One of the fastest growing companies in Japan right now is GREE, a publicly-traded mobile social gaming network with 900 employees and on track to generate $1.7 billion in annual revenues. I interviewed GREE founder and CEO Yoshikazu Tanaka through an interpreter earlier this week at the TechCrunch Tokyo conference. Here are two videos from that interview. (You can watch a third video in my post today comparing GREE?s financials to Zynga?s).
In the video above, Tanaka talks about why he bought OpenFeint in the U.S. last April and how he wants to follow Nintendo in getting to 80 percent of revenues from outside Japan. But more than just follow Nintendo, he wants to displace it. Smartphones are replacing traditional gaming hardware and the games are different in that social features (playing with and against other people over the network) can trump graphics. ?Our goal is to make our brand just as successful, if not better, than Nintendo,? says Tanaka.
Tanaka tells me how he started GREE o a server in his apartment in 2004 in the longer video below. Originally, it was a PC-based social network (the Friendster of Japan), but he shifted to a mobile social network for games a few years later. Now 99 percent of GREE?s users are mobile. ?We believe the PC will get erased at some point,? he says matter-of-factly.
GREE is a Tokyo-based web services company that was founded in 2004 by then 26-year old Yoshikazu Tanaka. Before, Tanaka was responsible for operating the auctions operations for Rakuten, Japan?s biggest online shopping mall. The name GREE is derived from a sociological concept called ?Six Degrees of Separation?. The company?s flagship product is called GREE Mobile, a mix of social network and free casual gaming platform. GREE started social network services on the fixed Internet but ultimately lost to Mixi,...
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Yoshikazu Tanaka is CEO of GREE, Inc. He joined Sony Communication Network current: So-net Entertainment Corporation after graduating Nihon University?s Faculty of Law in 1999. He joined Rakuten, Inc. in 2002. In 2004, he created GREE by avocation and left Rakuten, Inc. In the same year, he founded GREE, Inc. and became its CEO.
Learn more
Nintendo, a technology company widely known for its line of game consoles, was actually founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi. It began as a Card Game company and evolved into one of the largest Japanese companies with a Market Capitalization of over $85 billion. It?s most recent game console, the Wii, has been one of the most difficult consumer devices to buy, because of such high demand.
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The best social gaming network for both Android and iOS devices.
Es dificil evadir esa realidad.. cuando dos almas se aman d verdad, el lugar lo construye los dos, no importa donde, como, ni cuando, .. ok..saludos cuidate ....chao.
CAMP VICTORY, Iraq ? Inside palace walls built by Saddam Hussein, U.S. generals plotted the war's course, tracked the mounting death toll and swore in new American citizens under gaudy glass chandeliers.
Just outside the palace, American troops whacked golf balls into man-made lakes or fished for carp, while others sat down with a cigar and a can of nonalcoholic beer hoping for a respite from incoming rockets or mortar shells.
Along another lake some distance away, a jailed Saddam tended to tomatoes and cucumbers in a small, walled-off enclosure with guards patrolling overhead.
Ever since the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division fought their way into the Baghdad airport grounds nearly nine years ago, the sprawling area they renamed Camp Victory has held a special place in the American military experience in Iraq.
From here, the highest-ranking generals sitting behind banks of telephones and video screens communicated with commanders in the field and political leaders in Washington, and dictated strategy that unfolded on the streets of Fallujah, Mosul and Najaf.
It was an intersection in the war where U.S. troops, hot and dusty after traveling across Iraq's deadly roads and highways, could relax with a latte or bootlegged movie before heading back out again.
On Friday, the base that at its height was home to 46,000 people was handed over to the Iraqi government as part of American efforts to move all U.S. troops out of the country by the end of the year.
"The base is no longer under U.S. control and is under the full authority of the government of Iraq," said U.S. military spokesman Col. Barry Johnson. He said that by 2 p.m. on Friday, there was no longer any U.S. troop presence at the base.
The transfer of the country's largest American military base to Iraqi custody happened with little fanfare, and no ceremony was held.
The area, which the military formally calls Victory Base Complex, was originally used as a country club for the Baghdad elite under Saddam. A visitor can still find small relics of that era, such as signs advising patrons where to park, or the hours during which the casino was open.
Saddam built the palace complex near the airport out of embarrassment. During the 1978 Arab League summit he was forced to house incoming dignitaries in private homes in Baghdad because he had no proper accommodations, according to Robert O. Kirkland, a former U.S. military historian who interviewed former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz and other Iraqis who were once in American custody.
