; Wirth, E. A.; Frankel, A. D.; Baker, B.; Thompson, M.; Han, J.; Nasser, M.; Stephenson, W. J.

2016-12-01

The Seattle Basin has long been recognized to modulate shaking in western Washington earthquakes (e.g., Frankel, 2007 USGS OFR). The amplification of shaking in such deep sedimentary basins is a challenge to estimate and incorporate into mitigation plans. This project aims to (1) study the influence of basin edges on trapping and amplifying seismic waves, and (2) using the latest earthquake data to refine our models of basin structure. To interrogate the influence of basin edges on ground motion, we use the numerical codes SpecFEM3D and Disfd (finite-difference code from Pengcheng Liu), and an update of the basin model of Stephenson et al. (2007), to calculate synthetic ground motions at frequencies up to 1 Hz. The figure below, for example, shows the amplification relative to a simple 1/r amplitude decay for four sources around of the Seattle Basin (red dots), with an EW-striking 45°-dipping thrust mechanism at 10 km depth. We test the difficulty of simulating motions in the presence of slow materials near the basin edge. Running SpecFEM3D with attenuation is about a third as fast as the finite difference code, and cannot represent sub-element structure (e.g., slow surficial materials) in comparable detail to the finer FD grid, but has the advantages of being able to incorporate topography and water. Modeling 1 Hz energy in the presence of shear wave velocities with a floor of 600 m/s, factor of 2 to 3 velocity contrasts, and sharp basin edges is fraught, both in calculating synthetics and estimating real structure. We plan to incorporate interpretations of local recordings including basin-bottom S-to-P conversions, noise-correlation waveforms, and teleseismic-P-wave reverberations to refine the basin model. Our long-term goal is to reassess with greater accuracy and resolution the spatial pattern of hazard across the Seattle Basin, which includes several quite vulnerable neighborhoods.

National Community Solar Platform

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

Rupert, Bart

This project was created to provide a National Community Solar Platform (NCSP) portal known as Community Solar Hub, that is available to any entity or individual who wants to develop community solar. This has been done by providing a comprehensive portal to make CEC’s solutions, and other proven community solar solutions, externally available for everyone to access – making the process easy through proven platforms to protect subscribers, developers and utilities. The successful completion of this project provides these tools via a web platform and integration APIs, a wide spectrum of community solar projects included in the platform, multiple groupsmore » of customers (utilities, EPCs, and advocates) using the platform to develop community solar, and open access to anyone interested in community solar. CEC’s Incubator project includes web-based informational resources, integrated systems for project information and billing systems, and engagement with customers and users by community solar experts. The combined effort externalizes much of Clean Energy Collective’s industry-leading expertise, allowing third parties to develop community solar without duplicating expensive start-up efforts. The availability of this platform creates community solar projects that are cheaper to build and cheaper to participate in, furthering the goals of DOE’s SunShot Initiative. Final SF 425 Final SF 428 Final DOE F 2050.11 Final Report Narrative« less

Cloud Computing-based Platform for Drought Decision-Making using Remote Sensing and Modeling Products: Preliminary Results for Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vivoni, E.; Mascaro, G.; Shupe, J. W.; Hiatt, C.; Potter, C. S.; Miller, R. L.; Stanley, J.; Abraham, T.; Castilla-Rubio, J.

2012-12-01

Droughts and their hydrological consequences are a major threat to food security throughout the world. In arid and semiarid regions dependent on irrigated agriculture, prolonged droughts lead to significant and recurring economic and social losses. In this contribution, we present preliminary results on integrating a set of multi-resolution drought indices into a cloud computing-based visualization platform. We focused our initial efforts on Brazil due to a severe, on-going drought in a large agricultural area in the northeastern part of the country. The online platform includes drought products developed from: (1) a MODIS-based water stress index (WSI) based on inferences from normalized difference vegetation index and land surface temperature fields, (2) a volumetric water content (VWC) index obtained from application of the NASA CASA model, and (3) a set of AVHRR-based vegetation health indices obtained from NOAA/NESDIS. The drought indices are also presented in terms of anomalies with respect to a baseline period. Since our main objective is to engage stakeholders and decision-makers in Brazil, we incorporated other relevant geospatial data into the platform, including irrigation areas, dams and reservoirs, administrative units and annual climate information. We will also present a set of use cases developed to help stakeholders explore, query and provide feedback that allowed fine-tuning of the drought product delivery, presentation and analysis tools. Finally, we discuss potential next steps in development of the online platform, including applications at finer resolutions in specific basins and at a coarser global scale.

Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Ante-Natal Clients in a Large Teaching Hospital in Ghana.

