Nicaraguan volcanic monitoring program of the Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales

The Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER) is the institution responsible for volcano monitoring in Nicaragua. The Volcanology Division of the General Directorate of Geology and Geophysics currently monitors six active volcanoes by means of seismology, gas measurements, optical webcams, and visual and satellite observations. The volcano monitoring network that INETER maintains is in continuous expansion and modernization. Similarly, the number of technical and scientific personnel has been growing in the last few years. 2015 was the busiest year of the last two decades: Momotombo volcano erupted for the first time in 110 years, a lava lake was emplaced at the bottom of Masaya volcano’s Santiago crater, and Telica volcano experienced a phreatic phase from May to November. Although we have increased our monitoring capabilities, we still have many challenges for the near future that we expect to resolve with support from the national and international geoscientific community. El Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER) es la institución responsable de la vigilancia volcánica en Nicaragua. Su División de Vulcanología actualmente vigila seis volcanes activos por medio de sismicidad, emisiones de gases, cámaras ópticas, observaciones visuales y teledetección satelital. La red de monitoreo de volcanes que mantiene INETER está en continua expansión y modernización. Del mismo modo, el número de personal técnico y científico ha estado creciendo en los últimos años. El año 2015 fue el año más ocupado que tuvimos en las últimas dos décadas, debido a que el volcán Momotombo entró en erupción por primera vez en los últimos 110 años, se emplazó un lago de lava en el fondo del cráter Santiago (volcán Masaya), y el volcán Telica experimentó una fase freática de mayo a noviembre. A pesar del progreso realizado, todavía tenemos muchos desafíos para el futuro cercano que esperamos lograr con los recursos nacionales y de la comunidad geocientífica internacional.

Download Full-text

Groundwater and soil CO2 efflux weekly monitoring network for the surveillance of Cumbre Vieja volcano, Canary Islands

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-11456 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Cecilia Amonte ◽

Alana Mulliss ◽

Elizabeth Sampson ◽

Alba Martín-Lorenzo ◽

Claudia Rodríguez-Pérez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Isotopic Composition ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

Monitoring Network ◽

Volcano Monitoring ◽

Co2 Efflux ◽

Chemical Parameters ◽

High Concentration ◽

Average Value ◽

Physical Chemical ◽

Cumbre Vieja

La Palma Island (708.32 km2) is located at the north-western end of the Canary Archipelago and is one of the youngest of the archipelago. In the last 123 ka, volcanic activity has taken place exclusively at Cumbre Vieja, the most active basaltic volcano in the Canaries, which is located at the southern part of the island. Since no visible geothermal manifestations occur at the surface environment of this volcano, during the last 20 years there has been considerable interest in the study of diffuse degassing as a powerful tool in the volcano monitoring program. In this study we have used two different geochemical approaches for volcano monitoring from October 2017 to November 2019. First, we have developed a network of 21 closed static chambers to determine soil CO2 effluxes. Additionally, we have monitored physical-chemical parameters (temperature, pH, electrical conductivity -EC-) and chemical/isotopic composition and dissolved gases in the water of two galleries (Pe&#241;a Horeb and Trasvase Oeste) and one water well (Las Salinas). Soil CO2 effluxes for the alkaline traps showed an average value of 7.4 g&#183;m-2&#183;d-1 for the entire Cumbre Vieja volcano. The gas sampled on the head space of the traps can be considered as CO2-enriched air, showing an average value of 1,942 ppmV of CO2. Regarding the CO2 isotopic composition (&#948;13C-CO2), most of the stations exhibited CO2 composed by different mixing degrees between atmospheric and biogenic CO2 with slight contributions of deep-seated CO2, with an average value of -19.3&#8240;. The results of the physical-chemical parameters measured in waters showed mean temperature values of 23.7&#186;C, 19.6&#186;C and 22.1&#186;C, 7.40, 6.27 and 6.60 for the pH and 1,710 &#181;S&#183;cm-1, 411 &#181;S&#183;cm-1 and 41,100 &#181;S&#183;cm-1 for the EC, for Pe&#241;a Horeb, Trasvase Oeste and Las Salinas, respectively. The &#948;13C-CO2 composition of the dissolved gas has a mean value of -7.8&#8240;, -10.2&#8240; and -3.8&#8240; vs. VPDB for Pe&#241;a Horeb, Trasvase Oeste and Salinas, respectively. The highest values of CO2 efflux coincided with the stations showing highest CO2 concentration values located at the southern end of Cumbre Vieja, where the most recent volcanic eruption took place, and also on the northwest flank. This is in accordance with the results obtained for Las Salinas well, located in the south of the island, which show a high concentration of dissolved CO2 and &#948;13C-CO2 values with a strong deep-seated CO2 contribution. This study represents an interesting contribution to detect early warning signals of future unrest episodes at Cumbre Vieja.

