Long-term monitoring of the behavior of a talus-colluvium deposit

Landslides - This article describes the behavior of a talus-colluvium deposit up to 70-m thick located in the Serra dos Orgaos, Rio de Janeiro/RJ, Brazil. The monitoring dataset of 13 years...     

Would different methodologies for assessing carbon leakage exposure lead to different risk levels? A case study of the Brazilian industry

Energy-intensive industries play an important role in low-carbon development, being particularly exposed to climate policies. Concern over possible carbon leakage in this sector poses a major challenge for designing effective carbon pricing instruments (CPI). Different methodologies for assessing carbon leakage exposure are currently used by different jurisdictions, each of them based on different approaches and indicators. This paper aims to analyse the extent to which the use of different methodologies leads to different results in terms of exposure to the risk of carbon leakage, using the Brazilian industry sector as a case study. Results indicate that carbon leakage exposure is an expected outcome of eventual CPI implementation in Brazilian industry. However, results vary according to the chosen methodology, so the definition of the criteria is paramount for assessing sectoral exposure to the risk of carbon leakage.

Key policy insights

• Despite increasing discussion about the implementation of carbon pricing on the Brazilian industrial sector, the evaluation of carbon leakage risks is still neglected.

• Assessments of the risk of carbon leakage are directly related to the indicators and criteria used by each methodology. Thus, a given subsector may present different levels of exposure to carbon leakage depending on the methodological choice.

• More than a purely technical discussion, the methodological definition of carbon leakage risk is a political discussion – it can be well-conducted, leading to the success of a CPI, or even sabotaged, by implicitly subsidizing energy-intensive industries.

     

Scaling regimes of local slope versus contributing area in digital elevation models

Four scaling regimes are observed in Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) when the average local slope is calculated for pixels grouped according to the values of the contributing area. Threshold criteria, proposed by various researchers to identify the extent of the channel network, are examined relative to the slope-area scaling diagram. The scaling response observed in DEMs is reproduced with a landscape evolution and channel network growth model originally developed by Willgoose et al. (1989). The threshold criterion proposed in this model is a useful tool to separate two different slope-area scaling regimes observed in DEM data.     

Results from a new model of river basin evolution

This paper briefly describes a model of the erosional development of catchments and their channel networks. The model differentiates between the dominant transport processes in hillslope and channels. The development of channels and hillslopes occurs in an integrated manner as a function of physically observable mechanisms. The growth of a river basin is qualitatively described. The model concepts are used to study the basin during periods of growth (transient periods), as well as during dynamic equilibrium. This leads to hypotheses about the relationship between slopes, relief, tectonic uplift, erodability, runoff, and catchment area. It is shown that the model leads to very reasonable and desirable behaviour of hillslopes during retreat and degradation.     

An early Miocene arc-tholeiitic magmatic dike event from the Alboran Sea — Evidence for precollisional subduction and back-arc crustal extension in the westernmost Mediterranean

A discussion is made on the general significance of an Early Miocene (22–23 Ma, K/Ar dating) basaltic dike swarm that outcrops within large areas of the central and western Betic Zone of the Betic Cordilleras (Southern Spain). This dike swarm is thought to represent the remains of one of the earliest magmatic episodes within the the Neogene volcanic province that is associated with the late orogenic evolution of the Alboran region, and undoubtedly offers the best preserved igneous material related to this early stage that is known at present. The dike rocks (hypabyssal equivalents of andesitic basalts and basaltic andésites) have both major and trace-element abundance patterns that are akin to those of arc-tholeiitic suites. The field relationships and areal distribution of the dike swarm suggest, on the other hand, that a major E-W-trending rifting belt could have been developing within the Alboran Block in oligo-miocene times, previous to its collision with adjacent continental borderlands in the Early-Middle Miocene.Because of their magmatic character and wide distribution, it is proposed that these dike rocks may be regarded as an indication of the existence of roughly contemporaneous (Oligo-Miocene) Benioff-Wadati zone activity under the Alboran Area, which also points towards the previous existence of subductable lithosphere in its surroundings. The main dilatational vector during dike emplacement was already normal to the present E-W stretching of the Alboran Basin proper, which also adds to the possibility that the latter had already started to individualize tectonically in Oligo-Miocene times, and that some of its present crustal features, especially a prominent E-W-trending pattern of magnetic anomalies, had been generated in relation with the dike event. Continued postcollisional Middle Miocene to Pliocene calc-alkaline to ultrapotassic volcanism in the same area could hence have resulted from decompression partial melting of an already contaminated, and still thermally anomalous, mantle wedge, connected with the occurrence of traverse strike-slip and extensional deep faulting within a crustal segment that stretches from southeastern Spain to Morocco.

