Glacigenic debris-flows observed in 3D seismic high-resolution seafloor imagery, Faroe–Shetland Channel, NE Atlantic

Glacigenic debris-flows represent successive mass-flow deposits that build out a prograding wedge of sediment beyond the grounding zone of an ice sheet (e.g. Laberg & Vorren 1995; King et al. 1998). A prograding sedimentary depocentre extending from the outer shelf to the upper slope has been observed in geophysical datasets from the West Shetland margin of the Faroe–Shetland Channel, NW of the UK in the NE Atlantic. Overlapping, glacigenic debris-flows comprise the Rona and Foula wedges and provide insight into the extent and stability of the northern sector of the British Ice Sheet during the last full-glacial period (Stoker & Varming 2011)

A study into marine landscapes applied to habitat mapping

In recent years there have been many new seabed-mapping programmes carried out around the world using the latest data acquisition techniques. The need for these maps is driven by the recognition that an ecosystem-based approach to the management of national Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), as required by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, requires both detailed bathymetry and maps of the physical properties of the sea floor. In Europe, the implementation of the CBD is through the Habitats and Birds Directives, which require the identification of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protected Areas (SPAs). A network of SACs and SPAs will be set up across Europe known as Natura 2000. In addition, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas has developed the concept of the ecosystem-based approach in the context of fisheries management, subsequently adopted by the European Union in its review of the Common Fisheries Policy; the World Wildlife Fund for Natures’ marine policy has developed the concept of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs); the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic is also working to promote networks of MPAs and Ecological Quality Objectives (EcoQOs). In the UK, the Department of Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) major reports on Marine Stewardship,’ Safeguarding our Seas: A Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of our Marine Environment’ published in 2002 and followed by a consultation paper ‘ Seas of Change’, form the basis for developing a practical application of the ecosystem-based approach. The DEFRA Review of Marine Nature Conservation (RMNC) produced an interim report in 2001, which recommended that a pilot scheme at a regional scale to test a proposed framework for nature conservation. This has led to the Irish Sea Pilot Study managed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), which has adopted the concept of ‘marine landscapes’, first developed in Canadian waters, based on geophysical features recognising that their importance in determining the nature of biological communities. As a result of these national and international initiatives, a number of habitat classification schemes have been introduced in different parts of the world. Since 2001, a group of geologists with interests in the application of geological data to habitat mapping have met each year to present their views and mapping programmes and to discuss their ideas with scientists from other disciplines, mainly biologists and oceanographers. The GeoHab (Geological Mapping of Habitats for Marine Resources and Management) group have provided the impetus for this review of BGS geological data in the context of habitat mapping classification schemes, and proposes ways in which our BGS data may be applied automatically, within a Geographical Information System, to the selection of relevant sources of information

Symmetric hyperbolic systems for a large class of fields in arbitrary dimension

Symmetric hyperbolic systems of equations are explicitly constructed for a general class of tensor fields by considering their structure as r-fold forms. The hyperbolizations depend on 2r-1 arbitrary timelike vectors. The importance of the so-called "superenergy" tensors, which provide the necessary symmetric positive matrices, is emphasized and made explicit. Thereby, a unified treatment of many physical systems is achieved, as well as of the sometimes called "higher order" systems. The characteristics of these symmetric hyperbolic systems are always physical, and directly related to the null directions of the superenergy tensor, which are in particular principal null directions of the tensor field solutions. Generic energy estimates and inequalities are presented too.Comment: 24 pages, no figure

Reduction of critical temperatures in pure and thoriated UBe13 by columnar defects

We investigate the influence of columnar defects on the superconducting transition temperatures of pure and thoriated UBe13. The defects cause all the transitions to widen and to drop slightly in temperature. Quantitatively, the single UBe13 transition resembles the lower transition in a sample with 3% thorium more closely than the upper thoriated transition.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure. To be presented at M2S-HTSC-V