Download Full-text

About this title - Active Volcanoes of China

Geological Society London Special Publications ◽

10.1144/sp510 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 510 (1) ◽

pp. NP-NP

Author(s):

J. Xu ◽

C. Oppenheimer ◽

J. Hammond ◽

H. Wei

Keyword(s):

Hazard Mitigation ◽

Monitoring Network ◽

International Community ◽

Volcano Monitoring ◽

Volcanic Unrest ◽

The Holocene ◽

Special Publication ◽

Mitigation Planning ◽

Recent Activity ◽

First Time

China is home to more than a dozen volcanoes that have erupted during the Holocene. Recent activity, such as the eruption of Ashikule in 1951 and unrest of Changbaishan during 2002–05, highlights the potential for future volcanic unrest and eruptions in the country. In 1999, a National Volcano Monitoring Network was established, inaugurating a programme of research and surveillance to understand the history and activity of China's volcanoes. Much progress has been made since, advancing understanding in the areas of geology, geochemistry and geophysics, and supporting hazard mitigation planning. This Special Publication reports the wide-ranging outcomes of this work for the first time to the international community.

Download Full-text

Dwindling status of Epimedium Elatum (Morren & Decne) and its geographical distribution in Kashmir Himalaya, India

Current Botany ◽

10.25081/cb.2018.v9.20180106 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 47-52

Keyword(s):

Medicinal Plant ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Culture Techniques ◽

Kashmir Himalayas ◽

Near Future ◽

First Time ◽

Tissue Culture Techniques

Epimedium elatum (Morren & Decne) of family Berberidaceace is a rare perennial medicinal plant, endemic to high altitude forests of Northwestern Himalayas in India. Ethnobotanically, it has been used as an ingredient for treatment of bone-joint disorders, impotence and kidney disorders in Kashmir Himalayas. Phytochemically, it is rich in Epimedin ABC and Icariin; all of these have been demonstrated to possess remarkable biological activities like PDE-5 inhibition (treatment of erectile dysfunction), anticancer, antiosteoporosis antioxidant and antiviral properties. The present investigation reports its traditional usage, comprehensive distribution and conservation status from twenty ecogeographical regions in Kashmir Himalayas, India. The species was reported from Gurez valley for the first time. Numerous threats like excessive grazing, deforestration, habitat fragmentation, tourism encroachment, landslides and excessive exploitation have decreased its natural populations in most of the surveyed habitats. Consequently, its existence may become threatened in near future if timely conservation steps are not taken immediately by concerned stakeholders involved in medicinal plant research. Moreover, use of plant tissue culture techniques is recommended for development of its in vitro propagation protocols. Therefore, introduction of this medicinal plant in botanical gardens, protected sites and development of monitoring programmes are needed for its immediate conservation in Northwestern Himalayas, India.

