A STAMPED IMPRESSION ON THE RIM OF A MB II STORAGE JAR

Abstract

The scarab impression on the rim of a Middle Bronze II storage jar is the first of its kind to be discovered in Israel. The pattern on the impression appears on scarabs of the period. The unusual location of the impression may point to a special content of the jar, or alternatively to the owner of this pot. Once the context of the storage jar rim is studied, it may shed some light on the possible association of this jar with the scarab impression on its rim.     

Mesolithic plant exploitation at the Roc del Migdia, Catalonia

Charred plant remains from the mesolithic site of Roc del Migdia have been analysed in detail. Hazel shell and endocarp fragments of sloe (Prunus spinosa L.) have been identified by incident light microscopy and an attempt has been made at the identification of quantities of parenchymatous plant remains through the use of the scanning electron microscope. A number of different classes of tissue are described and the implications of the results discussed.     

Developments in flood maps for flood risk management in Scotland

ABSTRACT

Sustainable flood risk management in Scotland is underpinned by the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. Effective delivery of actions to reduce the adverse impact of flooding are dependent on a collaborative approach by Responsible Authorities and a common understanding of flood hazard and risk. Over the last few decades, flood hazard maps have established a prominent role as essential tools in supporting effective flood risk management. They have developed as a result of improved national datasets and advances in computer processing. Improvements in modelling confidence and in the spatial representation of hazard and risk-inform confident actions set out in Flood Risk Management Strategies that coordinate actions supporting adaptation to future hazard conditions. The continued development of the accurate spatial representation of flood hazard and risk is an essential component of enhancing resilience in the face of future climate change.     

唐代长安、洛阳作为都城和陪都的气候原因

本文从气候角度探讨唐代以长安为都城、以洛阳为陪都的缘由。唐代由于气候温暖湿润,降水量增大,水灾增多。洛阳因为经度地带性作用、降雨季节分配不均及洛阳河流的特殊情况。使得水灾情况比长安更严重：一是降水量大、水灾次数多,二是水势大、灾情重。尽管唐政府注意治水修堤坝,但中桥被冲毁、雨水断路乃至宫城被淹之事仍屡屡发生。长安虽然旱灾较洛阳严重,但水灾对都城的危害更直接、更严重,灭顶之灾的威胁使洛阳不宜作都城,所以建都长安。     

A Comparison of Holocene and Historical Channel Change along the Macdonald River,Australia

Changes in channel morphology that occurred along the Macdonald River between 1949 and 1955 are often cited as an example of catastrophic channel change. However, the question of whether these changes represented one component of a cyclical evolutionary pattern, or a systematic and persistent shift to a new morphologic state remains to be clearly defined, as does the significance of these dramatic channel changes when viewed against the river's longer‐term Holocene history. In this paper, new measurements of the Macdonald River's channel morphology are used to resolve the river's evolution in the ～50 years since these major channel‐altering floods. By 2002, the Macdonald River's bed had narrowed considerably from its 1955 post‐flood maximum due to the construction of a new floodplain surface within the widened channel. In some locations, the 2002 bed width is comparable to that of the pre‐1949 channel. This aspect of the river's evolution follows models of cyclical channel evolution proposed for the region. However, in light of recent research into the river's longer term Holocene evolution, it is clear that other channel changes that occurred in response to the 1949–1955 floods, particularly the 2 metres of river bed aggradation and 7 kilometres down‐valley shift in the thalweg's intersection with mean sea level, are less cyclic in nature. The capacity of coastal rivers to prograde into estuaries, which in turn induces river bed aggradation, can be seen in this case to counteract the incisional tendencies associated with post‐flood channel contraction, such that persistent river bed aggradation occurs.     

Flood risk mapping in southwestern Nova Scotia: Perceptions and concerns

Flood risk mapping allows for informed decision making regarding personal and community planning. Resistance to flood risk mapping can be driven by potential decline of property values. This paper explores resistance to flood risk mapping through the lens of climax thinking. Climax thinking is a novel theory guiding explorations of resistance to proposed land use changes. The aim of this study was to understand flood experiences, the presence of resistance to flood risk mapping, and whether climax thinking could help explain this resistance. To address this, surveys were administered to residents in the Nova Scotian towns of Liverpool and Bridgewater. We found that one third of respondents have experienced flooding, yet the majority have not seen a flood risk map, nor were they concerned about the potential impacts of flooding. Only one sixth of respondents exhibited resistance to flood risk mapping because of potential loss to property value. Dimensions of climax thinking were predictive of this resistance, specifically ignorance of an individual's own ability to adapt and inability to recognize the impact of their adaptation decisions on others, which together quadrupled the predictive power of the ordinal regression model. These insights can be applied to support the acceptance of flood risk mapping.     