PubMed

Labi, A-K; Yawson, A E; Ganyaglo, G Y; Newman, M J

2015-09-01

Asymptomatic bacteriuria, the presence of bacteria in urine without symptoms of acute urinary tract infection, predisposes pregnant women to the development of urinary tract infections and pyelonephritis, with an attendant pregnancy related complications. To measure the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among ante-natal clients at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana and its' associated risk factors. A cross-sectional study involving 274 antenatal clients was conducted over a period of 4 weeks. A face to face questionnaire was completed and midstream urine collected for culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria was 5.5%. It was associated with sexual activity during pregnancy (Fisher's Exact 5.871, p-value 0.0135), but not with sexual frequency. There were no significant associations with educational status, parity, gestational age, marital status and the number of foetuses carried. The commonest organism isolated was Enterococcus spp (26.7%) although the enterobacteriaceae formed the majority of isolated organisms (46.7%). Nitrofurantoin was the antibiotic with the highest sensitivity to all the isolated organisms. The prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among ante-natal clients at this large teaching hospital in Ghana is 5.5%, which is lower than what has been found in other African settings. Enterococcus spp was the commonest causative organism. However, due to the complications associated with asymptomatic bacteriuria, a policy to screen and treat- all pregnant women attending the hospital, is worth considering.

Effects of natal departure and water level on survival of juvenile snail kites (Rostrhamus sociabilis) in Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dreitz, V.J.; Kitchens, W.M.; DeAngelis, D.L.

2004-01-01

Survival rate from fledging to breeding, or juvenile survival, is an important source of variation in lifetime reproductive success in birds. Therefore, determining the relationship between juvenile survival and environmental factors is essential to understanding fitness consequences of reproduction in many populations. With increases in density of individuals and depletion of food resources, quality of most habitats deteriorates during the breeding season. Individuals respond by dispersing in search of food resources. Therefore, to understand the influence of environmental factors on juvenile survival, it is also necessary to know how natal dispersal influences survival of juveniles. We examined effects of various environmental factors and natal dispersal behavior on juvenile survival of endangered Snail Kites (Rostrhamus sociabilis) in central and southern Florida, using a generalized estimating equations (GEEs) approach and model selection criteria. Our results suggested yearly effects and an influence of age and monthly minimum hydrologic levels on juvenile Snail Kite survival. Yearly variation in juvenile survival has been reported by other studies, and other reproductive components of Snail Kites also exhibit such variation. Age differences in juvenile survival have also been seen in other species during the juvenile period. Our results demonstrate a positive relationship between water levels and juvenile survival. We suggest that this is not a direct linear relationship, such that higher water means higher juvenile survival. The juvenile period is concurrent with onset of the wet season in the ecosystem we studied, and rainfall increases as juveniles age. For management purposes, we believe that inferences suggesting increasing water levels during the fledging period will increase juvenile survival may have short-term benefits but lead to long-term declines in prey abundance and possibly wetland vegetation structure.

Influence of the Amlia fracture zone on the evolution of the Aleutian Terrace forearc basin, central Aleutian subduction zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ryan, Holly F.; Draut, Amy E.; Keranen, Katie M.; Scholl, David W.

2012-01-01

During Pliocene to Quaternary time, the central Aleutian forearc basin evolved in response to a combination of tectonic and climatic factors. Initially, along-trench transport of sediment and accretion of a frontal prism created the accommodation space to allow forearc basin deposition. Transport of sufficient sediment to overtop the bathymetrically high Amlia fracture zone and reach the central Aleutian arc began with glaciation of continental Alaska in the Pliocene. As the obliquely subducting Amlia fracture zone swept along the central Aleutian arc, it further affected the structural evolution of the forearc basins. The subduction of the Amlia fracture zone resulted in basin inversion and loss of accommodation space east of the migrating fracture zone. Conversely, west of Amlia fracture zone, accommodation space increased arcward of a large outer-arc high that formed, in part, by a thickening of arc basement. This difference in deformation is interpreted to be the result of a variation in interplate coupling across the Amlia fracture zone that was facilitated by increasing subduction obliquity, a change in orientation of the subducting Amlia fracture zone, and late Quaternary intensification of glaciation. The change in coupling is manifested by a possible tear in the subducting slab along the Amlia fracture zone. Differences in coupling across the Amlia fracture zone have important implications for the location of maximum slip during future great earthquakes. In addition, shaking during a great earthquake could trigger large mass failures of the summit platform, as evidenced by the presence of thick mass transport deposits of primarily Quaternary age that are found in the forearc basin west of the Amlia fracture zone.

