Variations in the oxygen three-isotope terrestrial fractionation line revealed by an inter-laboratory comparison of silicate mineral analyses

An inter-laboratory comparison of analytical results for the slopes of Terrestrial Fractionation Lines (TFL) measured on a group of quartz and a separate group of garnet samples shows good agreement between laboratories. However, the slopes of the TFL’s for each mineral group differ slightly

Streamlining or watering down? Assessing the 'smartness' of policy and standards for the promotion of low and zero carbon homes in England 2010-15

The knowledge and enforcement problems faced by governments in defining traditional ‘command and control’ regulation are well known. Significant legal scholarship offers alternative models of ‘smart,’ ‘responsive’ environmental regulation, emphasising the need for policy instrument mixes, including the vital role of voluntary, industry-led sustainability standards. Yet, as is being increasingly recognised, these contributions leave open the need for detailed, qualitative evaluation of instrument mixes as a complement to primarily quantitative cost-benefit analyses that predominate in regulatory impact assessments by governments. Addressing this need, this paper evaluates policy and standards for low and zero carbon homes in England during the Coalition government (2010-2015) when the ecological modernisation discourse of the previous New Labour government became subsumed by a deregulation agenda. Our study, incorporating 70 stakeholder interviews, suggests that, in supplier-driven markets such as housing in England, a ‘smart’ mix of mandatory and voluntary standards requires a strong, central role for government in setting national, mandatory standards and supporting their delivery. There is an important potential supplementary role for voluntary tools and local authority discretion, though our study highlights problems that can arise when such different instruments promote diverging roadmaps towards a policy goal

The fish populations of the Lower Forth Estuary, including the environmental impact of cooling water extraction

The present study investigated the fish populations of the lower Forth Estuary, east Scotland. Cooling water extraction by the 2400 MW Longannet Power Station (LPS) inevitably removes a certain quantity of fish from the estuary, all of which experience mortality. The present study employed a sampling regime of greater intensity than previous studies to investigate the extent of mortalities from January 1999 - December 2000. Collections of fish impinged on intake screens were made eight times monthly, at LW or HW of spring or neap tides during the day or by night. Marine species dominated the assemblage of fish collected, with sprat, herring, and whiting contributing > 80% of total abundance. Sprat was twice as abundant as herring in 1999, while the proportions were very similar in 2000. Total abundance of all species collected in 1999 was estimated at 1. 09 x 107, while the value of 3.29 x 107 in 2000 was three times larger. These figures were the largest recorded among British estuarine and marine power stations, but were precisely the correct order based on an exponential relationship between total impingement and water abstraction rate established from data from other locations. Validation of the estimated total biomass of fish removed was given by comparison with the known total mass of all materials disposed to landfill. Statistical analysis of impingement data showed that tidal range and season were the most important environmental variables influencing the rate of removal of fish from the estuary. That light was not significant for most species is attributed to high levels of turbidity and the resulting low visibility by day and night. Demersal and benthic fish abundances collected from 1982 - 2000 in 30 annual trawls at three sites in the mid-lower Forth Estuary were analysed. Species tended to be present in greatest abundance at the most seaward of the sites. Patterns of seasonal abundance reflected those observed in the impingement study at LPS, and catches tended to be greatest at L W. Total species richness showed no significant trend over time, whilst total annual abundance of fish captured in trawls showed a significant negative trend. This was largely due to significant declines in the two most abundant species, namely whiting and eel pout, attributable in the latter case to increasing temperatures. Changes in the ichthyofaunal composition were largely driven by whiting, eel pout, cod and plaice. Eight of ten common species showed no significant trend in abundance over the length of the time series, suggesting them to perhaps be at equilibrium densities. Quantities of commercially fished species above minimum landing size limits that were removed by LPS were very low, and restricted to herring and occasional whiting. The quantity of juveniles that could have recruited into the fished populations was expressed as equivalent adults. The values were larger than any previously reported in the UK, primarily due to the quantities of juvenile fish impinged being greater than at any other British power station, and the importance of the Forth as a nursery area for marine species. It was concluded that LPS is the dominant UK power station in terms of magnitude of impingement losses. It may be prudent to consider a precautionary approach to mitigate losses, and to this end options for reduction of the magnitude of impingement are discussed

Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Shergottite RBT 04262

This abstract presents mineralogical and geochemical data on newly discovered shergottite RBT 04262 and compares it with other known shergottites

Study of high altitude plume impingement

Computer program has been developed as analytical tool to predict severity of effects of exhaust of rocket engines on adjacent spacecraft surfaces. Program computes forces, moments, pressures, and heating rates on surfaces immersed in or subjected to exhaust plume environments. Predictions will be useful in design of systems where such problems are anticipated

Generation of internal stress and its effects

Internal stresses may be generated continually in many polycrystalline materials. Their existence is manifested by changes in crystal defect concentration and arrangement, by surface observations, by macroscopic shape changes and particularly by alteration of mechanical properties when external stresses are simultaneously imposed

Oxygen isotopic and petrological constraints on the origin and relationship of IIE iron meteorites and H chondrites

New oxygen isotopic measurements of IIEs and H chondrites are indistinguishable — strengthening a possible common origin for these groups. Combining oxygen results with mineralogy, the nature of their parent body or bodies can be explored

Tafassasset: The Saga Continues

In this study, we compare data for two separate Tafassasset stones and supply new oxygen isotope data for our sample. We include a discussion of the debate surrounding the classification of Tafassasset and offer a hypothesis for its origin based upon new information

Irreversibility in response to forces acting on graphene sheets

The amount of rippling in graphene sheets is related to the interactions with the substrate or with the suspending structure. Here, we report on an irreversibility in the response to forces that act on suspended graphene sheets. This may explain why one always observes a ripple structure on suspended graphene. We show that a compression-relaxation mechanism produces static ripples on graphene sheets and determine a peculiar temperature $T_c$, such that for $T<T_c$ the free-energy of the rippled graphene is smaller than that of roughened graphene. We also show that $T_c$ depends on the structural parameters and increases with increasing sample size.Comment: 4 pages, 4 Figure

Optical and dc transport properties of a strongly correlated charge density wave system: exact solution in the ordered phase of the spinless Falicov-Kimball model with dynamical mean-field theory

We derive the dynamical mean-field theory equations for transport in an ordered charge-density-wave phase on a bipartite lattice. The formalism is applied to the spinless Falicov-Kimball model on a hypercubic lattice at half filling. We determine the many-body density of states, the dc charge and heat conductivities, and the optical conductivity. Vertex corrections continue to vanish within the ordered phase, but the density of states and the transport coefficients show anomalous behavior due to the rapid development of thermally activated subgap states. We also examine the optical sum rule and sum rules for the first three moments of the Green's functions within the ordered phase and see that the total optical spectral weight in the ordered phase either decreases or increases depending on the strength of the interactions.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.