Comment on “A Comparison of Modified Fuzzy Weights of Evidence,Fuzzy Weights of Evidence,and Logistic Regression for Mapping Mineral Prospectivity” by Daojun Zhang,Frits Agterberg,Qiuming Cheng,and Renguang Zuo Math Geosci DOI 10.1007/s11004-013-9496-8

Despite a missing definition of equivalence of mathematical models or methods by Zhang et al. (Math Geosci, 2013), an “equivalence” (Zhang et al., Math Geosci, 2013, p. 6,7,8,14) of modified weights-of-evidence (Agterberg, Nat Resour Res 20:95–101, 2011) and logistic regression does not generally exist. Its alleged proof is based on a previously conjectured linear relationship between weights of evidence and logistic regression parameters (Deng, Nat Resour Res 18:249–258, 2009), which does not generally exist either (Schaeben and van den Boogaart, Nat Resour Res 20:401–406, 2011). In fact, an extremely simple linear relationship exists only if the predictor variables are conditionally independent given the target variable, in which case the contrasts, i.e., the differences of the weights, are equal to the logistic regression parameters. Thus, weights-of-evidence is the special case of logistic regression if the predictor variables are binary and conditionally independent given the target variable.     

The Use of Rock Mass Classification Systems to Estimate the Modulus and Strength of Jointed Rock

Three-dimensional, elastic and elasto-plastic finite element (FE) programs have permitted calculation of the displacements and the factor of safety (FOS) for the excavation for a tower, 132.70 m high (above foundation) on the island of Tenerife. The tower is supported by a 2 m thick reinforced concrete slab on jointed, vesicular and weathered basalt and scoria. The installation of rod extensometers at different depths below the slab has permitted comparison between measured and calculated displacements and the estimation of in situ deformation modulus. The moduli deduced from the simple empirical equations proposed by Hoek et al. (In: NARMS-TAC, 2002) and Gokceoglu et al. (Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 40:701–710, 2003) as a function of GSI, and Nicholson and Bieniawski (Int J Min Geol Eng 8:181–202, 1990) as a function of RMR, provide an acceptable fit with the measured settlements in this type of rock. Good correlation is also obtained with the empirical equation presented by Verman et al. (Rock Mech Rock Eng 30(3):121–127, 1997) that incorporates the influence of confining stress in the deformation modulus. The FOS obtained from different correlations with geomechanical classifications is within a relatively narrow range. These results increase our confidence in the use of classification schemes to estimate the deformation and stability in jointed rock.     

A phase-by-phase upstream scheme that converges to the vanishing capillarity solution for countercurrent two-phase flow in two-rock media

We discuss the convergence of the upstream phase-by-phase scheme (or upstream mobility scheme) towards the vanishing capillarity solution for immiscible incompressible two-phase flows in porous media made of several rock types. Troubles in the convergence were recently pointed out by Mishra and Jaffré (Comput. Geosci. 14, 105–124, 2010) and Tveit and Aavatsmark (Comput. Geosci. 16, 809–825, 2012). In this paper, we clarify the notion of vanishing capillarity solution, stressing the fact that the physically relevant notion of solution differs from the one inferred from the results of Kaasschieter (Comput. Geosci. 3, 23–48, 1999). In particular, we point out that the vanishing capillarity solution depends on the formally neglected capillary pressure curves, as it was recently proven in by Andreianov and Cancès (Comput. Geosci. 17, 551–572, 2013). Then, we propose a numerical procedure based on the hybridization of the interfaces that converges towards the vanishing capillarity solution. Numerical illustrations are provided.     

