In the eye of the storm: exploring the introduction of environmental issues in the production function in Brazilian companies

This article aims to analyse the introduction of environmental issues in the context of the production function, which has been referred to as the organisational area to lead corporate environmental management. With that purpose, the theoretical references for corporate environmental management and the necessary alterations in production function have been organised to include environmental aspects, especially in terms of product and process development, quality management, and logistics. Considering that this research field still lacks empirical evidence for Brazilian companies, four case studies were conducted using companies located in the country. The environmental management maturity level of those companies tends to follow the rate with which the environmental issue is introduced in production sub-areas, especially in the product development process. However, in most cases we found that the companies had difficulties in structuring the insertion of the environmental dimension in logistics. The final notes point out the distance observed between what is recommended by international literature and the reality of Brazilian companies in the challenge of making the production function environmentally friendly.

Camadas de tempestito grosso (coarse grained storm beds): exemplos do Permiano da bacia do Paraná

Tempestitos grossos constituem camadas delgadas de conglomerado gradando a arenito, com estratificação cruzada seguida de laminação ondulada truncante a simétrica e de drape/flaser de siltito/folhelho. Cinco exemplos extraídos do Permiano da bacia do Paraná ilustram esse tipo de depósito: três deles são de rochas siliciclásticas, contendo bioclastos de bivalves e vertebrados (Formação Rio Bonito-Membro Triunfo e Formação Palermo), enquanto os outros dois são de rochas carbonática e fosfática (respectivamente, formações Teresina e Corumbataí do Grupo Passa Dois). O componente tracional da base do tempestito grosso apresenta-se como arenite quartzoso/lítico ou grainstone oolítico com cimento calcífero preenchendo poros (casos das formações Palermo e Teresina). em sua maioria, os tempestitos grossos constituem pavimentos transgressivos intercalados em folhelhos ou tempestitos finos (arenitos muito finos a folhelhos com estratificação ondulada truncante-hummocky). em outro caso, extraído de subsuperfície, o pavimento transgressivo ocorre na base de uma sucessão progradante de barra de plataforma. O tempestito grosso da Formação Teresina constitui um evento transgressivo sobreposto a depósitos de barra de plataforma.

Unusual early morning development of the equatorial anomaly in the Brazilian sector during the Halloween magnetic storm

The solar events that occurred at the end of October 2003 gave rise to very strong geomagnetic disturbances that peaked twice with Dst values reaching -345 nT around 0000 UT on 30 October and -400 nT around 2300 UT, on the same day. Disturbances in several ionospheric parameters were observed over Brazil. This work will focus on the ionospheric response to the initial westward prompt penetration electric field and on the strong intensification of the equatorial ionization anomaly that occurred because of the electric field polarity reversal that followed in the early morning hours of 29 October. The F layer peak height over the equator first decreased under the strong prompt penetration westward electric field, which was followed by significant height increase under eastward electric field. We have used Sheffield University Plasmasphere Ionosphere Model (SUPIM) with an intensified westward disturbed electric field in the presunrise hours, presumably due to prompt penetration from the magnetosphere, in order to study the effect of such a field in the ionosphere. The simulation results showed that prompt penetration of magnetospheric electric fields of westward polarity to the nightside equatorial region seems to be the most probable cause of the initial F layer height decreases. The intensification of the equatorial ionization anomaly and the unusual enhancement on F layer peak density, which was not modeled by the SUPIM, are explained as caused by the strong eastward electric field that followed the initial phase in combination with a highly variable disturbed meridional/transequatorial wind system as inferred from the F2 layer peak height variations. The highly dynamic wind pattern, with a short-term response (2-4 hours), is compatible with the predictions of some previous theoretical model calculations reported in the literature.

A STORM* environment for building multimedia presentations

This paper describes an environment for constructing multimedia applications which are used to present different multimedia database objects in accordance with spatiotemporal constraints and from different sources. The main contribution of this paper is to propose an environment which integrates both a modelling case tool and an object-oriented database system.