To rectify the problem, Saddam went on a palace-building spree, eventually building nine structures of varying size and impressiveness. He gave some of them names that reflected his often convoluted view of the world: Victory over America, Victory over Iran and Victory over Kuwait.
In the run-up to the war, U.S. military planners were confused by a cone-shaped structure they could see from satellite imagery, said Col. Les Melnyk, another former U.S. military historian in Iraq. They labeled it a possible prayer site. It turned out to be a pigeon coop.
Maj. William Sumner was a captain when his unit arrived at Camp Victory in mid-April 2003. He remembers how Iraqi looters managed to get into the complex and make off with geese, pelicans and other animals from a small zoo Saddam had built.
"I think that's when the cougar got out of the enclosure," he said. For weeks afterward, a large feline, which Sumner said could have also been a bobcat, was spotted wandering around the base.
In the early days after the invasion, soldiers swam in the man-made lakes or toured the islands with paddle boats.
But quickly the atmosphere became more like bases back in the U.S. That meant rules and regulations ? and military police to enforce them. Sumner said during his unit's second week at Victory he was pulled over for speeding.
"After we moved onto our other place, we just tried to refuse to go back there whenever possible," he said.
Victory Base Complex was essentially a city, often hit by rockets or mortar shells. One time the violence came from within. In May 2009, a U.S. soldier shot and killed five fellow troops at a combat stress clinic.
The facility was so big it was divided into sections with different names. Troops could travel from Camp Stryker to Camp Liberty without leaving the base. A public bus system with posted routes transported people to the dining facilities, the gym or a dirt speedway where troops and contractors would race remote-controlled cars.
By the numbers supplied by the U.S. military, it was a substantial operation:
? The incinerators destroyed an average of 178,000 pounds of waste a day.
? A water purification plant produced 1.85 million gallons of water a day.
? A bottled water plant filled 500,000 one-liter bottles a day.
? Three separate plants produced 60 megawatts of power a day.
If soldiers grew tired of food at the massive chow halls, they could grab takeout at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Cinnabon, Burger King or Subway.
At various stores they could buy anything from illegal DVDs to a Harley Davidson motorcycle delivered straight to their door back in the U.S. when they returned from the war. In the early days of the war, troops could even buy Saddam Hussein's personal silverware and place settings.
Troops and contractors visiting from other bases took tours of the palaces.
One particularly entertaining pastime was feeding the carp in the lake surrounding Al Faw palace, where the top generals and U.S. military officials were based. The aggressive fish would jump out of the water for cereal, Girl Scout cookies and Pop Tarts.
Off-limits to most troops was the jail used to house Saddam and some of his cohorts. In a dilapidated, bomb-damaged building encircled by concertina wire, American troops interrogated and guarded the former dictator before he was handed over to the Iraqis and executed in 2006.
The Iraqi government has not yet announced plans for the complex, prime real estate in a country sorely lacking in parks and public spaces. The Iraqi military is already using some parts, and there is talk of turning Saddam's jail cell into a museum.
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? The Oscars' Best Animated Short Film category will be the usual battle between giants and little guys this year, with Pixar and Tweety Bird competing with a batch of smaller animated films from around the world. The Academy released a 10-film shortlist on Thursday, which puts Pixar's "La Luna" in the running to become the company's 11th nomination, and gives the Warner Bros. cartoon "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat" a chance to add to WB's long history in the category as well.
The Academy shortlist narrowed the field down from 44 qualifying shorts.
Pixar has won three Oscars in this category -- but since the company won its first Animated Feature Oscar for "Finding Nemo" in 2003, it has yet to win another Animated Short Oscar despite five subsequent nominations.
"I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat," meanwhile, is a new Tweety and Sylvester cartoon made in 3D and based on a song recorded by the late Mel Blanc decades ago.
Also in the running is "The Fantastic Flying Books or Mr. Morris Lessmore," from award-winning children's author William Joyce.
The shortlist is chosen by volunteer members of the Short Films and Feature Animation branch, who viewed and scored all eligible shorts. To qualify, a film must receive an average score of at least 7.5 on a scale of 6-to-10. The final three-to-five nominees will be chosen after a second round of judging, which is open to all branch members.
Animated shorts become eligible for consideration in two ways. Films that screen at least twice a day for three consecutive days in Los Angeles County qualify, provided they meet certain technical requirements. Films can also qualify by winning a best-in-category award at one of more than 60 competitive film festivals approved by the Academy.
Winners of the Student Academy Awards also qualify.
Contact: Peter Weiss pweiss@agu.org 202-777-7507 American Geophysical Union
The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Water Resources Research (WRR), Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences (JGR-G) and Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface (JGR-F).
