Geology and Ground-water Resources of Cheyenne County, Kansas

This report describes the geography, geology, and ground-water resources of Cheyenne County in the northwestern corner of Kansas. The county has an area of about 1,027 square miles and in 1950 had 5,668 inhabitants. Cheyenne County lies within the High Plains section of the Great Plains physiographic province and consists of flat to rolling upland plains with the exception of the northern part of the county and the area adjacent to South Fork Republican River, which are deeply dissected. South Fork runs northeastward nearly through the center of the county and into Dundy County, Nebraska. South Fork and its tributaries drain much of Cheyenne County but an area in the vicinity of Bird City has no surface drainage outlet. The climate is semiarid, the normal annual precipitation being about 18 inches and the average annual temperature being about 52° F. Farming and livestock raising are the principal occupations in the county. A small acreage is under irrigation. The outcropping rocks in Cheyenne County are sedimentary and range in age from late Cretaceous to Recent. The report contains a map showing the surficial geology and cross sections showing subsurface relations. Much of the county is underlain by the Tertiary Ogallala formation, which is generally covered by wind-blown silts of the Sanborn formation. The Pierre shale of late Cretaceous age, the oldest outcropping formation in the county, is exposed in several areas. The Ogallala is the principal water-bearing formation in the county but the alluvium of South Fork and other streams also yields water to wells. The report contains a map showing the location of wells for which records were obtained and showing by means of shading the depths to water level. The depth to the water table ranges from less than 10 feet to nearly 275 feet. Included in the report is a contour map showing the shape and slope of the water table. The configuration of the Pierre shale also is shown by contours, and a map showing the thickness of water-bearing materials is included. The ground-water reservoir is recharged principally by precipitation that falls within the county or in adjacent areas to the west, southwest, and south. Ground water is discharged through transpiration and evaporation, by springs, by discharge into streams, by subsurface movement into adjacent areas, and by wells. Most of the domestic, stock, public, and irrigation supplies are obtained from wells. Irrigation is practiced to a limited extent in Cheyenne County along South Fork and in the uplands south of Bird City. Yields of wells in the alluvium of South Fork generally are small because of the thinness of the water-bearing materials. Yields of upland wells tapping the Ogallala formation are larger, but depths to water level are much greater in the uplands, increasing the cost of irrigating. Analyses of 20 samples of ground water are given, together with a discussion of the principal chemical constituents in relation to use. The analyses indicate that waters from the Ogallala formation and alluvial deposits are suitable for most purposes although moderately hard. Water from alluvial deposits is generally higher in dissolved solids than water from the Ogallala formation. The field data upon which this report is based are given in tables. They include records of 361 wells and 1 spring, chemical analyses of 20 water samples from representative wells, and logs of 44 test holes and 2 irrigation wells

The 1996 U.S. Purse Seine Fishery for Tropical Tunas in the Central-Western Pacific Ocean

The U.S. tropical tuna purse seine fleet has fished the central-western Pacific Ocean under the South Pacific Tuna Treaty since 1988. The 1996 fishery was the poorest since the start ofthe Treaty. Fishing effort declined due to the financial collapse of a large fishing enterprise. Catches reached record lows for yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, and skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, and continued a declining trend that started in 1995. Catch rates also decreased to the lowest levels since 1991. Whether this declining trend in catch rates is due to reduced availability of fish caused by cyclic ocean environmental changes affecting vulnerability or to reduced abundance from excessive fishing pressure is not yet known and needs to be assessed

The true temperature scale of carbon

Spectral emissive power of Acheson graphite at 0.660μ. — The spectral emissive power of Acheson graphite for the wave-length 0.660μ has been determined for the temperature range from 1250°K to 2700°K. The observations were made on a small tubular graphite resistance furnace with a hole in the wall and are best summarized by the relation: ε=0.984-5.8×10^-5T. Measurements of the temperature distribution along the furnace afford determinations of the ratio of resistivity to thermal conductivity at three temperatures

The Spectral Energy Distribution of Dust Emission in the Edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4631 as seen with Spitzer and the James Clerk Maxwell telescope

We explore variations in dust emission within the edge-on Sd spiral galaxy NGC 4631 using 3.6-160 μm Spitzer Space Telescope data and 450-850 μm JCMT data with the goals of understanding the relation between PAHs and dust emission, studying the variations in the colors of the dust emission, and searching for possible excess submillimeter emission compared to what is expected from dust models extrapolated from far-infrared wavelengths. The 8 μm PAH emission correlates best with 24 μm hot dust emission on 1.7 kpc scales, but the relation breaks down on 650 pc scales, possibly because of differences in the mean free paths between photons that excite the PAHs and photons that heat the dust and possibly because the PAHs are destroyed by the hard radiation fields within some star formation regions. The ratio of 8 μm PAH emission to 160 μm cool dust emission appears to vary as a function of radius. The 70 μm/160 μm and 160 μm/450 μm flux density ratios are remarkably constant even though the surface brightnesses vary by factors of 25, which suggests that the emission is from dust heated by a nearly uniform radiation field. Globally, we find an excess of 850-1230 μm emission relative to what would be predicted by dust models. The 850 μm excess is highest in regions with low 160 μm surface brightnesses, although the magnitude depends on the model fit to the data. We rule out variable emissivity functions or ~4 K dust as the possible origins of this 850 μm emission, but we do discuss the other possible mechanisms that could produce the emission