Geometry‐coupled reactive fluid transport at the fracture scale: application to CO2 geologic storage

Water acidification follows CO₂ injection and leads to reactive fluid transport through pores and rock fractures, with potential implications to reservoirs and wells in CO₂ geologic storage and enhanced oil recovery. Kinetic rate laws for dissolution reactions in calcite and anorthite are combined with the Navier‐Stokes law and advection–diffusion transport to perform geometry‐coupled numerical simulations in order to study the evolution of chemical reactions, species concentration, and fracture morphology. Results are summarized as a function of two dimensionless parameters: the Damköhler number Da which is the ratio between advection and reaction times, and the transverse Peclet number Pe defined as the ratio between the time for diffusion across the fracture and the time for advection along the fracture. Reactant species are readily consumed near the inlet in a carbonate reservoir when the flow velocity is low (low transverse Peclet number and Da > 10^?1). At high flow velocities, diffusion fails to homogenize the concentration field across the fracture (high transverse Peclet number Pe > 10^?1). When the reaction rate is low as in anorthite reservoirs (Da < 10^?1), reactant species are more readily transported toward the outlet. At a given Peclet number, a lower Damköhler number causes the flow channel to experience a more uniform aperture enlargement along the length of the fracture. When the length‐to‐aperture ratio is sufficiently large, say l/d > 30, the system response resembles the solution for 1D reactive fluid transport. A decreased length‐to‐aperture ratio slows the diffusive transport of reactant species to the mineral fracture surface, and analyses of fracture networks must take into consideration both the length and slenderness of individual fractures in addition to Pe and Da numbers.     

Cyclic loading of an idealized clay‐filled fault: comparing hydraulic flow in two clay gouges

The flow of water along discontinuities, such as fractures or faults, is of paramount importance in understanding the hydrogeology of many geological settings. An experimental study was undertaken comprising two experiments on a 30° slip‐plane filled with kaolinite or Ball Clay gouge using a bespoke Angled Shear Rig (ASR). The gouge was initially loaded in equal step changes in vertical stress, followed by unloading of the sample in similar equal steps. This was followed by reloading to a new maximum stress, followed by unloading; the test history was therefore load‐unload‐reload‐unload (LURU). The transmissivity of the kaolinite and Ball Clay gouge showed a power‐law relationship with vertical stress. The LURU history showed considerable hysteresis, with flow effectively unchanged during unloading, even when vertical stress was close to zero. Reloading resulted in flow similar to that seen during unloading suggesting that the unloading‐reloading path is similar to the rebound‐reconsolidation line in classic soil mechanics. These observations show the importance of stress history on fracture flow; consideration of just the current stress acting upon a fracture may result in inaccuracies of predicted hydraulic flow. Once a new stress maximum was achieved the transmissivity of the fracture continued to reduce. No significant variation was seen in the flow response of kaolinite and Ball Clay gouge suggesting that the inclusion of illite and quartz did not have a significant influence on the form of the relationship between stress and flow, i.e. both described by a power‐law.     

On containers: A forum. Introduction

This forum, involving anthropologists, archaeologists and historians, lays out the theoretical groundwork for a deep history of the container. By isolating its contents from transaction, and by enabling the manipulation of time, the container serves as an engine of history.     

Resilience unpacked – framing of ‘uncertainty’ and ‘adaptability’ in long-term flood risk management strategies for London and Rotterdam

Resilience is held as a promising concept to produce a paradigm shift from traditional flood control to an integration of flood risk management and spatial planning. Central ideas to the resilience narrative are that ‘nothing is certain except uncertainty itself’ and ‘adaptability’ is key to ‘governing the unknown’. However, this terminology is far from clear, yet increasingly used, which raises the question how it is made sense of in practice. To answer this question, we examine two long-term flood risk management strategies in the London and Rotterdam region with a policy framing perspective (i.e. the English Thames Estuary 2100 Plan and the Dutch Delta Programme). In both strategies, uncertainties are a key concern, leading to adaptive strategic plans. Reconstructing the framing processes shows that the English adopted a ‘scientific pragmatism’ frame and the Dutch a ‘joint fact-finding’ frame. While this led to different governance approaches, there are also striking parallels. Both cases use established methods such as scenario planning and monitoring to ‘manage’ uncertainties. Similarly to previous turns in flood risk management, the resilience narrative seems to be accommodated in a technical-rational way, resulting in policy strategies that are maintaining the status quo rather than bringing about a paradigm shift.