Freshwater floods move salt into arid-region aquifers
Forest carbon uptake recovers from modest tree losses
Intensively farmed regions impact groundwater nitrate pollution
Wetlands are dominant summer methane source in Arctic
New complexities in ice stream flow behavior
How did Martian polar gullies form?
Anyone may read the scientific abstract for any already-published paper by clicking on the link provided at the end of each Highlight. You can also read the abstract by going to http://www.agu.org/pubs/search_options.shtml and inserting into the search engine the full doi (digital object identifier), e.g. doi:10.1029/2011GL049576. The doi is found at the end of each Highlight below.
Journalists and public information officers (PIOs) at educational or scientific institutions who are registered with AGU also may download papers cited in this release by clicking on the links below. Instructions for members of the news media, PIOs, and the public for downloading or ordering the full text of any research paper summarized below are available at http://www.agu.org/news/press/papers.shtml.
Sea level in the western tropical Pacific Ocean has been increasing at a rate about three times the global average rate of sea level rise, as observed from satellite altimetry and tide gauges. Why are sea level trends so different in this region? Previous studies have suggested that the high rate of sea level change in the western tropical Pacific is associated with the natural variation of the El NioSouthern Oscillation.
However, using a general circulation model, Merrifield and Maltrud show that western tropical Pacific sea level trends are likely due to a gradual intensification of the Pacific trade winds in the past 2 decades. They also highlight other aspects of ocean circulation that have been altered in response to the intensifying trade winds. Some previous research has suggested that the trade wind intensification is a result of global warming, although that has yet to be verified. If that is the case, the authors conclude the western tropical Pacific sea level trends will likely continue to be anomalously high.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL049576, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL049576
Title:
Regional sea level trends due to a Pacific trade wind intensification
Authors:
Mark A. Merrifield: Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai'i at M?noa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA;
Mathew E. Maltrud: Fluid Dynamics and Solid Mechanics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA.
2. Freshwater floods move salt into arid-region aquifers
For people living in arid ecosystems, groundwater replenished during seasonal flooding is typically the most important source of freshwater. Yet these same floods may also be responsible for temporarily increasing the salinity of the vital freshwater stores, a relationship shown for the austral summer flooding of the Kuiseb River in Namibia. Between 2006 and 2008, Amiaz et al. recorded the effect of 12 floods on soil water storage, groundwater electrical conductivity (a measure of salinity), and solute movement throughout various layers of the subsurface along the river. The researchers' primary concern is understanding how soluble salts residing in the vadose zone, the subsurface layer that lies between the groundwater table and the surface, make their way into the aquifer.
Through in-field measurements and laboratory soil column experiments, the authors find that as floodwater travels along the surface it triggers a compression wave that moves down through the sandy sediments that compose the channel bed, destabilizing salts in the vadose zone and pushing them into the groundwater. As the floodwater itself percolates through the subsurface, additional salts dissolve into it, further increasing groundwater salinity. The authors notice that while the first flood of the season leads to the largest leap in groundwater salinity, subsequent flooding can draw even more salt out of the vadose zone due to the rising water table and the subsequent saturation of the vadose zone sediments. They note that it is only upon the arrival of substantial floodwater to the groundwater stores that dilution can compensate for the increased salinity.
Source:
Water Resources Research, doi:10.1029/2011WR010747, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011WR010747
Title:
Solute transport in the vadose zone and groundwater during flash floods
Authors:
Yanai Amiaz, Shaul Sorek and Ofer Dahan: Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR), J. Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel;
Yehouda Enzel: Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
3. Forest carbon uptake recovers from modest tree losses
By some accounts, forests are currently seeing the highest rates of disturbance since the recession of the Pleistocene glaciers over 10,000 years ago. In recent decades the global extent of forest-disrupting events has increased, yet their intensity has been on the decline. Significant tree losses upset carbon and nitrogen cycling, drastically extending recovery times. Throughout the northern temperate zone, forests that established a century ago on clear-cut or burned lands have been increasingly affected by subtle disturbances, like selective logging, pathogenic insects, or age-related mortality. The higher proportion of trees surviving these modest disturbances likely mitigates the effects on carbon and nitrogen cycling, but evidence is limited.