Ultraviolet through far-infrared spatially resolved analysis of the recent star formation in M81 (NGC 3031)

The recent star formation (SF) in the early-type spiral galaxy M81 is characterized using imaging observations from the far-ultraviolet to the far-infrared. We compare these data with models of the stellar, gas, and dust emission for subgalactic regions. Our results suggest the existence of a diffuse dust emission not directly linked to the recent star formation. We find a radial decrease of the dust temperature and dust mass density, and in the attenuation of the stellar light. The IR emission in M81 can be modeled with three components: (1) cold dust with a temperature = 18 ± 2 K, concentrated near the H II regions but also presenting a diffuse distribution; (2) warm dust with = 53 ± 7 K, directly linked with the H II regions; and (3) aromatic molecules, with diffuse morphology peaking around the H II regions. We derive several relationships to obtain total IR luminosities from IR monochromatic fluxes, and we compare five different star formation rate (SFR) estimators for H II regions in M81 and M51: the UV, H alpha, and three estimators based on Spitzer data. We find that the H alpha luminosity absorbed by dust correlates tightly with the 24 mu m emission. The correlation with the total IR luminosity is not as good. Important variations from galaxy to galaxy are found when estimating the total SFR with the 24 mu m or the total IR emission alone. The most reliable estimations of the total SFRs are obtained by combining the H alpha emission (or the UV) and an IR luminosity (especially the 24 mu m emission), which probe the unobscured and obscured SF, respectively. For the entire M81 galaxy, about 50% of the total SF is obscured by dust. The percentage of obscured SF ranges from 60% in the inner regions of the galaxy to 30% in the outer zones

CWRML: representing crop wild relative conservation and use data in XML

Background Crop wild relatives are wild species that are closely related to crops. They are valuable as potential gene donors for crop improvement and may help to ensure food security for the future. However, they are becoming increasingly threatened in the wild and are inadequately conserved, both in situ and ex situ. Information about the conservation status and utilisation potential of crop wild relatives is diverse and dispersed, and no single agreed standard exists for representing such information; yet, this information is vital to ensure these species are effectively conserved and utilised. The European Community-funded project, European Crop Wild Relative Diversity Assessment and Conservation Forum, determined the minimum information requirements for the conservation and utilisation of crop wild relatives and created the Crop Wild Relative Information System, incorporating an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) schema to aid data sharing and exchange. Results Crop Wild Relative Markup Language (CWRML) was developed to represent the data necessary for crop wild relative conservation and ensure that they can be effectively utilised for crop improvement. The schema partitions data into taxon-, site-, and population-specific elements, to allow for integration with other more general conservation biology schemata which may emerge as accepted standards in the future. These elements are composed of sub-elements, which are structured in order to facilitate the use of the schema in a variety of crop wild relative conservation and use contexts. Pre-existing standards for data representation in conservation biology were reviewed and incorporated into the schema as restrictions on element data contents, where appropriate. Conclusion CWRML provides a flexible data communication format for representing in situ and ex situ conservation status of individual taxa as well as their utilisation potential. The development of the schema highlights a number of instances where additional standards-development may be valuable, particularly with regard to the representation of population-specific data and utilisation potential. As crop wild relatives are intrinsically no different to other wild plant species there is potential for the inclusion of CWRML data elements in the emerging standards for representation of biodiversity data

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) alters its feeding niche in response to changing food resources: direct observations in simulated ponds

We used customized fish tanks as model fish ponds to observe grazing, swimming, and conspecific social behavior of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) under variable food-resource conditions to assess alterations in feeding niche. Different food and feeding situations were created by using only pond water or pond water plus pond bottom sediment or pond water plus pond bottom sediment and artificial feeding. All tanks were fertilized twice, prior to stocking and 2 weeks later after starting the experiment to stimulate natural food production. Common carp preferred artificial feed over benthic macroinvertebrates, followed by zooplankton. Common carp did not prefer any group of phytoplankton in any treatment. Common carp was mainly benthic in habitat choice, feeding on benthic macroinvertebrates when only plankton and benthic macroinvertebrates were available in the system. In the absence of benthic macroinvertebrates, their feeding niche shifted from near the bottom of the tanks to the water column where they spent 85% of the total time and fed principally on zooplankton. Common carp readily switched to artificial feed when available, which led to better growth. Common carp preferred to graze individually. Behavioral observations of common carp in tanks yielded new information that assists our understanding of their ecological niche. This knowledge could be potentially used to further the development of common carp aquaculture