The Shallow Geological Model: mapping and monitoring the marine landscape

Managing our seas without a sound knowledge of the sea-bed environment and the processes that shape the sea-bed characteristics makes it difficult to conserve key areas, maintain biodiversity and economically develop our marine resources in an efficient and sustainable way. Recent developments in marine landscape mapping, visualisation techniques and instant data access provide timely, proven technologies that are now in widespread use

ECORD geophysical and geotechnical hazard site survey offshore Yucatan, Mexico : cruise 2013/4_ECORD

This report provides information on the University of Texas, Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) led ECORD (European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling) geophysical and geotechnical hazard site survey offshore Yucatan aboard the R/V Justo Sierra which took place from the 16th April to the 23rd April 2013 over a study area within the Chixculub impact crater. The cruise has been carried out under contract for ECORD comprising the acquisition of geophysical data (surface tow boomer, side scan sonar, multibeam echosounder, magnetometer and CHIRP data) and geotechnical data (cone penetrometer tests (CPT)), ahead of scheduled ECORD led drilling of the Chixculub impact crater. The survey was undertaken in joint collaboration between UTIG and Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México (UNAM). Seafloor Geotec, LLC, was commissioned to carry out CPTs at selected sites within the survey area

Reprocessing of CHP datasets (HI 1567 & 1570) and seafloor substrate interpretation for selected areas : Inner Sound off Skye on the west coast of Scotland

This report describes the methodology for the processing of multibeam echosounder bathymetry, production of multibeam echosounder layers (bathymetry, hillshade, slope, aspect and rugosity) for display and interpretative purposes. Furthermore, an overview of the sea-bed substrate interpretation undertaken by the British Geological Survey (BGS) for three selected areas within Inner Sound off Skye on the west coast of Scotland is provided

Understanding service demand for mental health among Australians aged 16 to 64 years according to their possible need for treatment

Background: To inform decisions about mental health resource allocation, planners require reliable estimates of people who report service demand (i.e. people who use or want mental health services) according to their level of possible need. Methods: Using data on 6915 adults aged 16-64 years in Australia's 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, we examined past-year service demand among respondents grouped into four levels of possible need: (a) 12-month mental disorder; (b) lifetime but no 12-month mental disorder; (c) any other indicator of possible need (12-month symptoms or reaction to stressful event, or lifetime hospitalisation); (d) no indicator of possible need. Multivariate logistic regression analyses examined correlates of service demand, separately for respondents in each of levels 1-3. Results: Sixteen per cent of Australian adults reported service demand, of whom one-third did not meet criteria for a 12-month mental disorder (equivalent to 5.7% of the adult population). Treatment patterns tended to follow a gradient defined by level of possible need. For example, service users with a 12-month disorder received, on average, 1.6-3.9 times more consultations than their counterparts in other levels of possible need, and had 1.9-2.2 times higher rates of psychologist consultation. Service users with a lifetime but not 12-month disorder or any other indicator of need consumed a similar average number of services to people with mild 12-month mental disorders, but received relatively fewer services involving the mental health sector. Service demand was associated with increased suicidality and psychological distress in all levels of possible need examined, and with poorer clinical and functional status for those with 12-month or lifetime disorders. Conclusions: Many Australians reporting service demand do not meet criteria for a current mental disorder, but may require services to maintain recovery following a past episode or because they are experiencing symptoms and significant psychological distress

Seabed characterization: developing fit for purpose methodologies

We briefly describe three methods of seabed characterization which are ‘fit for purpose’, in that each approach is well suited to distinct objectives e.g. characterizing glacial geomorphology and shallow glacial geology vs. rapid prediction of seabed sediment distribution via geostatistics. The methods vary from manual ‘expert’ interpretation to increasingly automated and mathematically based models, each with their own attributes and limitations. We would note however that increasing automation and mathematical sophistication does not necessarily equate to improve map outputs, or reduce the time required to produce them. Judgements must be made to select methodologies which are most appropriate to the variables mapped, and according to the extent and presentation scale of final maps