By manipulating an experimental forest at the University of Michigan Biological Station, Nave et al. determine how forests' carbon and nitrogen cycles respond to subtle disruptions. In 2008, the authors and their team culled 39 percent of the forest's tree population using stem girdlingthe process of removing a ring of the tree's bark and starving it of its nutrient and water supplies. The aim was to accelerate the loss of short-lived tree species, driving the forest into a more complex state, commonly found in older forests, rather than the homogeneous conditions that result from clear-cutting or a forest-clearing fire. Initially, the authors find that the forest's carbon uptake declined and soil nitrogen availability and leaching increased, reminiscent of severe disturbances. However, most forest ecosystems are inherently limited by the availability of nitrogen, and the newly liberated stores were drawn up by the remaining longer-lived trees, producing new leaf area and mitigating the decrease in carbon uptake. The authors suggest that, as the forest structure continues to change in the wake of subtle disturbances, the forest's carbon uptake will continue to increase.
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, doi:10.1029/2011JG001758, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001758
Title:
Disturbance and the resilience of coupled carbon and nitrogen cycling in a north temperate forest
Authors:
L. E. Nave and C. S. Vogel: University of Michigan Biological Station, Pellston, Michigan, USA:
C. M. Gough: Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA;
K. D. Maurer and G. Bohrer: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA;
B. S. Hardiman and P. S. Curtis: Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA;
J. Le Moine and K. J. Nadelhoffer: University of Michigan Biological Station, Pellston, Michigan, USA, and University of Michigan, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA;
A. B. Muoz: Columbia University, New York, New York, USA;
J. P. Sparks: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA;
B. D. Strahm: Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
4. Intensively farmed regions impact groundwater nitrate pollution
Intensified agricultural practices that have developed during the past century have helped improve food security for many people but have also added to nitrate pollution in water supply. Balancing the needs for agriculture and clean groundwater for drinking requires understanding factors such as the routes by which nitrate enters the water supply and how long nitrate remains in the water.
The Thames River catchment provides a good study example because the water quality in the river, which supplies drinking water to millions of people, has been monitored for the past 140 years, and the region has undergone significant agricultural development over the past century. Howden et al. study nitrate transport from agricultural land to water in the Thames basin using a simple model that considers an estimate of the amount of nitrate that could leach the groundwater based on land use practices along with an algorithm that determines the route nitrate would take to reach surface or groundwater from agricultural areas.
They find that nitrate concentrations in the Thames rose significantly during and after World War II to about double their previous level, then increased again in the early 1970s. Nitrite concentrations have remained at that high level even though nitrate from inputs from agriculture declined from the late 1970s to early 2000s. The authors note it takes some time for nitrate to reach the river, and their analysis suggests that the jump in nitrate concentrations from 1968 to 1972 is actually a response to plowing during World War II. The study could help water and land management planners identify practices that best preserve both agricultural production and water quality.
See blog post about this paper in AGU's GeoSpace blog at:
http://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2011/11/08/thames-river/
Source:
Water Resources Research, doi:10.1029/2011WR010843, 2011
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2011/2011WR010843.shtml
Title:
Nitrate pollution in intensively farmed regions: what are the prospects for sustaining high-quality groundwater?
Authors:
Nicholas J.K. John Kenneth Howden: Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK;
Tim P. P Burt: Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, UK;
Fred Worrall: Department of Earth Science, Durham University, Durham, UK;
Simon A. Mathias: Department of Earth Science, Durham University, Durham, UK;
Mick J. Whelan: School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK.
5. Wetlands are dominant summer methane source in Arctic
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, enters the atmosphere from a variety of sourcesit can leak from industrial gas fields or pipelines, escape from submarine hydrates that decompose with warming temperatures, or be released from decaying organic matter. Methanes from different sources have different isotopic compositions, allowing researchers to identify the source of methane in the air, as Fisher et al. do in a new study. The researchers analyzed the isotopic composition of methane in the air off Spitsbergen, Norway, in 2008 and 2009. They find that in the summer, wetlands were the dominant methane source. Methane is being released to the water column from gas hydrates on the seabed, but the study indicates that so far this methane has not reached the atmosphere. Wetlands are likely to release more methane as temperatures warm, feeding further climate change.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL049319, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL049319
Title:
Arctic methane sources: Isotopic evidence for atmospheric inputs
Authors:
R. E. Fisher, S. Sriskantharajah, D. Lowry, M. Lanoisell, and C. M. R. Fowler: Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK;
R. H. James: National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK;
O. Hermansen, C. Lund Myhre, and A. Stohl: Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway;
J. Greinert: Department of Marine Geology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, Netherlands;
P. B. R. Nisbet-Jones: Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK;
J. Mienert: Department of Geology, University of Troms, Troms, Norway;
E. G. Nisbet: Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK.
6. New complexities in ice stream flow behavior
Ice flow speed within an ice sheet can vary from a few meters to thousands of meters per year. Fast flowing ice streams can affect sea level, and their flow variation is one factor that determines whether an ice sheet is gaining or losing mass. But different ice streams exhibit different behaviors, and these spatial and temporal variations are not well understood, causing uncertainty about sea level change when ice streams stop or accelerate.