Reply to ‘Comment on “The beginnings of hydrous mantle wedge melting” by Till et al.’ by Green, Rosenthal and Kovacs

The comment of Green et al. debates the interpretation of the temperature of the H₂O-saturated peridotite solidus and presence of silicate melt in the experiments of Till et al. (Contrib Mineral Petrol 163:669–688, 2012) at <1,000?°C. The criticisms presented in their comment do not invalidate any of the most compelling observations of Till et al. (Contrib Mineral Petrol 163:669–688, 2012) as discussed in the following response, including the changing minor element and Mg# composition of the solid phases with increasing temperature in our experiments with 14.5?wt% H₂O at 3.2?GPa, as well as the results of our chlorite peridotite melting experiments with 0.7?wt% H₂O. The point remains that Till et al. (Contrib Mineral Petrol 163:669–688, 2012) present data that call into question the H₂O-saturated peridotite solidus temperature preferred by Green (Tectonophysics 13(1–4):47–71, 1972; Earth Planet Sci Lett 19(1):37–53, 1973; Can Miner 14:255–268, 1976); Millhollen et al. (J Geol 82(5):575–587, 1974); Mengel and Green (Stability of amphibole and phlogopite in metasomatized peridotite under water-saturated and water-undersaturated conditions, Geological Society of Australia Special Publication, Blackwell, pp 571-581, 1989); Wallace and Green (Mineral Petrol 44:1–19, 1991) and Green et al. (Nature 467(7314):448–451, 2010).     

Applicability of different ground-motion prediction models for northern Iran

A total of 163 free-field acceleration time histories recorded at epicentral distances of up to 200 km from 32 earthquakes with moment magnitudes ranging from M _w 4.9 to 7.4 have been used to investigate the predictive capabilities of the local, regional, and next generation attenuation (NGA) ground-motion prediction equations and determine their applicability for northern Iran. Two different statistical approaches, namely the likelihood method (LH) of Scherbaum et al. (Bull Seismol Soc Am 94:341–348, 2004) and the average log-likelihood method (LLH) of Scherbaum et al. (Bull Seismol Soc Am 99:3234–3247, 2009), have been applied for evaluation of these models. The best-fitting models (considering both the LH and LLH results) over the entire frequency range of interest are those of Ghasemi et al. (Seismol 13:499–515, 2009a) and Soghrat et al. (Geophys J Int 188:645–679, 2012) among the local models, Abrahamson and Silva (Earthq Spectra 24:67–97, 2008) and Chiou and Youngs (Earthq Spectra 24:173–215, 2008) among the NGA models, and finally Akkar and Bommer (Seism Res Lett 81:195–206, 2010) among the regional models.     

Indirect economic losses of drought under future projections of climate change: a case study for Spain

This study presents the results of numerical simulations of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in the Bay of Lhok Nga (northwestern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia) integrating sediment erosion and deposition. We investigate the transport of sediment both by suspension and by bedload under different scenarii of long breaking dispersive waves through a series of numerical experiments. The earthquake source model used by Koshimura et al. (Coast Eng J 51:243–273, 2008) with a 25-m dislocation better reproduces the wave travel time, flow depth and inundation area than the other models tested. The model reproduces realistically the pronounced coastal retreat in the northern part of Lhok Nga Bay (retreat ranging between 50 and 150 m), where Paris et al. (Geomorphology 104:59–72, 2009) estimated a mean retreat of 80 m. There is also a good agreement between the simulated area of coastal retreat (195,400 m²) and the field observations (203,200 m²). The simulation may underestimate the volume of tsunami deposits (611,700 m³ vs. 500,000–1,000,000 m³ estimated by Paris et al. (2009). The model fully reproduces the observed thickness of tsunami deposits when considering both bedload and suspension, even if bedload transport dominates. Limitations are due to micro-scale topographic, anthropic features (which are not always represented by the DEM) and the amount of debris which may influence flow dynamics and sediment transport.     

Sediment yield in South Africa — A preliminary geographical analysis

The study examines the spatial relationships between sediment yield and 15 independent environmental variables in 54 catchments in South Africa. Rooseboom's (1978) data on the sediment yield from the catchments were standardized for a single time period. Bivariate regression analyses reveal no simple relationships. Multivariate regression analyses conducted for the whole and various sub-areas of South Africa indicate that latitude and longitude are the primary variables affecting spatial variations in sediment yield. This may be as a result of latitude and longitude being surrogate variables reflecting variation in other environmental variables (e. g. geology, vegetation). Within the sub-areas, 43.4% to 97.8% of the variation in sediment yield is explained by the combined variation in a number of different environmental variables. This study highlights a need for the collection and analysis of more sediment yield data, which would allow the analyses to be refined, to predict sediment yields from ungauged catchments in South Africa.     