30 CFR 250.911 - If my platform is subject to the Platform Verification Program, what must I do?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false If my platform is subject to the Platform Verification Program, what must I do? 250.911 Section 250.911 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF SAFETY AND... CONTINENTAL SHELF Platforms and Structures Platform Verification Program § 250.911 If my platform is subject...

30 CFR 250.911 - If my platform is subject to the Platform Verification Program, what must I do?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false If my platform is subject to the Platform Verification Program, what must I do? 250.911 Section 250.911 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF SAFETY AND... CONTINENTAL SHELF Platforms and Structures Platform Verification Program § 250.911 If my platform is subject...

30 CFR 250.911 - If my platform is subject to the Platform Verification Program, what must I do?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false If my platform is subject to the Platform Verification Program, what must I do? 250.911 Section 250.911 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF SAFETY AND... CONTINENTAL SHELF Platforms and Structures Platform Verification Program § 250.911 If my platform is subject...

PLAY ANALYSIS AND DIGITAL PORTFOLIO OF MAJOR OIL RESERVOIRS IN THE PERMIAN BASIN: APPLICATION AND TRANSFER OF ADVANCED GEOLOGICAL AND ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES FOR INCREMENTAL PRODUCTION OPPORTUNITIES

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

Shirley P. Dutton; Eugene M. Kim; Ronald F. Broadhead

2004-05-01

The Permian Basin of west Texas and southeast New Mexico has produced >30 Bbbl (4.77 x 10{sup 9} m{sup 3}) of oil through 2000, most of it from 1,339 reservoirs having individual cumulative production >1 MMbbl (1.59 x 10{sup 5} m{sup 3}). These significant-sized reservoirs are the focus of this report. Thirty-two Permian Basin oil plays were defined, and each of the 1,339 significant-sized reservoirs was assigned to a play. The reservoirs were mapped and compiled in a Geographic Information System (GIS) by play. Associated reservoir information within linked data tables includes Railroad Commission of Texas reservoir number and districtmore » (Texas only), official field and reservoir name, year reservoir was discovered, depth to top of the reservoir, production in 2000, and cumulative production through 2000. Some tables also list subplays. Play boundaries were drawn for each play; the boundaries include areas where fields in that play occur but are <1 MMbbl (1.59 x 10{sup 5} m{sup 3}) of cumulative production. This report contains a summary description of each play, including key reservoir characteristics and successful reservoir-management practices that have been used in the play. The CD accompanying the report contains a pdf version of the report, the GIS project, pdf maps of all plays, and digital data files. Oil production from the reservoirs in the Permian Basin having cumulative production >1 MMbbl (1.59 x 10{sup 5} m{sup 3}) was 301.4 MMbbl (4.79 x 10{sup 7} m{sup 3}) in 2000. Cumulative Permian Basin production through 2000 from these significant-sized reservoirs was 28.9 Bbbl (4.59 x 10{sup 9} m{sup 3}). The top four plays in cumulative production are the Northwest Shelf San Andres Platform Carbonate play (3.97 Bbbl [6.31 x 10{sup 8} m{sup 3}]), the Leonard Restricted Platform Carbonate play (3.30 Bbbl 5.25 x 10{sup 8} m{sup 3}), the Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian Horseshoe Atoll Carbonate play (2.70 Bbbl [4.29 x 10{sup 8} m{sup 3}]), and the San

Dispensing with marriage: Marital and partnership trends in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 2000-2006

PubMed Central

Hosegood, Victoria; McGrath, Nuala; Moultrie, Tom

2015-01-01

This paper describes marriage and partnership patterns and trends in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa from 2000-2006. The study is based on longitudinal, population-based data collected by the Africa Centre demographic surveillance system. We consider whether the high rates of non-marriage among Africans in South Africa reported in the 1980s were reversed following the political transformation underway by the 1990s. Our findings show that marriage has continued to decline with a small increase in cohabitation among unmarried couples, particularly in more urbanised areas. Comparing surveillance and census data, we highlight problems with the use of the ‘living together’ marital status category in a highly mobile population. PMID:25729322

Sedimentologic and paleoclimatic reconstructions of carbonate factory evolution in the Alborz Basin (northern Iran) indicate a global response to Early Carboniferous (Tournaisian) glaciations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sardar Abadi, Mehrdad; Kulagina, Elena I.; Voeten, Dennis F. A. E.; Boulvain, Frédéric; Da Silva, Anne-Christine

