Global acceleration of lake sediment accumulation rates associated with recent human population growth and land-use changes

Journal of Paleolimnology - Sediment Accumulation Rate (SAR; measured as mm yr?1) and Mass Accumulation Rate (MAR; measured as g cm?2 yr?1) data were collected from...     

Comparative agroenvironmental risks of pesticides in different cropping systems: application of the I-Phy indicator

The green revolution laid the foundations of modern agriculture, by using science and technology to produce more from same resources. The pesticides contributed to agricultural output in the last decades; however, their use has resulted in environmental pollution, health problems, soil and water contamination and negative impact on biota. The impacts of agricultural activities to the environment depended on the practices adopted during the production process. Measurement tools to assess the impacts of those practices are necessary to improve agricultural systems and must be evaluated in different ecosystems. Different soils, climates and crops impose many phytosanitary arrangements. This complex network and the fact that most of the indicators and measurement tools are developed for temperate climates makes it difficult to quantify the environmental impacts under subtropical regions. The I-Phy index is a predictive indicator that assesses the risks of pesticide usage in agriculture and identifies as to which practices generate the main environmental impacts of pesticides. The objective of this study was to test the suitability of the I-Phy index for subtropical conditions and, if suitable, compare the pesticide risk between two regions. Five crops were assessed under three different cropping systems: no-tillage, minimal tillage and conventional tillage. The I-Phy index was sensitive in both regions and capable of identifying that no-tillage generally presented risks of environmental pollution slightly lower than the other tillage systems. The results of I-Phy index showed that high environmental vulnerability of the fields and the numerous applications of active ingredients with high risks resulted in high risks of general contamination. The application of I-Phy on these two case studies showed the indicator can be useful as a support tool to farmers, research and extension institutions pursuing management practices with lower impact on the environment.     

Ceres,a wet planet: The view after Dawn

Ceres, a nearly 1000-km diameter body located in the Solar System’s main asteroid belt, has been classified under many categories: planet, comet, asteroid, minor planet and, presently, dwarf planet. No matter what the designation, Ceres has experienced major planetary processes. Its evolution has been controlled by water, making it a most unusual, interesting and accessible inner Solar System object that can inform the evolution of outer Solar System moons and other dwarf planets. Early telescopic observations suggested a hydroxylated mineralogy similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites and a size and mass indicating a bulk density that implied a water content of 17?27 wt%. Thermodynamic modeling of Ceres’ evolution indicated that thermal aqueous evolution likely occurred. The Dawn Mission produced a huge increase in our understanding of Ceres, confirming but vastly extending the early knowledge. Dawn, carrying multispectral cameras, a visible-infrared imaging spectrometer and a nuclear spectrometer, orbited Ceres between 2015–2018 (after orbiting Vesta) at a number of different altitudes, ultimately reaching 35 km from the surface at periapsis. Observations of almost the entire surface and gravity field mapping revealed multiple geological and internal features attributed to the effects of water. The surface displays cryovolcanic-like and flow structures, exposed phyllosilicates, carbonates, evaporites and water ice. The subsurface shows partial differentiation, decreasing viscosity with depth, and lateral density heterogeneity. Ceres appears to be geologically active today and possesses liquid water/brine pockets or even an extended liquid layer in the interior, confirming an “Ocean World” designation in today’s vernacular.     

Comparison of logistic regressions and snowfall intensity–duration threshold as forecasting tools for direct-action snow avalanches in the Presidential Range,New Hampshire,USA

Built environment, which includes some major investments in Oman, has been designed based on historical data and do not incorporate the climate change effects. This study estimates potential variations of the hourly annual maximum rainfall (AMR) in the future in Salalah, Oman. Of the five climate models, two were selected based on their ability to simulate local rainfall characteristics. A two-stage downscaling–disaggregation approach was applied. In the first stage, daily rainfall projections in 2040–2059 and 2080–2099 periods from MRI-CGCM3 and CNRM-CM5 models based on two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP8.5 and RCP4.5) were downscaled to the local daily scale using a stochastic downscaling software (LARS-WG5.5). In the second stage, the stochastically downscaled daily rainfall time series were disaggregated using K-nearest neighbour technique into hourly series. The AMRs, extracted from 20 years of projections for four scenarios and two future periods were then fitted with the generalized extreme value distribution to obtain the rainfall intensity–frequency relationship. These results were compared with a similar relationship developed for the AMRs in baseline period. The results show that the reduction in number of wet days and increases in total rainfall will collectively intensify the future rainfall regime. A marked difference between future and historical intensity–frequency relationships was found with greater changes estimated for higher return periods. Furthermore, intensification of rainfall regime was projected to be stronger towards the end of the twenty-first century.     