Bougamont et al. use a three-dimensional ice sheet model coupled with a model of the underlying subglacial environment to investigate the relationship between ice flow and basal till properties. This new coupled model reveals new and significant complexities in ice stream behavior, which are related to the spatial and temporal evolution of bed properties. Furthermore, they find that even small differences in the subglacial hydrology can significantly influence ice stream flow. Their results also reveal that ice streams may well have a memory insofar as their current flow is conditioned by their previous behavioral history and physical condition. The study is a step toward understanding the complex behavior of Antarctic ice streams.
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface, doi:10.1029/2011JF002025, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002025
Title:
Dynamic patterns of ice stream flow in a 3-D higher-order ice sheet model with plastic bed and simplified hydrology
Authors:
M. Bougamont: Scott Polar Research Institute,Cambridge, UK;
S. Price: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA; and Bristol Glaciology Centre, Bristol, UK;
P. Christoffersen: Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, UK;
A. J. Payne: Bristol Glaciology Centre, Bristol, UK.
7. How did Martian polar gullies form?
Gullies on Mars have been pointed to as evidence for the presence of flowing liquid water. However, gullies also exist in Mars' polar regions, where temperatures are too low to support liquid water. Other processes have been proposed to explain the origin of gullies but have not been confirmed. For instance, sediment lying on top of a seasonal accumulation of carbon dioxide frost could flow like a fluid if the frost sublimes (turns to gas directly from the solid stage) sufficiently quickly. This fluidized sediment could form gullies.
To determine whether conditions are suitable for such fluidization to occur in Mars' polar regions, Cedillo-Flores et al. calculated the carbon dioxide sublimation rate needed to fluidize sand and dust lying on top of the carbon dioxide frost. They then used a thermal model of Mars' surface and subsurface to determine whether buried carbon dioxide frost could potentially sublimate at that rate. The researchers confirm that sediment fluidization could indeed occur in Mars' polar regions, and thus, Martian gullies can form without the presence of liquid water.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL049403, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL049403
Title:
CO2 gas fluidization in the initiation and formation of Martian polar gullies
Authors:
Yolanda Cedillo-Flores: Facultad de Filosofa y Letras, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico and Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA;
Allan H. Treiman: Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA;
Jeremie Lasue: Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA and Space Science and Applications, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA;
Stephen M. Clifford: Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA.
###
Contact:
Peter Weiss
Phone (direct): +1 (202) 777 7507
Phone (toll free in North America): +1 (800) 966 2481 x507
Email: pweiss@agu.org
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Contact: Peter Weiss pweiss@agu.org 202-777-7507 American Geophysical Union
The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Water Resources Research (WRR), Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences (JGR-G) and Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface (JGR-F).
Freshwater floods move salt into arid-region aquifers
Forest carbon uptake recovers from modest tree losses
Intensively farmed regions impact groundwater nitrate pollution
Wetlands are dominant summer methane source in Arctic
New complexities in ice stream flow behavior
How did Martian polar gullies form?
Anyone may read the scientific abstract for any already-published paper by clicking on the link provided at the end of each Highlight. You can also read the abstract by going to http://www.agu.org/pubs/search_options.shtml and inserting into the search engine the full doi (digital object identifier), e.g. doi:10.1029/2011GL049576. The doi is found at the end of each Highlight below.
Journalists and public information officers (PIOs) at educational or scientific institutions who are registered with AGU also may download papers cited in this release by clicking on the links below. Instructions for members of the news media, PIOs, and the public for downloading or ordering the full text of any research paper summarized below are available at http://www.agu.org/news/press/papers.shtml.
Sea level in the western tropical Pacific Ocean has been increasing at a rate about three times the global average rate of sea level rise, as observed from satellite altimetry and tide gauges. Why are sea level trends so different in this region? Previous studies have suggested that the high rate of sea level change in the western tropical Pacific is associated with the natural variation of the El NioSouthern Oscillation.
However, using a general circulation model, Merrifield and Maltrud show that western tropical Pacific sea level trends are likely due to a gradual intensification of the Pacific trade winds in the past 2 decades. They also highlight other aspects of ocean circulation that have been altered in response to the intensifying trade winds. Some previous research has suggested that the trade wind intensification is a result of global warming, although that has yet to be verified. If that is the case, the authors conclude the western tropical Pacific sea level trends will likely continue to be anomalously high.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL049576, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL049576
Title:
Regional sea level trends due to a Pacific trade wind intensification
Authors:
Mark A. Merrifield: Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai'i at M?noa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA;
Mathew E. Maltrud: Fluid Dynamics and Solid Mechanics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA.