2017-03-01

The Lower Carboniferous Mobarak Formation records the development of a storm-sensitive pervasive carbonate factory on the southern Paleo-Tethyan passive margin following the opening of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean into the Alborz Basin along the northern margin of Gondwana. Its depositional facies encompass inner ramp peritidal environments, peloidal to crinoidal shoals, storm to fair-weather influenced mid-ramps, proximal to distal shell beds and low energy outer ramps. Sedimentological analyses and foraminiferal biostratigraphy reveal four events affecting carbonate platform evolution in the Alborz Basin during the Lower Carboniferous: (1) A transgression following global temperature rise in the Early Tournaisian (middle Hastarian) caused the formation of thick-bedded argillaceous limestones. This interval correlates with Early Tournaisian nodular to argillaceous limestones in the Moravia Basin (Lisen Formation, Czech Republic), the Dinant Basin (Pont d'Arcole Formation, Belgium), and at the Rhenish Slate Mountains (Lower Alum shale, Germany). (2) Late Hastarian-early Ivorian glaciations previously identified in Southern Gondwana but had not yet recognized in Northern Gondwana were recorded through a sequence boundary. (3) During the Late Tournaisian-Early Visean?, a differential block faulting regime along the basin's margin caused uplift of the westernmost parts of the Alborz Basin and resulted in subsidence in the eastern part of the central basin. This tectonically controlled shift in depositional regime caused vast sub-aerial exposure and brecciation preserved in the top of the Mobarak Formation in the western portion of the Central Alborz Basin. (4) Tectonic activity coinciding with a progressive, multiphase sea level drop caused indirectly by the Viséan and Serpukhovian glaciations phases ultimately led to the stagnation of the carbonate factory. Paleothermometry proxies, the presence of foraminiferal taxa with a northern Paleo-Tethyan affinity and evidence for

78 FR 65609 - Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland; Wyoming; Thunder Basin...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-01

... National Grassland; Wyoming; Thunder Basin National Grassland Prairie Dog Amendment Environmental Impact... alternatives will be analyzed in the Thunder Basin National Grassland Prairie Dog Amendment EIS. The EIS will... Basin National Grassland Prairie Dog Amendment. The Open House/ Presentation meetings will be held on...

Delaware River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fischer, Jeffrey M.

1999-01-01

Assessing the quality of water in every location of the Nation would not be practical. Therefore, NAWQA investigations are conducted within 59 selected areas called study units (fig. 1). These study units encompass important river and aquifer systems in the United States and represent the diverse geographic, waterresource, land-use, and water-use characteristics of the Nation. The Delaware River Basin is one of 15 study units in which work began in 1996. Water-quality sampling in the study unit will begin in 1999. This fact sheet provides a brief overview of the NAWQA program, describes the Delaware River Basin study unit, identifies the major water-quality issues in the basin, and documents the plan of study that will be followed during the study-unit investigation.

Turn Basin Construction

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-06-14

Modifications are underway at the Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the arrival of the agency's massive Space Launch System (SLS) core stage aboard the barge Pegasus. In the foreground is Tammy Kelly, site manager, with Southeast Cherokee Construction Inc. A crane will be used to lift up precast concrete poles and position them to be driven to a depth of about 70 feet into the bedrock below the water around the turn basin. The upgrades are necessary to accommodate the increased weight of the core stage along with ground support and transportation equipment aboard the modified barge Pegasus. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing the upgrades to the turn basin wharf.

The Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary unit in the Gulf of Mexico: Large-scale oceanic basin response to the Chicxulub impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanford, J. C.; Gulick, S. P.; Snedden, J.

2013-12-01

the lower slope of the Florida Platform, providing further evidence of massive sediment redistribution. Log character of the boundary deposit varies significantly, suggesting changes in both depositional style (e.g, mass flow deposit, collapsed platform block, etc.) and sediment source (e.g., Yucatán Platform, Florida Platform, Texas coast, etc.). Reinvestigation of the classic K-Pg boundary deposits in DSDP Leg 77 cores reveals evidence of several sequences of debris flows and/or turbidites with possibly unique sediment sources, furthering our understanding of small-scale sedimentary processes of impact-related deposition. Generally, evidence supports the theory that the Chicxulub impact was a source of extreme allogenic energy that drastically altered the Gulf Mexico at the start of the Cenozoic. Seismogenic ground roll and multiple episodes of tsunami, erosion, platform collapse, and remobilized sediment effectively overwhelmed and resurfaced the basin's existing depositional systems within a matter of weeks to months. Such processes resulted in the nearly ubiquitous and often extremely thick K-Pg boundary unit in the Gulf. These results yield insight into the near-field effects of a massive bolide impact in a passive marine setting and the ability of such an impact to instantaneously restructure an oceanic basin and its depositional systems.