Download Full-text

Organic Reactivity Control by Means of Neighboring Groups and Organometallics. A Personal Account

Collection of Czechoslovak Chemical Communications ◽

10.1135/cccc19940001 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

pp. 1-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Pavel Kočovský

Keyword(s):

Transition Metals ◽

Cyclopropane Ring ◽

Allylic Substitutions ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Cardioactive Drug ◽

Novel Method ◽

Metal Catalyzed ◽

Electrophilic Additions ◽

Near Future ◽

First Time

This review summarizes the main topics of our research and covers the period of the last 15 years. The prime interest is focused on various ways of controlling the regio- and stereoselectivity of selected organic reactions, in particular electrophilic additions, cleavage of cyclopropane rings, and allylic substitutions by means of neighboring groups and/or transition and non-transition metals. In the first part, the factors governing the course of electrophilic additions are assessed, culminating in the formulation of selection rules for the reactivity of cyclohexene systems, and in a concise synthesis of the natural cardioactive drug, strophanthidin. These studies also contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of electrophilic additions. The second part describes recent developments in the stereo- and regiocontrolled cleavage of cyclopropane rings by non-transition metals (Tl and Hg), and the reactivity and transmetalation (with Pd) of the primary products. This methodology has resulted in novel routes to unique polycyclic structures, and will have synthetic applications in the near future. Evidence for the stereospecific "corner" cleavage of the cyclopropane ring has been provided for the first time for Tl and later for Hg. The third part deals with transition metal-catalyzed allylic substitution. Evidence for a new "syn" mechanism for the formation of the intermediate (π-allyl)palladium complex has been provided, which runs counter to the generally accepted "anti" mechanism. A novel method for a Pd-catalyzed allylic oxidation has been developed and employed in the synthesis of natural sesquiterpenes. The increasing importance of transition and non-transition metals for synthetic organic chemistry is demonstrated by their unique reactivity in a number of the papers included in this review.

Download Full-text

A New Automatic Monitoring Network of Surface Waters in Greece: Preliminary Data Quality Checks and Visualization

Hydrology ◽

10.3390/hydrology8010033 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 33

Author(s):

Yiannis Panagopoulos ◽

Anna Konstantinidou ◽

Konstantinos Lazogiannis ◽

Anastasios Papadopoulos ◽

Elias Dimitriou

Keyword(s):

Data Quality ◽

Surface Waters ◽

Data Dissemination ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

Monitoring Network ◽

Automatic Monitoring ◽

Water Monitoring ◽

Marine Research ◽

Management Actions ◽

Quality Checks

The monitoring of surface waters is of fundamental importance for their preservation under good quantitative and qualitative conditions, as it can facilitate the understanding of the actual status of water and indicate suitable management actions. Taking advantage of the experience gained from the coordination of the national water monitoring program in Greece and the available funding from two ongoing infrastructure projects, the Institute of Inland Waters of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research has developed the first homogeneous real-time network of automatic water monitoring across many Greek rivers. In this paper, its installation and maintenance procedures are presented with emphasis on the data quality checks, based on values range and variability tests, before their online publication and dissemination to end-users. Preliminary analyses revealed that the water pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) sensors and produced data need increased maintenance and quality checks respectively, compared to the more reliably recorded water stage, temperature (T) and electrical conductivity (EC). Moreover, the data dissemination platform and selected data visualization options are demonstrated and the need for both this platform and the monitoring network to be maintained and potentially expanded after the termination of the funding projects is highlighted.

Download Full-text

Space weather: the solar perspective

Living Reviews in Solar Physics ◽

10.1007/s41116-021-00030-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Manuela Temmer

Keyword(s):

Solar Wind ◽

Space Weather ◽

Weather Forecasting ◽

Interplanetary Space ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Space Weather Forecasting ◽

