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The main purpose of the present study, conducted in the Piedemonte Llanero of Colombia, was to identify the role of covariates that influence soil properties under different land uses by analyzing the dynamics of selected soil properties in natural and agricultural areas. Soil samples were collected from 90 different sites throughout the region, 45 from areas with agricultural activities and 45 natural areas or areas with low anthropic intervention. The studied soils were strongly acidic (pH < 5.5), had low organic matter contents (1.73% and 2.34% on average in agricultural soils and natural areas, respectively) and, in general, represented poor conditions for agricultural production. The use of multivariate analysis showed that altitude was an important influence on soil properties. Moreover, it was found that land use influenced soil properties, which may limit productive capacity. The results presented here help to clarify the relationships between soils, climate, and landforms in an equatorial climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the control volume method is used to determine the air temperature at the outlet of an air-to-ground heat exchanger. Its implementation consists in dividing the duct of the ground-air heat exchanger into micro-volumes of identical size. An energy balance is then established for each micro-volume. The input parameters used to implement this model are related to the city of Yaoundé in the equatorial zone. The results show that when the total length of the air-to-ground heat exchanger duct varies between 0 and 100 m, the air temperature at the outlet also varies between 34.5 and 24 °C. The air-to-ground heat exchanger operates in cooling mode. As the length of the air-to-ground heat exchanger duct increases, the temperature of the air at the outlet of the air-to-ground heat exchanger decreases, approaching that of the ground. Based on the results obtained using the control volume model, the minimum total length of air-to-ground heat exchanger duct recommended for this zone is 40 m. Admittedly, air pressure drops, air humidity and the geometry of the air-to-ground heat exchanger are aspects that have not yet been taken into account in the implementation of this model. Nevertheless, the control volume method can be used to optimise the parameters influencing the thermal performance of an air-to-ground heat exchanger.•The control volume method is implemented here by dividing the air-to-ground heat exchanger duct into identical micro-volumes and then establishing an energy balance for each micro-volume;•In this work, the control volume method was used to optimise the total length of the duct of a ground air heat exchanger installed in an equatorial zone;•Some important aspects such as air pressure drops, air humidity, and the geometry of the air-to-ground heat exchanger are not yet taken into account in the implementation of the control volume method., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The methodical principles of the analysis of biogenic silica accumulation in the pelagic zones of the Pacific and Indian oceans are considered. Two quantitative approaches of lithological analysis are compared: method of absolute mass by A.D. Arkhangel'skii and volumetric method by A.B. Ronov. It is established that the concept of 'two oceans' ('ice' and 'non-ice') may be applied to both the oceans. Differences in the evolution of the silica accumulation rate in the Pleistocene between high- and low-latitude oceans are revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We test the feasibility of two scenarios that may drive the broad, prograde, equatorial jets in the Jovian atmosphere within the shallow “weather layer”. The first idea attempts to explain the flat-headed jet as a consequence of a hydrodynamic instability along an equatorially trapped primarily jet. The strong primary jet is induced by a 300ms−1 Kelvin wave. The second idea is a bridging of a pair of off-equatorial jets due to horizontal eddy diffusion (the so-called Gierasch mechanism). The primary jets can be induced by a Hadley circulation, and might then be interconnected by subsequent hydrodynamic instabilities between them. We test the two scenarios using a general circulation model, but have so far been unable to obtain an equatorial jet that resembles observations. It appears, therefore, that the previously proposed model of combining Kelvin and Hadley forcing, is more plausible under the shallow hypothesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Resumo La estabilidad atmosférica en la capa superficial, influye en muchos de los procesos dinámicos que se dan en la atmósfera, afectan los fenómenos de difusión y transporte de energía y materia, razón por lo que se ha estudiado ampliamente en latitudes medias; sin embargo, existen muy pocos trabajos en condiciones típicas del altiplano ecuatoriano (latitud cero y altura media respecto al nivel del mar de alrededor de 2500 m). En el presente trabajo se desarrolla un estudio de la variación de la estabilidad atmosférica en dichas condiciones, usado datos de la estación meteorológica de la Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo del año 2015. Los resultados obtenidos en este estudio muestran un predominio del estado muy estable durante la noche y entre muy inestable e inestable durante el día según la clasificación de Pasquill, con un comportamiento medio mensual regular a lo largo del año.