Spatio-temporal Slip, and Stress Level on the Faults within the Western Foothills of Taiwan: Implications for Fault Frictional Properties

We use preseismic, coseismic, and postseismic GPS data of the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake to infer spatio-temporal variation of fault slip and frictional behavior on the Chelungpu fault. The geodetic data shows that coseismic slip during the Chi-Chi earthquake occurred within a patch that was locked in the period preceding the earthquake, and that afterslip occurred dominantly downdip from the ruptured area. To first-order, the observed pattern and the temporal evolution of afterslip is consistent with models of the seismic cycle based on rate-and-state friction. Comparison with the distribution of temperature on the fault derived from thermo-kinematic modeling shows that aseismic slip becomes dominant where temperature is estimated to exceed 200° at depth. This inference is consistent with the temperature induced transition from velocity-weakening to velocity-strengthening friction that is observed in laboratory experiments on quartzo-feldspathic rocks. The time evolution of afterslip is consistent with afterslip being governed by velocity-strengthening frictional sliding. The dependency of friction, μ, on the sliding velocity, V, is estimated to be ${{\partial \mu }/{\partial \, {\rm ln}\, V}} = 8 \times 10^{ - 3}$ . We report an azimuthal difference of about 10–20° between preseismic and postseismic GPS velocities, which we interpret to reflect the very low shear stress on the creeping portion of the décollement beneath the Central Range, of the order of 1–3 MPa, implying a very low friction of about 0.01. This study highlights the importance of temperature and pore pressure in determining fault frictional sliding.     

Geochemical and petrological constraints on rear-arc magma genesis processes in Ecuador: The Puyo cones and Mera lavas volcanic formations

The Puyo scoria cones and the Mera lava flows, two newly recognized volcanic formations dated between Late Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene, extend the limits of the Ecuadorian rear-arc volcanic province some 100 km to the south. The Puyo scoria cones have erupted K-rich absarokites containing olivine, diopside and phlogopite, whereas the Mera lava flows display a basic andesite composition, with olivine and minor augite phenocrysts. In addition to high contents in LILE, LREE and HFSE, the Puyo absarokites exhibit many characteristics of primitive melts, namely high Cr (590–310 ppm) and Ni (330–154 ppm) contents, high Mg# (64–70) and they contain forsteritic olivine (Fo_82–89). The composition of the most primary Puyo absarokite was used in petrogenetic models, in order to constrain the genesis of these high-K magmas. Major and trace elements models, as well as isotopic data, indicate that the source of Puyo magmas is a hydrated phlogopite- and garnet-bearing lherzolite. Phlogopite crystallization in the mantle wedge is triggered by the metasomatism by 3–5% of a SiO₂-, H₂O-rich liquid generated by slab melting. Partial melting of the subducted oceanic crust beneath Ecuador is allowed by the subduction of the young and warm Carnegie Ridge, which modifies the thermal regime of the Benioff zone. A low degree (1–4%) of partial melting of the metasomatized mantle wedge, leaving a variable garnet (4–7%) ± phlogopite (0–4%) lherzolitic residual assemblage, leads to the compositions of the entire Puyo absarokite series and is consistent with previous petrogenetic models developed for the Ecuadorian volcanic arc. Indeed, the homogeneity of isotopic data across the arc suggests a similar source for the whole Ecuadorian magmas.     

Holocene recurrent explosive activity at Chimborazo volcano (Ecuador)

Ice-capped Chimborazo is one of the large composite Ecuadorian volcanoes whose recent eruptive activity is poorly known. This paper presents the characteristics and the ages of a newly discovered Holocene sequence of pyroclastic deposits on the east and north sides of the cone. Lying upon a moraine of the Late-Glacial period, the most complete section of ~ 4.5 m in thickness is located 5 km from the present summit crater. It consists of seven massive or diffusely stratified ash flow layers and four fallout layers interbedded with seven paleosoils.     

Pre-eruptive physical conditions of El Reventador volcano (Ecuador) inferred from the petrology of the 2002 and 2004–05 eruptions

A petrological study of the eruptive products of El Reventador allowed us to infer the magmatic processes related to the 2002 and 2004–05 eruptions of this andesitic stratovolcano. On November 3, 2002, El Reventador experienced a highly explosive event, which was followed by emplacement of two lava flows in November–December 2002. Silica contents range from 62 to 58 wt.% SiO₂ for the November 3 pyroclastic deposits to 58–56 and 54–53 wt.% SiO₂ for the successive lava flows. In November 2004 eruptive activity resumed supplying four new lava flows (56–54 wt.% SiO₂) between November 2004 and August 2005.     

Using Causal Inference in Field Development Optimization: Application to Unconventional Plays

Mathematical Geosciences - In the current era of big data and machine learning, a strong focus exists on prediction and classification. In industrial applications, however, many important questions...