2. Freshwater floods move salt into arid-region aquifers
For people living in arid ecosystems, groundwater replenished during seasonal flooding is typically the most important source of freshwater. Yet these same floods may also be responsible for temporarily increasing the salinity of the vital freshwater stores, a relationship shown for the austral summer flooding of the Kuiseb River in Namibia. Between 2006 and 2008, Amiaz et al. recorded the effect of 12 floods on soil water storage, groundwater electrical conductivity (a measure of salinity), and solute movement throughout various layers of the subsurface along the river. The researchers' primary concern is understanding how soluble salts residing in the vadose zone, the subsurface layer that lies between the groundwater table and the surface, make their way into the aquifer.
Through in-field measurements and laboratory soil column experiments, the authors find that as floodwater travels along the surface it triggers a compression wave that moves down through the sandy sediments that compose the channel bed, destabilizing salts in the vadose zone and pushing them into the groundwater. As the floodwater itself percolates through the subsurface, additional salts dissolve into it, further increasing groundwater salinity. The authors notice that while the first flood of the season leads to the largest leap in groundwater salinity, subsequent flooding can draw even more salt out of the vadose zone due to the rising water table and the subsequent saturation of the vadose zone sediments. They note that it is only upon the arrival of substantial floodwater to the groundwater stores that dilution can compensate for the increased salinity.
Source:
Water Resources Research, doi:10.1029/2011WR010747, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011WR010747
Title:
Solute transport in the vadose zone and groundwater during flash floods
Authors:
Yanai Amiaz, Shaul Sorek and Ofer Dahan: Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR), J. Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel;
Yehouda Enzel: Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
3. Forest carbon uptake recovers from modest tree losses
By some accounts, forests are currently seeing the highest rates of disturbance since the recession of the Pleistocene glaciers over 10,000 years ago. In recent decades the global extent of forest-disrupting events has increased, yet their intensity has been on the decline. Significant tree losses upset carbon and nitrogen cycling, drastically extending recovery times. Throughout the northern temperate zone, forests that established a century ago on clear-cut or burned lands have been increasingly affected by subtle disturbances, like selective logging, pathogenic insects, or age-related mortality. The higher proportion of trees surviving these modest disturbances likely mitigates the effects on carbon and nitrogen cycling, but evidence is limited.
By manipulating an experimental forest at the University of Michigan Biological Station, Nave et al. determine how forests' carbon and nitrogen cycles respond to subtle disruptions. In 2008, the authors and their team culled 39 percent of the forest's tree population using stem girdlingthe process of removing a ring of the tree's bark and starving it of its nutrient and water supplies. The aim was to accelerate the loss of short-lived tree species, driving the forest into a more complex state, commonly found in older forests, rather than the homogeneous conditions that result from clear-cutting or a forest-clearing fire. Initially, the authors find that the forest's carbon uptake declined and soil nitrogen availability and leaching increased, reminiscent of severe disturbances. However, most forest ecosystems are inherently limited by the availability of nitrogen, and the newly liberated stores were drawn up by the remaining longer-lived trees, producing new leaf area and mitigating the decrease in carbon uptake. The authors suggest that, as the forest structure continues to change in the wake of subtle disturbances, the forest's carbon uptake will continue to increase.
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, doi:10.1029/2011JG001758, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001758
Title:
Disturbance and the resilience of coupled carbon and nitrogen cycling in a north temperate forest
Authors:
L. E. Nave and C. S. Vogel: University of Michigan Biological Station, Pellston, Michigan, USA:
C. M. Gough: Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA;
K. D. Maurer and G. Bohrer: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA;
B. S. Hardiman and P. S. Curtis: Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA;
J. Le Moine and K. J. Nadelhoffer: University of Michigan Biological Station, Pellston, Michigan, USA, and University of Michigan, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA;
A. B. Muoz: Columbia University, New York, New York, USA;
J. P. Sparks: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA;
B. D. Strahm: Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
4. Intensively farmed regions impact groundwater nitrate pollution
Intensified agricultural practices that have developed during the past century have helped improve food security for many people but have also added to nitrate pollution in water supply. Balancing the needs for agriculture and clean groundwater for drinking requires understanding factors such as the routes by which nitrate enters the water supply and how long nitrate remains in the water.