Paleogeographical restoration and ramp tectonic evidence in Tunisian Tellian domain: Ain El Bey-Bou Awen area

The imbrication’s area in northern Tunisia is the most external segment of Alpine range, where several associated folds types with thrust ramps are recognized within imbricate units beneath Numidian front slope. Their presence help to understand thrusting mechanisms installation through studied area. In fact, this zone was considered as a result of Paleogene gravitary slop (Kujawski (Ann Miner Géol Tunis (24):281, 1969); Caire (Ann Min Géol Tunis 26:87–110, 1973); Rouvier 1977), which is proved to be affected by major deep decollement, given rise to various structures, some are propagation folds, specific of foreland front, limited to this area, and those in more external position: Tunisian Atlas (Creusot et al. (C R Acad Sci Paris 314(Sér II):961–965, 1992); Ouali and Mercier (PII: S0191-8141(97):00048-5, 1997); Ouali 1984; Ahmadi et al. (J Struct Geol 28:721–728, 2006)). Various categories of fold ramps could be identified: frontal folds ramp NE–SW and others as lateral or oblique ramp with NW–SE trend (Aridhi et al. (C R Geosci 343:360–369, 2011)). The relation between various structures has been used as recognition tools of thrusting sequences and to propose a new deformation chronology. Delimited outcropping of these structures between two both parallel faults strikes with regional displacement, leads to interpret these faults as cogenetic tear faults of propagation thrusts; this fault separates two domains with different deformation styles from each other side.     

Convergence of iterative coupling for coupled flow and geomechanics

In this paper, we study solving iteratively the coupling of flow and mechanics. We demonstrate the stability and convergence of two widely used schemes: the undrained split method and the fixed stress split method. To our knowledge, this is the first time that such results have been rigorously obtained and published in the scientific literature. In addition, we propose a new stress split method, with faster convergence rate than known schemes. These results are specially important today due to the interest in hydraulic fracturing (Dean and Schmidt SPE J. 14:707–714, 2009; Ji et al. SPE J. 14:423–430, 2009; Samier and De Gennaro 2007; Settari and Maurits SPE J. 3:219–226, 1998), in oil and gas shale reservoirs.     

Dynamics of target-mediated drug disposition: how a drug reaches its target

We study the dynamics of drug–target interaction and the way it impacts the shape of drug versus time graphs through the derivation of accurate closed-form approximations, which reveal explicitly the relevance of rate constants in the system and can be used to compute such critical quantities as the area under the ligand (drug) curve, the clearance and the terminal slope λ _z . We also use these approximations to verify the validity of well-known approximate models, in particular the rapid binding model (Mager and Krzyzanski, Pharm Res 22:1589–1596, 2005) and the quasi-steady state model (Gibiansky et al., J Pharmacokinet Pharmacodyn 35:573–591, 2008).     

Assessment of Liquefaction Potential of Guwahati City: A Case Study

The liquefaction potential of saturated cohesionless deposits in Guwahati city, Assam, was evaluated. The critical cyclic stress ratio required to cause liquefaction and the cyclic stress ratio induced by an earthquake were obtained using the simplified empirical method developed by Seed and Idriss (J soil Mech Found Eng ASCE 97(SM9):1249–1273, 1971, Ground motions and soil liquefaction during earthquakes. Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Berkeley, CA, 1982) and Seed et al. (J Geotech Eng ASCE 109(3):458–483, 1983, J Geotech Eng ASCE 111(12):1425–1445, 1985) and the Idriss and Boulanger (2004) method. Critical cyclic stress ratio was based on the empirical relationship between standard penetration resistance and cyclic stress ratio. The liquefaction potential was evaluated by determining factor of safety against liquefaction with depth for areas in the city. A soil database from 200 boreholes covering an area of 262 km² was used for the purpose. A design peak ground acceleration of 0.36 g was used since Guwahati falls in zone V according to the seismic zoning map of India. The results show that 48 sites in Guwahati are vulnerable to liquefaction according to the Seed and Idriss method and 49 sites are vulnerable to liquefaction according to the Idriss and Boulanger method. Results are presented as maps showing zones of levels of risk of liquefaction.     