Stereo Mission ◽

Interaction Regions ◽

Near Future ◽

First Time

AbstractThe Sun, as an active star, is the driver of energetic phenomena that structure interplanetary space and affect planetary atmospheres. The effects of Space Weather on Earth and the solar system is of increasing importance as human spaceflight is preparing for lunar and Mars missions. This review is focusing on the solar perspective of the Space Weather relevant phenomena, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), flares, solar energetic particles (SEPs), and solar wind stream interaction regions (SIR). With the advent of the STEREO mission (launched in 2006), literally, new perspectives were provided that enabled for the first time to study coronal structures and the evolution of activity phenomena in three dimensions. New imaging capabilities, covering the entire Sun-Earth distance range, allowed to seamlessly connect CMEs and their interplanetary counterparts measured in-situ (so called ICMEs). This vastly increased our knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of interplanetary space due to solar activity and fostered the development of Space Weather forecasting models. Moreover, we are facing challenging times gathering new data from two extraordinary missions, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (launched in 2018) and ESA’s Solar Orbiter (launched in 2020), that will in the near future provide more detailed insight into the solar wind evolution and image CMEs from view points never approached before. The current review builds upon the Living Reviews article by Schwenn from 2006, updating on the Space Weather relevant CME-flare-SEP phenomena from the solar perspective, as observed from multiple viewpoints and their concomitant solar surface signatures.

Download Full-text

Political Change in Rhodesia: The South Africa Factor

Issue A Journal of Opinion ◽

10.1017/s0047160700500456 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 13-20

Author(s):

Philip E. Chartrand

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

United Nations ◽

Majority Rule ◽

Political Change ◽

The South ◽

The United Nations ◽

Liberation Movements ◽

Minority Regime ◽

Near Future ◽

First Time

In December 1974, Ian Smith, the leader of the white minority regime in Rhodesia, announced for the first time since declaring his country’s independence from Britain in 1965 that his government was willing to begin direct negotiations with the African liberation movements seeking to achieve majority rule in Rhodesia. The prospect of such talks leading to an end to guerrilla fighting in Rhodesia and a termination of the United Nations authorized sanctions against the illegal Smith regime is dimmed by the fact that the Africans demand African rule for Rhodesia in the near future if not immediately, while Smith and his supporters have refused to consider such a development “in his lifetime.” Still the announcement constituted a step forward which few informed observers would have deemed likely even a few weeks before.

Download Full-text

Detailed Stress Analysis of a Spherical Acrylic Submersible by 3-D Finite Element Modeling

10.1115/imece1999-0626 ◽

1999 ◽

Author(s):

Partha S. Das

Keyword(s):

Finite Element ◽

Numerical Modeling ◽

Dissimilar Materials ◽

Analysis Model ◽

Element Analysis ◽

Finite Element Analysis Model ◽

New Model ◽

Ocean Exploration ◽

Near Future ◽

First Time

Abstract Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI) designed, built and has operated two JOHNSON-SEA-LINK (JSL) manned submersibles for the past 25 years. The JSL submersibles each incorporate a 66–68 in. (1.6764–1.7272 m) OD, 4–5.25 in. (0.1016–0.13335 m) thick acrylic two-man sphere as a Pressure Vessel for Human Occupancy (PVHO). This type of spherical acrylic sphere or submersible was first introduced in around 1970 and is known as Naval Experimental Manned Observatory (NEMO) submersibles. As the demand increases for ocean exploration to 3000 ft. (914.4 m) depth to collect samples, to study the ocean surfaces, the problem of developing cracks at the interface of these manned acrylic submersibles following few hundred dives have become a common phenomena. This has drawn considerable attentions for reinvestigation of the spherical acrylic submersible in order to overcome this crack generation problem at the interface. Therefore, a new full-scale 3-D nonlinear FEA (Finite Element Analysis) model, similar to the spherical acrylic submersible that HBOI uses for ocean exploration, has been developed for the first time in order to simulate the structural behavior at the interface and throughout the sphere, for better understanding of the mechanical behavior. Variation of the stiffness between dissimilar materials at the interface, lower nylon gasket thickness, over designed aluminum hatch are seemed to be few of the causes for higher stresses within acrylic sphere at the nylon gasket/acrylic interface. Following the basic understanding of the stresses and relative displacements at the interface and within different parts of the submersible, various models have been developed on the basis of different shapes and thickness of nylon gaskets, openings of the acrylic sphere, hatch geometry and its materials, specifically to study their effect on the overall performance of the acrylic submersible. Finally, the new model for acrylic submersible has been developed by redesigning the top aluminum hatch and hatch ring, the sphere openings at both top and bottom, as well as the nylon gasket inserts. Altogether this new design indicates a significant improvement over the existing spherical acrylic submersible by reducing the stresses at the top gasket/acrylic interface considerably. Redesigning of the bottom penetrator plate, at present, is underway. In this paper, results from numerical modeling only are reported in details. Correlation between experimental-numerical modeling results for the new model will be reported in the near future.