The Thames River catchment provides a good study example because the water quality in the river, which supplies drinking water to millions of people, has been monitored for the past 140 years, and the region has undergone significant agricultural development over the past century. Howden et al. study nitrate transport from agricultural land to water in the Thames basin using a simple model that considers an estimate of the amount of nitrate that could leach the groundwater based on land use practices along with an algorithm that determines the route nitrate would take to reach surface or groundwater from agricultural areas.
They find that nitrate concentrations in the Thames rose significantly during and after World War II to about double their previous level, then increased again in the early 1970s. Nitrite concentrations have remained at that high level even though nitrate from inputs from agriculture declined from the late 1970s to early 2000s. The authors note it takes some time for nitrate to reach the river, and their analysis suggests that the jump in nitrate concentrations from 1968 to 1972 is actually a response to plowing during World War II. The study could help water and land management planners identify practices that best preserve both agricultural production and water quality.
See blog post about this paper in AGU's GeoSpace blog at:
http://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2011/11/08/thames-river/
Source:
Water Resources Research, doi:10.1029/2011WR010843, 2011
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2011/2011WR010843.shtml
Title:
Nitrate pollution in intensively farmed regions: what are the prospects for sustaining high-quality groundwater?
Authors:
Nicholas J.K. John Kenneth Howden: Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK;
Tim P. P Burt: Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, UK;
Fred Worrall: Department of Earth Science, Durham University, Durham, UK;
Simon A. Mathias: Department of Earth Science, Durham University, Durham, UK;
Mick J. Whelan: School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK.
5. Wetlands are dominant summer methane source in Arctic
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, enters the atmosphere from a variety of sourcesit can leak from industrial gas fields or pipelines, escape from submarine hydrates that decompose with warming temperatures, or be released from decaying organic matter. Methanes from different sources have different isotopic compositions, allowing researchers to identify the source of methane in the air, as Fisher et al. do in a new study. The researchers analyzed the isotopic composition of methane in the air off Spitsbergen, Norway, in 2008 and 2009. They find that in the summer, wetlands were the dominant methane source. Methane is being released to the water column from gas hydrates on the seabed, but the study indicates that so far this methane has not reached the atmosphere. Wetlands are likely to release more methane as temperatures warm, feeding further climate change.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL049319, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL049319
Title:
Arctic methane sources: Isotopic evidence for atmospheric inputs
Authors:
R. E. Fisher, S. Sriskantharajah, D. Lowry, M. Lanoisell, and C. M. R. Fowler: Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK;
R. H. James: National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK;
O. Hermansen, C. Lund Myhre, and A. Stohl: Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway;
J. Greinert: Department of Marine Geology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, Netherlands;
P. B. R. Nisbet-Jones: Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK;
J. Mienert: Department of Geology, University of Troms, Troms, Norway;
E. G. Nisbet: Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK.
6. New complexities in ice stream flow behavior
Ice flow speed within an ice sheet can vary from a few meters to thousands of meters per year. Fast flowing ice streams can affect sea level, and their flow variation is one factor that determines whether an ice sheet is gaining or losing mass. But different ice streams exhibit different behaviors, and these spatial and temporal variations are not well understood, causing uncertainty about sea level change when ice streams stop or accelerate.
Bougamont et al. use a three-dimensional ice sheet model coupled with a model of the underlying subglacial environment to investigate the relationship between ice flow and basal till properties. This new coupled model reveals new and significant complexities in ice stream behavior, which are related to the spatial and temporal evolution of bed properties. Furthermore, they find that even small differences in the subglacial hydrology can significantly influence ice stream flow. Their results also reveal that ice streams may well have a memory insofar as their current flow is conditioned by their previous behavioral history and physical condition. The study is a step toward understanding the complex behavior of Antarctic ice streams.
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface, doi:10.1029/2011JF002025, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002025
Title:
Dynamic patterns of ice stream flow in a 3-D higher-order ice sheet model with plastic bed and simplified hydrology
Authors:
M. Bougamont: Scott Polar Research Institute,Cambridge, UK;
S. Price: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA; and Bristol Glaciology Centre, Bristol, UK;
P. Christoffersen: Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, UK;
A. J. Payne: Bristol Glaciology Centre, Bristol, UK.
7. How did Martian polar gullies form?
Gullies on Mars have been pointed to as evidence for the presence of flowing liquid water. However, gullies also exist in Mars' polar regions, where temperatures are too low to support liquid water. Other processes have been proposed to explain the origin of gullies but have not been confirmed. For instance, sediment lying on top of a seasonal accumulation of carbon dioxide frost could flow like a fluid if the frost sublimes (turns to gas directly from the solid stage) sufficiently quickly. This fluidized sediment could form gullies.