Pennsylvanian-Permian tectonism in the Great Basin: The Dry Mountain trough and related basins

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

Snyder, W.S.; Spinosa, C.; Gallegos, D.M.

1991-02-01

Pennsylvanian-Permian tectonism affected the continental margin of western North America from the Yukon to the Mojave Desert. Specific signatures of this tectonism include local angular unconformities, regional disconformities, renewed outpouring of clastic debris from a reactivated Antler and related highlands, and development of deeper water basins with anoxic sediments deposited below wave base. The basins formed include Ishbel trough (Canada), the Wood River basin (Idaho), Cassia basin, Ferguson trough, Dry Mountain trough (all Nevada), and unnamed basins in Death Valley-Mojave Desert region. The Dry Mountain trough (DMT) was initiated during early Wolfcampian and received up to 1,200 m of sedimentmore » by the late Leonardian. The lower contact is a regional unconformity with the Ely Limestone, or locally with the Diamond Peak or Vinini formations. Thus, following a period of localized regional uplift that destroyed the Ely basin, portions of the uplifted and exposed shelf subsided creating the Dry Mountain trough. Evidence suggesting a tectonic origin for the DMT includes (1) high subsidence rates (60-140 m/m.y.); (2) renewed influx of coarse clastic debris from the Antler highlands: (3) possible pre-Early Permian folding, thrusting, and tilting within the highlands; and (4) differential subsidence within the Dry Mountain trough, suggesting the existence of independent fault blocks.« less

The role of E-W basement faults in the Mesozoic geodynamic evolution of the Gafsa and Chotts basins, south-central Tunisia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amri, Dorra Tanfous; Dhahri, Ferid; Soussi, Mohamed; Gabtni, Hakim; Bédir, Mourad

2017-10-01

The Gafsa and Chotts intracratonic basins in south-central Tunisia are transitional zones between the Atlasic domain to the north and the Saharan platform to the south. The principal aim of this paper is to unravel the geodynamic evolution of these basins following an integrated approach including seismic, well log and gravity data. These data are used to highlight the tectonic control on the deposition of Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous series and to discuss the role of the main faults that controlled the basin architecture and Cretaceous-Tertiary inversion. The horizontal gravity gradient map of the study area highlights the pattern of discontinuities within the two basins and reveals the presence of deep E-W basement faults. Primary attention is given to the role played by the E-W faults system and that of the NW-SE Gafsa fault which was previously considered active since the Jurassic. Facies and thickness analyses based on new seismic interpretation and well data suggest that the E-W-oriented faults controlled the subsidence distribution especially during the Jurassic. The NW-SE faults seem to be key structures that controlled the basins paleogeography during Late Cretaceous-Cenozoic time. The upper Triassic evaporite bodies, which locally outline the main NW-SE Gafsa fault, are regarded as intrusive salt bodies rather than early diapiric extrusions as previously interpreted since they are rare and occurred only along main strike-slip faults. In addition, seismic lines show that Triassic rocks are deep and do not exhibit true diapiric features.

Water resources in basin-fill deposits in the Tularosa Basin, New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Orr, B.R.; Myers, R.G.

1986-01-01

The Tularosa Basin, a faulted intermontane depression in south-central New Mexico, contains a thick sequence of alluvial and lacustrine deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age. Most of these sediments are saturated with very saline water. Freshwater supplies (dissolved solids concentration < 1000 mg/L) principally are found in alluvial fans located around the basin margin. On the eastern side of the Tularosa Basin, fresh groundwater supplies are limited to alluvial fan deposits from Grapevine Canyon to about 3 mi south of Alamogordo. Data from surface geophysical surveys indicate that about 1.4 to 2.1 million acre-ft of freshwater may be in storage in this area, not all of which is recoverable. An additional 3.6 to 5.4 million acre-ft of slightly saline water (dissolved solids concentration 1000 to 3000 mg/L) may be in storage in the same area, again not all of which is recoverable. On the western side of the Tularosa Basin, alluvial fans in the vicinity of Rhodes Canyon may contain freshwater. Geophysical data indicate the freshwater zone may be as thick as 1500 ft in places; however, the limited number of wells in this area precludes a precise definition of the volume of freshwater in storage. To the south, freshwater is present in alluvial fans associated with the Ash Canyon drainage system. Geophysical data indicate that perhaps as much as 450,000 acre-ft of freshwater, not all recoverable, may be in storage in this area. Fan deposits between Ash Canyon and Rhodes canyon may contain additional freshwater supplies. Possibly 10.7 million acre-ft of freshwater, not all of which is recoverable, may be in storage on the western side of the Tularosa Basin. Possibly 180 million acre-ft of brine (concentrations of dissolved solids exceeding 35,000 mg/L), not all of which is recoverable, may be in storage in the Tularosa Basin. Information is sparse concerning the capability of saline aquifers in the Tularosa Basin to store and transmit fluid. (Author 's abstract)

Basin Analysis and Petroleum System Characterisation of Western Bredasdorp Basin, Southern Offshore of South Africa: Insights from a 3d Crust-Scale Basin Model - (Phase 1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sonibare, W. A.; Scheck-Wenderoth, M.; Sippel, J.; Mikeš, D.

