6,413 research outputs found
Interim report on the progress of an inventory of artesian wells in Florida: leading to the enforcement of sections 370.051 - 370.54, Florida statues
One of the causes of lower artesian pressure, water
waste and aquifer contamination is the misuse and insufficient
care of artesian wells. In 1953, Senate Bill No. 57, entitled
"An Act to Protect and Control the Artesian Waters of the
State" (see Appendix) became a law. This law was passed
through the efforts exerted by leading members of the Senate
and the House of Representatives, who understood the need
for a wise and controlled expenditure of our most valuable
natural resource.
The State Geologist and his authorized representatives
were designated by this law to enforce this conservation
measure; however, no financial provision was included for
the 1953-55 biennium. The proposed program of the Florida
Geological Survey for this biennium did not include the funds
nor provide any full-time personnel for the enforcement of
this statute. As a result, little actual work was accomplished during these two years, although much time was given to
planning and discussion of the problem.
Realizing that this program could provide additional basic
data needed in the analysis of the water-supply problem, the
State Geologist sought and was granted by the 1955 Legislature
adequate funds with which to activate the first phase of the
enforcement of Florida Statute No. 370.051-054.
Enumerated below is a summary of the progress made
on this investigation as outlined previously:
1. Data have been collected on 967 wildly flowing wells
in 22 counties.
2. Chloride determinations have been run on 850 of the
967 wells.
3. Of the 967 wells, 554 have chlorides in excess of the
250 ppm, the upper limit assigned by the State Board
of Health for public consumption.
4. Water escapes at the rate of 37, 762 gallons per minute
from these 967 wells. This amounts to 54, 377, 280
gallons per day.
The investigation is incomplete at this time; therefore,
no final conclusions can be reached. However, from data
already collected, the following recommendations are proposed:
1. That the present inventory of wildly flowing wells be
completed for the entire State.
2. That the current inventory of wildly flowing wells be
expanded at the conclusion of the present inventory
to include all flowing wells.
3. That a complete statewide inventory program be
established and conducted in cooperation with the
Ground Water Branchof the U.S. Geological Survey.
4. That the enforcement functions as set down in Sections
370.051/.054, Florida Statutes, be separated from
the program to collect water-resource data and that
these functions be given to the Water Resources
Department, if such is created (to be recommended
by the Water Resources Study Commission in a water
policy law presented to the 1957 Legislature).
5. That the research phase (well inventory) of the program
remain under the direction of the Florida Geological
Survey. (PDF contains 204 pages.
Optimal Galaxy Distance Estimators
The statistical properties of galaxy distance estimators are studied and a
rigorous framework is developed for identifying and removing the effects of
Malmquist bias due to obsevational selection. The prescription of Schechter
(1980) for defining unbiased distance estimators is extended to more general --
and more realistic -- cases. The derivation of `optimal' unbiased distance
estimators of minimum dispersion, by utilising information from additional --
suitably correlated -- observables, is discussed and the results applied to a
calibrating sample from the Fornax cluster, as used in the Mathewson spiral
galaxy redshift survey. The optimal distance estimator derived from I-band
magnitude, diameter and 21cm line width has an intrinsic scatter which is 25 \%
smaller than that of the Tully-Fisher relation quoted for this calibrating
sample. (Figures are available on request).Comment: Plain Latex, 19 pages, Sussex-AST-93/9-
A Cautionary Note on Cosmological Magnetic Fields
This note is concerned with potentially misleading concepts in the treatment
of cosmological magnetic fields by magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) modelling. It is
not a criticism of MHD itself but rather a cautionary comment on the validity
of its use in cosmology. Now that cosmological data are greatly improved
compared with a few decades ago, and even better data are imminent, it makes
sense to revisit original modelling assumptions and examine critically their
shortcomings in respect of modern science. Specifically this article argues
that ideal MHD is a poor approximation around recombination, since it
inherently restricts evolutionary timescales, and is often misapplied in the
existing literature.Comment: 5 page
Gamma Ray Bursts: Cosmic Rulers for the High-Redshift Universe?
The desire to extend the Hubble Diagram to higher redshifts than the range of
current Type Ia Supernovae observations has prompted investigation into
spectral correlations in Gamma Ray Bursts, in the hope that standard
candle-like properties can be identified. In this paper we discuss the
potential of these new `cosmic rulers' and highlight their limitations by
investigating the constraints that current data can place on an alternative
Cosmological model in the form of Conformal Gravity. By fitting current Type 1a
Supernovae and Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) data to the predicted luminosity distance
redshift relation of both the standard Concordance Model and Conformal Gravity,
we show that currently \emph{neither} model is strongly favoured at high
redshift. The scatter in the current GRB data testifies to the further work
required if GRBs are to cement their place as effective probes of the
cosmological distance scale.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure (black & white, colour available). To be published
in "Phil. Trans. of the Royal Society" as proceedings from Discussion Meeting
on Gamma Ray Burst
How far is it to a sudden future singularity of pressure?
We discuss the constraints coming from current observations of type Ia
supernovae on cosmological models which allow sudden future singularities of
pressure (with the scale factor and the energy density regular). We show that
such a sudden singularity may happen in the very near future (e.g. within ten
million years) and its prediction at the present moment of cosmic evolution
cannot be distinguished, with current observational data, from the prediction
given by the standard quintessence scenario of future evolution. Fortunately,
sudden future singularities are characterized by a momentary peak of infinite
tidal forces only; there is no geodesic incompletness which means that the
evolution of the universe may eventually be continued throughout until another
``more serious'' singularity such as Big-Crunch or Big-Rip.Comment: REVTEX4, 4 pages, 2 figures, references change
A robust method for measuring the Hubble parameter
We obtain a robust, non-parametric, estimate of the Hubble constant from
galaxy linear diameters calibrated using HST Cepheid distances. Our method is
independent of the parametric form of the diameter function and the spatial
distribution of galaxies and is insensitive to Malmquist bias. We include
information on the galaxy rotation velocities; unlike Tully-Fisher, however, we
retain a fully non-parametric treatment. We find km/s/Mpc,
somewhat larger than previous results using galaxy diameters.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Cosmic Flows Workshop, Victoria B.C. Canada, July
1999, ed. S. Courteau, M. Strauss & J. Willick, ASP conf. serie
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