Melting phase relations of a mica–clinopyroxenite from the Milk River area, southern Alberta, Canada

Melting experiments were conducted on a mica–clinopyroxenite xenolith brought up in a minette dyke in southern Alberta, Canada, near Milk River. Both the minettes and mica–clinopyroxenite xenoliths were studied by Buhlmann et al. (Can J Earth Sci 37:1629–1650, 2000), who hypothesized that the minettes formed by partial melting of a mantle source containing clinopyroxene + phlogopite ± olivine, at pressures ≥1.7 GPa. In liquidus experiments performed on the most primitive minette in our previous study (Funk and Luth in Contrib Mineral Petrol 164:999–1009, 2012), we found a multiple saturation point where olivine and orthopyroxene coexisted with liquid at 1.77 GPa and 1,350 °C. We argued that the minette originally formed by partial melting of clinopyroxene + phlogopite, but had re-equilibrated with a harzburgite during ascent. In the current study, we wanted to test both the source region hypothesis of Buhlmann et al. and our re-equilibration hypothesis by studying the near-solidus phase equilibria of a mica + clinopyroxene assemblage. We found the solidus for our xenolith has a steep slope in P–T space and lies at temperatures above those of a normal cratonic geotherm, implying that this mica–clinopyroxenite is stable in the cratonic mantle. Melting could occur at greater depths, where the solidus is extrapolated to cross the geotherm or must be induced either by raising the temperatures of the surrounding rocks or by introducing hydrous fluids into the source. Our melts are in equilibrium with clinopyroxene and olivine. The compositions of the liquids derived from melting this xenolith are similar to madupitic lamproites from the Leucite Hills, Wyoming, studied by Carmichael (Contrib Mineral Petrol 15:24–66, 1967) and Barton and Hamilton (Contrib Mineral Petrol 66:41–49, 1978; Contrib Mineral Petrol 69:133–142, 1979). Barton and Hamilton (Contrib Mineral Petrol 69:133–142, 1979) proposed that the madupitic lamproites may have come from a source containing mica and pyroxene. This study supports their hypothesis. The composition of the most primitive minette from southern Alberta lies between our experimental melt and a population of representative mantle orthopyroxenes. We conclude from our study that the Milk River minettes were likely derived from a source containing phlogopite, clinopyroxene and trace amounts of apatite, which formed olivine upon melting. During ascent, the melts changed composition by reacting with orthopyroxene.     

Oxygen fugacity control in piston-cylinder experiments: a re-evaluation

Jakobsson (Contrib Miner Petrol 164(3):397–407, 2012) investigated a double capsule assembly for use in piston-cylinder experiments that would allow hydrous, high-temperature, and high-pressure experiments to be conducted under controlled oxygen fugacity conditions. Using a platinum outer capsule containing a metal oxide oxygen buffer (Ni–NiO or Co–CoO) and H₂O, with an inner gold–palladium capsule containing hydrous melt, this study was able to compare the oxygen fugacity imposed by the outer capsule oxygen buffer with an oxygen fugacity estimated by the AuPdFe ternary system calibrated by Barr and Grove (Contrib Miner Petrol 160(5):631–643, 2010). H₂O loss or gain, as well as iron loss to the capsule walls and carbon contamination, is often observed in piston-cylinder experiments and often go unexplained. Only a few have attempted to actually quantify various aspects of these changes (Brooker et al. in Am Miner 83(9–10):985–994, 1998; Truckenbrodt and Johannes in Am Miner 84:1333–1335, 1999). It was one of the goals of Jakobsson (Contrib Miner Petrol 164(3):397–407, 2012) to address these issues by using and testing the AuPdFe solution model of Barr and Grove (Contrib Miner Petrol 160(5):631–643, 2010), as well as to constrain the oxygen fugacity of the inner capsule. The oxygen fugacities of the analyzed melts were assumed to be equal to those of the solid Ni–NiO and Co–CoO buffers, which is incorrect since the melts are all undersaturated in H₂O and the oxygen fugacities should therefore be lower than that of the buffer by 2 log $a_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}}$ .     