2012-04-01

In recent years, construction of 3D geological models and their subsequent upscaling for reservoir simulation has become an important tool within the oil industry for managing hydrocarbon reservoirs and increasing recovery rate. Incorporating petroleum system elements (i.e. source, reservoir and trap) into these models is a relatively new concept that seems very promising to play/prospect risk assessment and reservoir characterisation alike. However, yet to be fully integrated into this multi-disciplinary modelling approach are the qualitative and quantitative impacts of crust-scale basin dynamics on the observed basin-fill architecture and geometries. The focus of this study i.e. Western Bredasdorp Basin constitutes the extreme western section of the larger Bredasdorp sub-basin, which is the westernmost depocentre of the four southern Africa offshore sub-basins (others being Pletmos, Gamtoos and Algoa). These basins, which appear to be initiated by volcanically influenced continental rifting and break-up related to passive margin evolution (during the Mid-Late Jurassic to latest Valanginian), remain previously unstudied for crust-scale basin margin evolution, and particularly in terms of relating deep crustal processes to depo-system reconstruction and petroleum system evolution. Seismic interpretation of 42 2D seismic-reflection profiles forms the basis for maps of 6 stratigraphic horizons which record the syn-rift to post-rift (i.e. early drift and late drift to present-day seafloor) successions. In addition to this established seismic markers, high quality seismic profiles have shown evidence for a pre-rift sequence (i.e. older than Late Jurassic >130 Ma). The first goal of this study is the construction of a 3D gravity-constrained, crust-scale basin model from integration of seismics, well data and cores. This basin model is constructed using GMS (in-house GFZ Geo-Modelling Software) while testing its consistency with the gravity field is performed using IGMAS

Fine-scale natal homing and localized movement as shaped by sex and spawning habitat in Chinook salmon: Insights from spatial autocorrelation analysis of individual genotypes

Treesearch

H. M. Neville; D. J. Isaak; J. B. Dunham; R. F. Thurow; B. E. Rieman

2006-01-01

Natal homing is a hallmark of the life history of salmonid fishes, but the spatial scale of homing within local, naturally reproducing salmon populations is still poorly understood. Accurate homing (paired with restricted movement) should lead to the existence of finescale genetic structuring due to the spatial clustering of related individuals on spawning grounds....

Comparing The North-east German Basin With The Polish Basin, Influenced By Major Crustal Fractures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamarche, J.; Scheck, M.; Otto, V.; Bayer, U.; Lewerenz, B.

The North-East German Basin (NEGB) and the Polish Basin (PB) are two intraplate sedimentary basins in Central Europe, the development of which was controlled by deep crustal structures: the Elbe Fault System and the Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone, re- spectively. 3D structural models performed separately for each basin led to indepen- dent interpretations showing major similarities, but also significant differences. The outlook of the comparison between the NEGB and the PB is to lead to a joined 3D structural model, which allows reconstructing the synthetic geodynamic evolution of the area. The NEGB and PB are NW-SE-oriented. Both were initiated during Late Carboniferous and Lower Permian, when the post-Variscan rifting affected the com- posite Palaeozoic basement of Central Europe. During Triassic to Cretaceous times, both basins evolved due to thermal subsidence and pulses of tectonic subsidence. At the end of Cretaceous, the basins were tectonically inverted. The sedimentary succes- sions of the NEGB and PB are comparable. Particularly, the Zechstein salt induced comparable sedimentary structures and provided a decoupling level between pre- and post-Zechstein rocks during the Late Cretaceous tectonic inversion in both basins. At the crustal scale, both basins are presently limited to the SW by the NW-SE-oriented Elbe Fault System, that correlates with a positive gravity anomaly. Finally, both basins show a N-S differentiation regarding the detailed subsidence history, the structural set- ting and the salt pattern. In spite of the very similar tectonic evolution of the NEGB and the PB, their large-scale geometry and inversion-related structures are different. The NEGB is asymmetric with a shallow northern slope and a steep bounding fault at the SW margin (Elbe Fault System). In the NEGB, the Late Cretaceous tectonic inversion resulted in asymmetric uplift of the SW' border along the Elbe Fault Sys- tem, and in decreasing deformation in the cover towards North. In

