An assessment of the recent evolution of the streamflow in a near-natural system: a case study in the headwaters of the Mero basin (Galicia, Spain)

Producción CientíficaObservational trend analysis is fundamental for documenting changes in river flows and placing extreme events in their longer-term historical context. Observations from near-natural catchments, i.e., with little or no alteration by humans, are of great importance in detecting and attributing streamflow trends. The purpose of this study is to analyze the annual and seasonal trends of stream discharge (mean, low and high flows) in a headwater catchment in NW Spain, i.e., in the wettest corner of the Iberian Peninsula. The results showed no significant decrease in the mean annual stream discharge. However, significantly lower summer and autumn mean stream discharge and an increase in low flow period were detected, in addition to lesser autumn high flow. The rainfall pattern followed an upward trend, but was not significant. This different pattern shown by rainfall and discharge indicates that is not sufficient to explain the observed trend in stream discharge. Air temperature, most notably by enhancing evapotranspiration, may explain the altered patterns of stream discharge.Xunta de Galicia (Proyecto CGL2014-56907-R)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Proyecto CGL2014-56907-R

Assessing the Expected Impact of Climate Change on Nitrate Load in a Small Atlantic Agro-Forested Catchment

Climate change is likely to have profound impacts on quality of water resources, by altering the magnitude and timing of nutrient delivery to stream network. However, water quality responses to climate change are difficult to predict, especially for nutrient loads because of combined uncertainties in water quality and quantity projections. In this study, the potential medium (2031–2060) and long-term (2069–2098) impacts of project changes in climate variables (temperature, rainfall and CO2 concentration) on nitrate load in an Atlantic agro-forested catchment (NW Spain) were assessed using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model. Climate change scenarios are based on data projected by regional models from the ENSEMBLES project and two CO2 concentration scenarios. The results showed that nitrate load will increase in the future horizons (2031–2060, 6%; 2069–2098, 7%) in relation to current values (1981–2010), possibly due to the decline in grassland biomass, as well as an increase in the rate of mineralisation linked to the increase in temperature. Consequently, lower rates of fertilisers will be needed in these areas in future horizons, which should be taken into consideration when planning management strategies in order to mitigate the impacts of potential climate change

Unpacking occupational health data in the service sector: From Bayesian networking and spatial clustering to policy-making

The health status of the service sector workforce is a significant unknown in the field of medical geography. While spatial epidemiology has made progress in predicting the relationship between human health and the environment, there are still important challenges that remain unsolved. The main issue lies in the inability to statistically determine and visually represent all spatial concepts, as there is a need to cover a wide range of service activities while also considering the impact of numerous traditional medical variables and emerging risk factors, such as those related to socioeconomic and bioclimatic factors. This study aims to address the needs of health professionals by defining, prioritizing, and visualizing multiple occupational health risk factors that contribute to the well-being of workers. To achieve this, a methodological approach based on the synergy of Bayesian machine learning and geostatistics is proposed. Extensive data from occupational health surveillance tests were collected in Spain, along with socioeconomic and bioclimatic covariates, to assess potential social and climate impacts on health. This integrated approach enabled the identification of relevant patterns related to risk factors. A three-step geostatistical modeling process, including variography, ordinary kriging, and G clustering, was used to generate national distribution maps for various factors such as annual mean temperature, annual rainfall, spine health, limb health, cholesterol, age, and sleep quality. These maps considered four target activities—administration, finances, education, and hospitality. Remarkably, bioclimatic variables were found to contribute approximately 9% to the overall health status of workersFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDB/00681/2020Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDB/04683/2020Universidade de Vig

La renovación de la palabra en el bicentenario de la Argentina : los colores de la mirada lingüística

El libro reúne trabajos en los que se exponen resultados de investigaciones presentadas por investigadores de Argentina, Chile, Brasil, España, Italia y Alemania en el XII Congreso de la Sociedad Argentina de Lingüística (SAL), Bicentenario: la renovación de la palabra, realizado en Mendoza, Argentina, entre el 6 y el 9 de abril de 2010. Las temáticas abordadas en los 167 capítulos muestran las grandes líneas de investigación que se desarrollan fundamentalmente en nuestro país, pero también en los otros países mencionados arriba, y señalan además las áreas que recién se inician, con poca tradición en nuestro país y que deberían fomentarse. Los trabajos aquí publicados se enmarcan dentro de las siguientes disciplinas y/o campos de investigación: Fonología, Sintaxis, Semántica y Pragmática, Lingüística Cognitiva, Análisis del Discurso, Psicolingüística, Adquisición de la Lengua, Sociolingüística y Dialectología, Didáctica de la lengua, Lingüística Aplicada, Lingüística Computacional, Historia de la Lengua y la Lingüística, Lenguas Aborígenes, Filosofía del Lenguaje, Lexicología y Terminología