To determine whether conditions are suitable for such fluidization to occur in Mars' polar regions, Cedillo-Flores et al. calculated the carbon dioxide sublimation rate needed to fluidize sand and dust lying on top of the carbon dioxide frost. They then used a thermal model of Mars' surface and subsurface to determine whether buried carbon dioxide frost could potentially sublimate at that rate. The researchers confirm that sediment fluidization could indeed occur in Mars' polar regions, and thus, Martian gullies can form without the presence of liquid water.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL049403, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL049403
Title:
CO2 gas fluidization in the initiation and formation of Martian polar gullies
Authors:
Yolanda Cedillo-Flores: Facultad de Filosofa y Letras, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico and Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA;
Allan H. Treiman: Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA;
Jeremie Lasue: Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA and Space Science and Applications, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA;
Stephen M. Clifford: Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA.
###
Contact:
Peter Weiss
Phone (direct): +1 (202) 777 7507
Phone (toll free in North America): +1 (800) 966 2481 x507
Email: pweiss@agu.org
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CALDWELL, Ohio ? A teenager accused of murder made his first public court appearance Tuesday on charges he was part of a deadly robbery team that lured victims with a phony Craigslist job ad, appearing dazed as a judge postponed a hearing on whether he should be tried as an adult.
The 16-year-old boy, Brogan Rafferty, appeared briefly in a courtroom in Noble County. A juvenile judge put off the hearing because his father, who wasn't present, hadn't received proper notice of new charges filed last week. The next hearing will probably happen in a couple of weeks, the judge said.
Rafferty, of Akron, faces juvenile charges of aggravated murder, complicity to aggravated murder, attempted murder and complicity to attempted murder in the death of one man and the shooting of another. He is a junior at Stow Munroe City Schools, about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland, and is being held at a juvenile detention center in Muskingum County.
He wore sneakers, dark slacks, a shirt and a rain jacket as he was led into court with his hands cuffed in front of him, appearing slightly stunned. He didn't speak during the hearing or afterward as police hustled him into a police car.
His mother, Yvette Rafferty, sat on a bench directly behind him during the short hearing, rocking back and forth and appearing on the verge of tears. She left the courthouse hurriedly and gave only a few fleeting comments as she walked briskly to a black pickup across the street.
"We're praying for the families and the victims," she said to reporters.
After she got into the passenger seat, she rolled the window down and said, "God bless you all. Do the right thing. Get the truth."
Authorities say the teenager was involved in a scheme in which applicants answering a Craigslist ad for a job at a nonexistent cattle ranch in Noble County, 90 miles south of Akron in rural southeastern Ohio, were robbed, then killed. Authorities say they have connected two bodies to the scheme and identified one other man who was shot but escaped.
The teen was questioned by the FBI and arrested in mid-November several days after Scott Davis, of South Carolina, said was shot in the arm and escaped after he answered the ad.
The body of Norfolk, Va., resident David Pauley, 51, was found on the Noble County property, owned by a coal company and often leased to hunters. Authorities say Pauley was killed Oct. 23.
Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, was found buried Friday near an Akron-area shopping mall. He had been shot in the head.
A third body also found Friday was that of a man who was killed by a gunshot to the head, the coroner in Noble County said Tuesday. Authorities haven't said whether that body is linked to the scheme but say it's suspected the body is that of a man named Ralph Geiger.
Officials did not explain how they arrived at the conclusion or give any other details about the man.
The complaint against the teen says he participated in the crimes with Richard Beasley, a 52-year-old Akron resident said to have acted as his mentor.
Beasley was awaiting trial on prostitution and drug charges when authorities took him into custody this month, and police have said a halfway house he ran in Akron was a front for prostitution.
Rhonda Kotnik, an attorney for Beasley on the drug and prostitution charges, said Tuesday that she's still gathering information, with hearings scheduled later this week.
She said she isn't representing Beasley in anything involving the Craigslist case and points out he hasn't been charged in that. She said she assumes the teenager has been cooperating with police, which is common in such cases.
Noble County Judge John Nau has issued a gag order prohibiting lawyers from discussing the case, a move he defended Tuesday, saying he's trying to ensure a fair trial in a sparsely populated county.
"It may not even be tried here, but I'm not sure it won't, so I prepare for the possibility that it might," he said.
The Associated Press generally does not identify juvenile suspects, but the names of Rafferty and his mother have been widely reported by local and national media outlets.
___
Associated Press writer Doug Whiteman in Columbus contributed to this report.
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Public release date: 30-Nov-2011
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