Assessment of social vulnerability to natural disasters: a comparative study

The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the methodologies being developed in assessing social vulnerability to natural disasters. Existing vulnerability literature shows that two methods have been used in developing social vulnerability indexes: (1) a deductive approach based on a theoretical understanding of relationships and (2) an inductive approach based on statistical relationships (Adger et al. in New indicators of vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Norwich, 2004). Two techniques were also utilized in aggregating social vulnerability indicators: (1) a deductive approach using standardization techniques such as z scores or linear scaling (Wu et al. in Clim Res 22:255?C270, 2002; Chakraborty et al. in Nat Hazards Rev 6(1):23?C33, 2005) and (2) an inductive approach using data-reduction techniques such as factor analysis (Clark et al. in Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 3(1):59?C82, 1998; Cutter et al. Soc Sci Quart 84(2):242?C261, 2003). This study empirically compares deductive and inductive index development and indicator aggregation methods in assessing social vulnerability to natural disasters in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coastal areas. The aggregated social vulnerability index is used to examine a relationship with disaster losses in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coastal areas. The results show that coastal counties with more vulnerability in terms of social achieved status are positively associated with disaster damages, while variations in the development of the index using deductive and inductive measurement approaches produce different outcomes.     

Chromite alteration processes within Vourinos ophiolite

The renewed interest in chromite ore deposits is directly related to the increase in Cr price ruled by international market trends. Chromite, an accessory mineral in peridotites, is considered to be a petrogenetic indicator because its composition reflects the degree of partial melting that the mantle experienced while producing the chromium spinel-bearing rock (Burkhard in Geochim Cosmochim Acta 57:1297–1306, 1993). However, the understanding of chromite alteration and metamorphic modification is still controversial (e.g. Evans and Frost in Geochim Cosmochim Acta 39:959–972, 1975; Burkhard in Geochim Cosmochim Acta 57:1297–1306, 1993; Oze et al. in Am J Sci 304:67–101, 2004). Metamorphic alteration leads to major changes in chromite chemistry and to the growth of secondary phases such as ferritchromite and chlorite. In this study, we investigate the Vourinos complex chromitites (from the mines of Rizo, Aetoraches, Xerolivado and Potamia) with respect to textural and chemical analyses in order to highlight the most important trend of alteration related to chromite transformation. The present study has been partially funded by the Aliakmon project in collaboration between the Public Power Corporation of Greece and Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration of Kozani.     

Out-of-sequence thrusts and paleogeography of the Rhenodanubian Flysch Belt (Eastern Alps) revisited

The Oberstdorf nappe of the Western and the Laab nappe of the Eastern Rhenodanubian Flysch (ERF) were independently identified as out-of-sequence thrust units by facies studies (Mattern 1999) and zircon analyses (Trautwein et al. 2001a, b, c), respectively. A new look at both areas reveals mutual similarities and new evidence for the out-of-sequence concept. Paleocurrent and heavy mineral data make it possible to reconstruct the sediment influx directions. From the Barremian to the mid-Campanian, the western and eastern basin segments were fed with south-derived garnet and north-derived zircon/”ZTR” (i.e., zircon, tourmaline, and rutile). Because both out-of-sequence units are relatively rich in zircon/ZTR they must have occupied the northernmost basin position. In the Western Rhenodanubian Flysch segment, the Sigiswang nappe occupied the central and the Üntschen nappe the southernmost basin position. In the ERF segment the central basin is represented by the Greifenstein nappe and the southernmost basin by the Kahlenberg nappe. Both out-of-sequence units do not occur in the northernmost and tectonically lowest position in their respective nappe piles as they were thrust over the other nappes. The reconstructed basin positions of the thrust units are suggested by the observation of a gradient in heavy mineral content in the thrust units. This paleogeographic arrangement is least problematic and renders models with differently positioned thrust units, requiring debris-shedding intrabasinal ridges, as unnecessarily complicated. Instead, we suggest that gradual changes in heavy mineral composition existed in across-basin direction. Garnet may stem from the Central Gneiss Complex of the Tauern window and formerly exposed lateral equivalents, all representing the southern Mid-Penninic zone. We assign the Falknis/Tasna nappe and formerly exposed lateral equivalents to the northern Mid-Penninic zone which served as the zircon/ZTR source. Interpreting Ebbing’s (Ph.D. thesis, Freie Universität Berlin, pp 1-143, 2002; Fig. 6.10) density section, we suggest that Mid-Penninic crust exists beneath the Central Gneiss Complex. During the latest Cretaceous much garnet was also N-derived. This may reflect processes related to the consumption of the North Penninic basin.     