Download Full-text

Pearl Oyster: From National Icon To Guardian of Qatar's Marine Environment

University of the Future: Re-Imagining Research and Higher Education ◽

10.29117/quarfe.2020.0051 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alexandra Leitao BenHamadou1 ◽

Zenaba Khatir ◽

Noora Al-Shamary ◽

Hassan Hassan ◽

Zainab Hizan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Marine Environment ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Pearl Oyster ◽

Ecological Effects ◽

Biological Organization ◽

Management Planning ◽

National Icon ◽

Biological Methods ◽

First Time

The NPRP9-394-1-090 project “Pearl Oyster: from national icon to guardian of Qatar's marine environment” had as main aim to develop and apply an integrated suite of chemical and biological methods as early warning tools to assess the “health” of Qatar’s marine environment. The central theme consisted in an investigative monitoring program around the use of the pearl oyster, Pictada imbricata radiata, as a sentinel or guardian species. We have characterized the main environmental contaminants of concern at a selected number of sites around the Qatari coast (UmmBab, Al Khor, Al Wakra and Simaisma), during 2 years, in summer and winter. Potential ecological effects of contaminants (targeted and untargeted) were investigated at different biological organization levels (gene, chromosome, cell, individual, population), through a multidisciplinary approach, using classical and genotoxicological endpoints, integrative histopathology and transcriptomic responses to the different environmental stresses. To our knowledge, this is the first time an integrated approach connecting all these disciplines has been applied in the Qatari marine environment. We present here the main results, of this 3 years project, obtained in all different disciplinary approaches. The results of this project will leave a legacy of resources for future Qatari researchers, including an open access transcriptome data base and the first description of common pathologies observed in the pearl oyster P. i. radiata. Moreover, they will also represent a sound science-based baseline data essential for conservation and management planning, by integration of the data from all the different disciplines applied in the project to assess the potential ecological effects of contaminants at different biological levels.

Download Full-text

Algae and Cyanobacteria Diversity and Bioindication of Long-Term Changes in the Hula Nature Reserve, Israel

Diversity ◽

10.3390/d13110583 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 583

Author(s):

Sophia Barinova ◽

Alla Alster

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Species Richness ◽

Nature Reserve ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

Organic Pollution ◽

Ecological Groups ◽

International Importance ◽

First Time ◽

Lake Hula

Lake Hula, the core of one of the most extensive wetland complexes in the Eastern Mediterranean, was drained in 1951–1958. However, about 350 hectares of papyrus marshes were allocated in the southwestern part of the previous lake and became the Hula Nature Reserve status, the first of two wetlands in Israel included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. The list of algae and cyanobacteria species of Lake Hula was compiled by us for the first time based on data from publications of 1938–1958, as well as our research in the Hula Nature Reserve, obtained within the framework of the monitoring program for 2007–2013. The list includes 225 species and intraspecies of algae and cyanobacteria belonging to eight phyla. The dynamics of the species richness of algae and cyanobacteria flora for 1938–2013 are shown. Species-bioindicators of water quality have been identified, and the change in their composition by ecological groups for a period of about a hundred years has been shown. Based on the species richness of algae communities, water quality indices were calculated with particular attention to changes in trophic status during the study period. The algae flora of Lake Hula and Hula Nature Reserve was found to be similar, but bioindication has revealed an increase in salinity and organic pollution in recent years.

Download Full-text