Crustal characteristic variation in the central Yamato Basin, Japan Sea back-arc basin, deduced from seismic survey results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Takeshi; No, Tetsuo; Miura, Seiichi; Kodaira, Shuichi

2018-02-01

The crustal structure of the Yamato Bank, the central Yamato Basin, and the continental shelf in the southern Japan Sea back-arc basin is obtained based on a seismic survey using ocean bottom seismographs and seismic shot to elucidate the back-arc basin formation processes. The central Yamato Basin can be divided into three domains based on the crustal structure: the deep basin, the seamount, and the transition domains. In the deep basin domain, the crust without the sedimentary layer is about 12-13 km thick. Very few units have P-wave velocity of 5.4-6.0 km/s, which corresponds to the continental upper crust. In the seamount and transition domains, the crust without the sedimentary layer is about 12-16 km thick. The P-wave velocities of the upper and lower crusts differs among the deep basin, the seamount, and the transition domains. These results indicate that the central Yamato Basin displays crustal variability in different domains. The crust of the deep basin domain is oceanic in nature and suggests advanced back-arc basin development. The seamount domain might have been affected by volcanic activity after basin opening. In the transition domain, the crust comprises mixed characters of continental and oceanic crust. This crustal variation might represent the influence of different processes in the central Yamato Basin, suggesting that crustal development was influenced not only by back-arc opening processes but also by later volcanic activity. In the Yamato Bank and continental shelf, the upper crust has thickness of about 17-18 km and P-wave velocities of 3.3-4.1 to 6.6 km/s. The Yamato Bank and the continental shelf suggest a continental crustal character.

Data-based discharge extrapolation: estimating annual discharge for a partially gauged large river basin from its small sub-basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, L.

2013-12-01

Large-scale hydrological models and land surface models are by far the only tools for accessing future water resources in climate change impact studies. Those models estimate discharge with large uncertainties, due to the complex interaction between climate and hydrology, the limited quality and availability of data, as well as model uncertainties. A new purely data-based scale-extrapolation method is proposed, to estimate water resources for a large basin solely from selected small sub-basins, which are typically two-orders-of-magnitude smaller than the large basin. Those small sub-basins contain sufficient information, not only on climate and land surface, but also on hydrological characteristics for the large basin In the Baltic Sea drainage basin, best discharge estimation for the gauged area was achieved with sub-basins that cover 2-4% of the gauged area. There exist multiple sets of sub-basins that resemble the climate and hydrology of the basin equally well. Those multiple sets estimate annual discharge for gauged area consistently well with 5% average error. The scale-extrapolation method is completely data-based; therefore it does not force any modelling error into the prediction. The multiple predictions are expected to bracket the inherent variations and uncertainties of the climate and hydrology of the basin. The method can be applied in both un-gauged basins and un-gauged periods with uncertainty estimation.

Geodynamic evolution and sedimentary infill of the northern Levant Basin: A source to sink-perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawie, N.

2013-12-01

Nicolas Hawie a,b,c (nicolas.hawie@upmc.fr) Didier Granjeon c (didier.granjeon@ifpen.fr) Christian Gorini a,b (christian.gorini@upmc.fr) Remy Deschamps c (remy.deschamps@ifpen.fr) Fadi H. Nader c (fadi-henri.nader@ifpen.fr) Carla Müller Delphine Desmares f (delphine.desmares@upmc.fr) Lucien Montadert e (lucien.montadert@beicip.com) François Baudin a (francois.baudin@upmc.fr) a UMR 7193 Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie/ Univ. Paris 06, case 117. 4, place Jussieu 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France b iSTEP, UMR 7193, CNRS, F-75005, Paris, France c IFP Energies nouvelles, 1-4 avenue du Bois Préau 92852 Rueil Malmaison Cedex, France d UMR 7207, Centre de Recherche sur la Paleobiodiversité et les Paleoenvironnements. Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Tour 46-56 5ème. 4, place Jussieu 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France e Beicip Franlab, 232 Av. Napoléon Bonaparte, 95502 Rueil-Malmaison, France Sedimentological and biostratigraphic investigations onshore Lebanon coupled with 2D offshore reflection seismic data allowed proposing a new Mesozoic-Present tectono-stratigraphic framework for the northern Levant Margin and Basin. The seismic interpretation supported by in-depth facies analysis permitted to depict the potential depositional environments offshore Lebanon as no well has yet been drilled. The Levant region has been affected by successive geodynamic events that modified the architecture of its margin and basin from a Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic rift into a Late Cretaceous subduction followed by collision and Miocene-Present strike slip motion. The interplay between major geodynamic events as well as sea level fluctuations impacted on the sedimentary infill of the basin. During Jurassic and Cretaceous, the Levant Margin is dominated by the aggradation of a carbonate platform while deepwater mixed-systems prevailed in the basin. During the Oligo-Miocene, three major sedimentary pathways are expected to drive important