Infiltration effects on a two-dimensional molecular dynamics model of landslides

We propose a two-dimensional computational model for deep landslides triggered by rainfall, based on interacting particles or grains. The model describes a vertical section of a fictitious granular material along a slope, in order to study the behavior of a wide-thickness landslide. The triggering of the landslide is caused by the exceeding of two conditions: a threshold speed and a condition on the static friction of the particles, the latter based on the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion (Coulomb in Mem Acad R Div Sav 7:343–387, 1776; Mohr in Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Technischen Mechanik. Ernst, Berlin, 1914). The interparticle interactions are represented as a potential that, in the absence of suitable experimental data and due to the arbitrariness of the grain dimension, is modeled similarly to the Lennard-Jones’ one (Lennard-Jones in Proc R Soc Lond A 106(738):463–477, 1924), i.e., with an attractive and a repulsive part. For the updating of the particle positions, we use a molecular dynamics method, which is quite suitable for this type of systems (Herrmann and Luding in Continuum Mech Thermodyn 10:189–231, 1998). An infiltration scheme is introduced for modeling the increasing pore pressure due to the rainfall. Finally, we also introduce the viscosity in the dynamical equations of motion. The statistical characterization and dynamical behavior of the results of simulations are quite satisfactory relative to real landslides: We obtain a power law distribution of landslide triggering times, and the velocity patterns are typical of real cases, including the acceleration progression. Therefore, we can claim that this type of modeling can represent a new method to simulate landslides triggered by rainfall.     

Flow rule in a high-cycle accumulation model backed by cyclic test data of 22 sands

The flow rule used in the high-cycle accumulation (HCA) model proposed by Niemunis et al. (Comput Geotech 32: 245, 2005) is examined on the basis of the data from approximately 350 drained long-term cyclic triaxial tests (N = 10⁵ cycles) performed on 22 different grain-size distribution curves of a clean quartz sand. In accordance with (Wichtmann et al. in Acta Geotechnica 1: 59, 2006), for all tested materials, the “high-cyclic flow rule (HCFR)”, i.e., the ratio of the volumetric and deviatoric strain accumulation rates \(\dot{\varepsilon}_{\rm{v}}^{{\rm acc}}/\dot{\varepsilon}_{\rm{q}}^{{\rm acc}}\) , was found dependent primarily on the average stress ratio η ^av = q ^av/p ^av and independent of amplitude, soil density and average mean pressure. The experimental HCFR can be fairly well approximated by the flow rule of the modified Cam-clay (MCC) model. Instead of the critical friction angle \(\varphi_{\rm{c}}\) which enters the flow rule for monotonic loading, the HCA model uses the MCC flow rule expression with a slightly different parameter \(\varphi_{\rm{cc}}\) . It should be determined from cyclic tests. \(\varphi_{\rm{cc}}\) and \(\varphi_{\rm{c}}\) are of similar magnitude but not always identical, because they are calibrated from different types of tests. For a simplified calibration in the absence of cyclic test data, \(\varphi_{\rm{cc}}\) may be estimated from the angle of repose \(\varphi_{\rm{r}}\) determined from a pluviated cone of sand (Wichtmann et al. in Acta Geotechnica 1: 59, 2006). However, the paper demonstrates that the MCC flow rule with \(\varphi_{\rm{r}}\) does not fit well the experimentally observed HCFR in the case of coarse or well-graded sands. For an improved simplified calibration procedure, correlations between \(\varphi_{\rm{cc}}\) and parameters of the grain-size distribution curve (d ₅₀,   C _u) have been developed on the basis of the present data set. The approximation of the experimental HCFR by the generalized flow rule equations proposed in (Wichtmann et al. in J Geotech Geoenviron Eng ASCE 136: 728, 2010), considering anisotropy, is also discussed in the paper.