Convective storm initiation in a moist tropical environment

Radar and satellite data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission-Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere (TRMM-LBA) project have been examined to determine causes for convective storm initiation in the southwest Amazon region. The locations and times of storm initiation were based on the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) S-band dual-polarization Doppler radar (S-Pol). Both the radar and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-8 (GOES-8) visible data were used to identify cold pools produced by convective precipitation. These data along with high-resolution topographic data were used to determine possible convective storm triggering mechanisms. The terrain elevation varied from 100 to 600 m. Tropical forests cover the area with numerous clear-cut areas used for cattle grazing and farming. This paper presents the results from 5 February 1999. A total of 315 storms were initiated within 130 km of the S-Pol radar. This day was classified as a weak monsoon regime where convection developed in response to the diurnal cycle of solar heating. Scattered shallow cumulus during the morning developed into deep convection by early afternoon. Storm initiation began about 1100 LST and peaked around 1500-1600 LST. The causes of storm initiation were classified into four categories. The most common initiation mechanism was caused by forced lifting by a gust front (GF; 36%). Forcing by terrain (>300 m) without any other triggering mechanism accounted for 21% of the initiations and colliding GFs accounted for 16%. For the remaining 27% a triggering mechanism was not identified. Examination of all days during TRMM-LBA showed that this one detailed study day was representative of many days. A conceptual model of storm initiation and evolution is presented. The results of this study should have implications for other locations when synoptic-scale forcing mechanisms are at a minimum. These results should also have implications for very short-period forecasting techniques in any location where terrain, GFs, and colliding boundaries influence storm evolution.

A case study of the 9 August 1988 South Atlantic storm: Numerical simulations of the wave activity

During 9-11 August 1988, a cyclone developed over Uruguay in the lee of the Andes Mountains and moved over the South Atlantic Ocean, where it redeveloped into an intense storm. This storm was responsible for unusual wave activity along the Brazilian shoreline from 22° to 32°S. The Brazilian news media reported the loss of at least one life, waves of 3 m and higher, and the disappearance of a drainage pipe, which weighed 8000 kg, off the shores of Rio de Janeiro. In this paper, the evolution of this intense storm and the associated ocean wave response is studied through European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analyses, a hydrostatic limited-area meteorological model, and a second-generation prognostic wave model. The atmospheric model results indicated the presence of a long-lived and large fetch with surface wind velocities higher than 12 m s -1 directed toward the coast. Some areas with velocities of 20 m s -1 were embedded in the fetch. The wave model forced by this wind field was able to simulate waves with a significant height of 8 m far from the coast and about 4 m in regions very close to the Brazilian coast in agreement with the occurrence reported at Rio de Janeiro. The swell propagation toward the coast of Rio de Janeiro was obstructed by a northeastward 10-m wind during the first 24-h period of the model's integration. During the second 24-h period, the fetch was still large and strong, but the obstacle was removed by a counterclockwise rotation of wind direction favoring the swell and windsea propagation toward the Rio de Janeiro coast.

Pleistocene mammals from the southern Brazilian continental shelf

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

PENNSYLVANIAN HETEROCONCHIA (MOLLUSCA, BIVALVIA) FROM THE PIAUI FORMATION, PARNAIBA BASIN, BRAZIL

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

SYSTEMATICS, TAPHONOMY, and PALEOECOLOGY of HOMALONOTID TRILOBITES (PHACOPIDA) FROM THE PONTA GROSSA FORMATION (DEVONIAN), PARANA BASIN, BRAZIL

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Tafonomia de tempestitos conchíferos amalgamados da formação Teresina em Rio Preto (Estado do Paraná, permiano médio, bacia do Paraná) e suas implicações paleoambientais

The deposits of the Permian Teresina Formation are mainly characterized by fi ne-grained siliciclastic rocks and centimetric intercalations of tempestites (bioclastic sandstones and coquinas). Despite the relevance of the bivalve-rich carbonate beds of the Teresina Formation to paleoenvironmental studies, their taphonomy is still poorly studied. The fossil concentration studied in this work was found in a quarry in the city of Irati, Rio Preto district, Parana State. The fossil concentration is located in the middle/upper portion of the unit, far from the top. The studied bed is a bioclastic, intraclastic, peloidal, grainstone/ packstone, with abundant bivalve shell fragments, pelitic and micritic intraclasts, peloids, rare ooids and oncoids, as well as permineralized of Lycophyta microphylles and fish scales. The grains of this carbonate concentration show: high degree of time-averaging, variable degree of packing (dense to disperse), no sorting and chaotic orientation. Notably, the concentration includes a mixture of elements which are indicative of: a) restrictive, low energy, carbonate environment (peloids, ooids and oncoids); b) subaerial environment surrounding the main body of water (Lycophyta microphylles) and c) quiet-water environment punctuated by storm events, where the suspension-feeding bivalves thrived. At least four depositional events caused by storm fl ows were recorded. The amalgamated nature of the bed is a result of storm events in an intracratonic basin with very low seafl oor slope and low rates of sedimentation and subsidence.