Concentración de sólidos en suspensión durante hidrológicos individuales

RESUMEN. El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en conocer la influencia de los episodios de lluvia en los contenidos de sólidos en suspensión en las aguas superficiales de una cuenca rural de 16 km2 de extensión, con sustrato de esquisto y clima templado húmedo. Para ello, se analizó la evolución de la concentración de sólidos en suspensión en 11 eventos individuales producidos entre diciembre de 2004 y diciembre de 2005. Los resultados obtenidos, con mayores concentraciones de sólidos en suspensión en los eventos de otoño e invierno, muestran que los contenidos de sólidos en suspensión no sólo dependen de la cantidad y duración de la precipitación, sino también, de las condiciones de humedad y uso del suelo. Se observa que al inicio del evento las concentraciones de sólidos son bajas (generalmente menores de 10 mg/L) y que éstas se incrementan de forma paralela al caudal describiendo fenómenos de histéresis en sentido de las agujas del reloj. Las concentraciones máximas de sólidos se alcanzan con el pico de caudal, o justo antes de éste, y después decrecen de manera rápida lo que es indicativo de que la fuente de sedimento está limitada. The objective of this work is to know the influence of the rain episodes in the suspended solid contents in superficial waters of a rural river basin of 16 km2 of extension, with substrate of schist and humid temperate climate. The evolution of the suspended solid concentrations was analyzed during 11 single-events that happened between December of 2004 and December of 2005. The obtained results, with greater suspended solid concentrations in the events of autumn and winter, demonstrate that the suspended solid contents depend on the amount and duration of the precipitation but also of the conditions of humidity and soil use. In all the cases is observed that at the beginning of the event the solid concentrations are low (generally small that 10 mg/L) and that these are increased of parallel form to the water volume having described clockwise hysteresis. The maximum suspended solid concentrations are reached with the peak flow or before this and later it decreases of fast way. This indicates that the sediment source is limited

Recovery Of Dense Minerals As Derivative In The Exploitation Of The Alluvial Terraces Of THE Miño River

Times the main objective of this work is to define an industrial protocol to recover dense minerals present in the alluvial quaternary terraces of the Miño River (NW Spain), rich in a finegrained and highdensity material identified as black sands. The recovery and sale of these sands implies the complete utilization of the resource; thereby the sustainability of the exploitation is enhanced and the environmental costs are reduced. These black sands comprise two fractions of interest: a coarsegrained fraction, rich in gold, and a finegrained fraction rich in monazite, ilmenite, zircon, garnets, rutile, andalucite and xenotime. On this second fraction, the methods to characterize the mineral grade from the chemical and mineralogical points of view were defined and the procedures to concentrate and recover these dense minerals were also established. As a result, the combination of dry techniques of separation with magnetic and electrostatic devices to treat the primary concentrate previously obtained from wet gravity concentration allowed the highest grade of the minerals of interest to be obtainedEl presente trabajo tiene como principal objetivo la concentración y refino de minerales densos presentes en las terrazas aluviales cuaternarias del río Miño (NW Spain) ricas en un material de granulometría fina y elevada densidad caracterizado comoarenas negras. La recuperación de estas arenas y su salida al mercado supone el aprovechamiento completo del recurso, incidiendo en la sostenibilidad de la explotación y permitiendo reducir costes medioambientales. Los estudios realizados en estas arenas negras revelan la existencia de dos fracciones granulométricas de interés: la más gruesa es rica en oro y la más fina en minerales densos principalmente monacita, ilmenita, circón y casiterita y en menor proporción granates, rutilo, andalucita y xenotima. Sobre esta segunda fracción se han optimizado los métodos de caracterización química y mineralógica para determinar su ley, y los procedimientos de concentración y refinado automatizados. Como resultado, se plantea la combinación de técnicas de separación en seco con separadores magnéticos y electrostáticos para tratar el concentrado primario que se obtiene de la concentración gravitacional por vía húmeda ya existente. Los resultados obtenidos de estas pruebas indican que se pueden obtener elevadas leyes en los minerales de interé

The state of climate in NW Iberia

Since 1974, there has been a significant increasing trend in land and sea surface temperatures of 0.5 and 0.24°C decade-1, respectively, in the NW Iberian Peninsula. Over the same period, annual precipitation does not show any trend, although some tendencies have been detected at seasonal scales. A significant positive trend, on average of 2 cm decade–1, was also observed in sea level rise from 1943 onwards. Ekman transport perpendicular to the coast (upwelling index) showed a decrease from 1975 to 2008 at both annual and seasonal scales. In addition, the flow of the Miño River (the main river in the area) has also decreased at a mean rate of 18 m3 s-1 decade-1 since 1970. At a synoptic scale, winter cyclone frequency and winter and spring blocking activity have decreased since the 1950s, which may partially explain the winter precipitation decline and the winter and spring temperature increases. These changes in synoptic systems are also in agreement with reported trends in the dominant variability modes of atmospheric circulation affecting NW Iberia, particularly a pronounced positive trend in the North Atlantic Oscillation from the 1970s to the 1990s.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia | Ref. CTM2007-62546-C03-03Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. CGL2009-09143Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. INCITE09383278P