Orientale Impact Basin: Topographic Characterization from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) Data and Implications for Models of Basin Formation and Filling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Head, James; Smith, David; Zuber, Maria; Neumann, Gregory; Fassett, Caleb; Whitten, Jennifer; Garrick-Bethell, Ian

2010-05-01

The 920 km diameter Orientale basin is the youngest and most well-preserved large multi-ringed impact basin on the Moon; it has not been significantly filled with mare basalts, as have other lunar impact basins, and thus the basin interior deposits and ring structures are very well-exposed and provide major insight into the formation and evolution of planetary multi-ringed impact basins. We report here on the acquisition of new altimetry data for the Orientale basin from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) on board the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Pre-basin structure had a major effect on the formation of Orientale; we have mapped dozens of impact craters underlying both the Orientale ejecta (Hevelius Formation-HF) and the unit between the basin rim (Cordillera ring-CR) and the Outer Rook ring (OR) (known as the Montes Rook Formation-MRF), ranging up in size to the 630 km diameter Mendel-Rydberg basin just to the south of Orientale; this crater-basin topography has influenced the topographic development of the basin rim (CR), sometimes causing the basin rim to lie at a topographically lower level than the inner basin rings (OR and Inner Rook-IR). In contrast to some previous interpretations, the distribution of these features supports the interpretation that the OR ring is the closest approximation to the basin excavation cavity. The total basin interior topography is highly variable and typically ranges ~6-7 km below the surrounding pre-basin surface, with significant variations in different quadrants. The inner basin depression is about 2-4 km deep below the IR plateau. These data aid in the understanding of the transition from peak-ring to multi-ringed basins and permit the quantitative assessment of post-basin-formation thermal response to impact energy input and uplifted isotherms. The Maunder Formation (MF) consists of smooth plains (on the inner basin depression walls and floor) and corrugated deposits (on the IR plateau); also observed are depressions

The COMET Sleep Research Platform.

PubMed

Nichols, Deborah A; DeSalvo, Steven; Miller, Richard A; Jónsson, Darrell; Griffin, Kara S; Hyde, Pamela R; Walsh, James K; Kushida, Clete A

2014-01-01

The Comparative Outcomes Management with Electronic Data Technology (COMET) platform is extensible and designed for facilitating multicenter electronic clinical research. Our research goals were the following: (1) to conduct a comparative effectiveness trial (CET) for two obstructive sleep apnea treatments-positive airway pressure versus oral appliance therapy; and (2) to establish a new electronic network infrastructure that would support this study and other clinical research studies. The COMET platform was created to satisfy the needs of CET with a focus on creating a platform that provides comprehensive toolsets, multisite collaboration, and end-to-end data management. The platform also provides medical researchers the ability to visualize and interpret data using business intelligence (BI) tools. COMET is a research platform that is scalable and extensible, and which, in a future version, can accommodate big data sets and enable efficient and effective research across multiple studies and medical specialties. The COMET platform components were designed for an eventual move to a cloud computing infrastructure that enhances sustainability, overall cost effectiveness, and return on investment.

The COMET Sleep Research Platform

PubMed Central

Nichols, Deborah A.; DeSalvo, Steven; Miller, Richard A.; Jónsson, Darrell; Griffin, Kara S.; Hyde, Pamela R.; Walsh, James K.; Kushida, Clete A.

2014-01-01

Introduction: The Comparative Outcomes Management with Electronic Data Technology (COMET) platform is extensible and designed for facilitating multicenter electronic clinical research. Background: Our research goals were the following: (1) to conduct a comparative effectiveness trial (CET) for two obstructive sleep apnea treatments—positive airway pressure versus oral appliance therapy; and (2) to establish a new electronic network infrastructure that would support this study and other clinical research studies. Discussion: The COMET platform was created to satisfy the needs of CET with a focus on creating a platform that provides comprehensive toolsets, multisite collaboration, and end-to-end data management. The platform also provides medical researchers the ability to visualize and interpret data using business intelligence (BI) tools. Conclusion: COMET is a research platform that is scalable and extensible, and which, in a future version, can accommodate big data sets and enable efficient and effective research across multiple studies and medical specialties. The COMET platform components were designed for an eventual move to a cloud computing infrastructure that enhances sustainability, overall cost effectiveness, and return on investment. PMID:25848590