Tafonomia de biválvios em calcários oolíticos da formação Teresina (Bacia do Paraná, Permiano Médio, Prudentópolis, PR)

Herein, it is presented the first detailed taphonomic study on bivalve mollusk shells preserved in the oolitic limestones of the Teresina Formation (probably Kungurian-Roadian, Lower-Middle Permian) in the eastern margin of the Parana basin. The selected beds are located in two quarries (informally named PRU 1 and PRU 2) in Prudentopolis municipality (Center-South Parana State), and positioned approximately in the middle of the formation and probably in the Pinzonella illusa Zone. The PRU 1 limestone ([approximately]30 cm thick), which is partially silicified and intercalated with predominantly pelitic rocks, is classified as a bivalve oolitic grainstone. The basal contact is erosive and the top shows symmetrical ripple marks, which are draped by shale with mud cracks. There are two fining-upwards successions characterized by dense to dispersed packing of the shells, which are usually disarticulated, randomly oriented (many nested/stacked) and mixed with some Formapelitic intraclasts. Microhummocky cross-stratification occurs a little below the top of the bed. The PRU2 bed is classified as ooidbivalve rudstone[approximately] (~5 cm thick), where all shells are disarticulated and fragmented, showing dense packing. The bivalves probably inhabited a muddy substrate and were mixed (as parautochtonous and allochthonous bioclasts) with ooids during high-energy storm events, including posterior shell displacement as a result of bioturbation. Thus, the calcareous beds represent amalgamated proximal tempestites with a complex taphonomic history, strong temporal/spatial mixing of bioclasts and limited paleoecological resolution. They are a typical example of shell beds generated in a huge epeiric sea, which was not necessarily connected to the ocean and where very low depositional-slope gradient, very slow subsidence and minimum sediment accommodation space caused frequent sediment reworking by storm related processes.

Shell beds as paleoecological puzzles: A case study from the Upper Permian of the Parana Basin, Brazil

Microstratigraphic, sedimentological, and taphonomic features of the Ferraz Shell Bed, from the Upper Permian (Kazanian-Tatarian?) Corumbatai Formation of Rio Claro Region (the Parana Basin, Brazil), indicate that the bed consists of four distinct microstratigraphic units. They include, from bottom to top, a lag concentration (Unit 1), a partly reworked storm deposit (Unit 2), a rapidly deposited sandstone unit with three thin horizons recording episodes of reworking (Unit 3), and a shell-rich horizon generated by reworking/winnowing that was subsequently buried by storm-induced obrution deposit (Unit 4). The bioclasts of the Ferraz Shell Bed represent exclusively bivalve mollusks. Pinzonella illusa and Terraia aequilateralis are the dominant species. Taphonomic analysis indicates that mollusks are heavily time-averaged (except for some parts of Unit 3). Moreover, different species are time-averaged to a different degree (disharmonious time-averaging). The units differ statistically from one another in their taxonomic and ecological composition, in their taphonomic pattern, and in the size-frequency distributions of the two most common species. Other Permian shell beds of the Parana Basin are similar to the Ferraz Shell Bed in their faunal composition (they typically contain similar sets of 5 to 10 bivalve species) and in their taphonomic, sedimentologic, and microstratigraphic characteristics. However, rare shell beds that include 2-3 species only and are dominated by articulated shells preserved in life position also occur. Diversity levels in the Permian benthic associations of the Parana Basin were very low, with the point diversity of 2-3 species and with the within-habitat and basin-wide (alpha and gamma) diversities of 10 species, at most. The Parana Basin benthic communities may have thus been analogous to low-diversity bivalve-dominated associations of the present-day Baltic Sea. The 'Ferraz-type' shell beds of the Parana Basin represent genetically complex and highly heterogeneous sources of paleontological data. They are cumulative records of spectra of benthic ecosystems time-averaged over long periods of time (10(2)-10(4) years judging from actualistic research). Detailed biostratinomic reconstructions of shell beds can not only offer useful insights into their depositional histories, but may also allow paleoecologists to optimize their sampling designs, and consequently, refine paleoecological and paleoenvironmental interpretations.

A new Coniacian-Santonian conchostracan genus from the Bauru Group, south-east Brazil: Taxonomy, palaeobiogeography and palaeoecology

Abundant conchostracans occur in Coniacian-Santonian dark grey, argillaceous, lacustrine sediments of the Sao Carlos Formation, Bauru Group, Parana Basin, in the central part of São Paulo State, south-east Brazil. They are ascribed to a new genus and species, Bauruestheria sancarlensis, included in the family Jilinestheriidae. The new taxon is similar to some Late Cretaceous species from China and Mongolia. It probably evolved from a Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous ancestral form (Migransia), which first lived in West Gondwana, and later dispersed to Europe and Asia, originating distinct parallel lineages with increasing ornamental complexity. The conchostracans probably lived in oxygenated marginal areas of a very calm, perennial lake with an anoxic bottom, and were transported in suspension to the depositional site by weak turbidity currents or storm-induced flows. Great concentrations of juvenile conchostracans in some thin layers can be related to mass mortality, episodes caused by convection and dispersion of anoxic water during storms. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.