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Zusammenfassung Über die generelle Bedeutung einer Vielzahl von Gängen (22–23 Ma, K/Ar-Datierung) wird diskutiert, die in einem weiten Gebiet der Betischen Zone aufgeschlossen sind. Diese Vielzahl von Gängen repräsentiert wahrscheinlich eine der ersten magmatischen Episoden innerhalb der vulkanischen neogenen Provinz, welche mit der späten tektonischen Entwicklung der Region des Alboranischen Meeres verbunden ist. Diese Gänge bieten in jedem Fall das besterhaltene magmatische Material, verglichen mit denen, die man bis jetzt kennt. Die Gesteine, die diese Gänge bilden (hypoabyssiche Aequivalente andesitischer Basalte und basaltischer Andesite), besitzen ebenso Hauptelemente wie auch Spurenelemente, die den Tholeiit-Serien der Inselbögen ähnlich sind. Ihre Flächenverteilung und Feldbeziehungen geben auch an, daß ein ausgedehnter Gürtel in der Zone von Alboran in oligo-miozänen Zeiten in Entwicklung war, bevor sich der Zusammenstoß des sogenannten Alboranblocks mit der naheliegenden Kontinentalzone im unteren-mittleren Miozän produzierte.Diese Gesteine geben das gleichzeitige Vorhandensein einer Benioff-Wadati-Zone aktiv unter der Region von Alboran an, sowohl auf Grund ihres magmatischen Aussehens wie auch auf Grund ihrer weiten Flächenverteilung, und deshalb zeigen sie auch die vorige Existenz subduktionsfähiger Lithosphäre in ihrer Nähe. Der Hauptdilatationsvektor war schon während der Intrusion der Gänge normal zur jetzigen Elongation des Alboran-Beckens gerichtet, was auch vermuten läßt, daß jenes Becken schon während des Oligozäns oder des unteren Miozäns begonnen hatte, sich tektonisch zu individualisieren. In diesem Fall könnte die durch die Gänge repräsentierte vulkanische Episode einige der Charakteristika der dem Becken unterliegenden Kruste erklären und speziell das Vorhandensein eines wichtigen Netzes von magnetischen Anomalien, das Ost-West verläuft. Die spätere Entwicklung des Vulkanismus in dieser Provinz konnte sich aus der Partialschmelzung einer vorher kontaminierten und sogar thermisch anomalen Zone des Mantels ergeben haben, verbunden mit dem Wirken von Verwerfungen und zerrenden Brüchen in einem lithosphärischen Gürtel, der sich vom Südosten der Iberischen Halbinsel bis Marokko ausbreitet.

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Resumen Se hace una discusión sobre la significación general de un enjambre de diques (22–23 M.a., datación K/Ar) que aflora en una amplia extensión de la Zona Bética (Cordilleras Béticas, España Meridional). Este enjambre de diques représenta probablemente uno de los primeras episodios magmáticos dentro de la provincia volcánica neógena asociada a la evolución orogénica tardia de la región del Mar de Alborán, y ofrece en todo caso el material igneo mejor preservado en relación con este estadio de los conocidos hasta el presente. Las rocas que constituyen los diques (equivalentes hipoabisales de basaltos andesiticos y andesitas basálticas) poseen caracteres geoquímicos tanto de elementos mayores como de trazas que son afines a los de las series toleáticas de arcos insulares. Su distribución areal y relaciones de campo indican, por otra parte, que una banda dilatacional podría haberse estado desarrollando en el área de Alborán en tiempos oligo-miocenos, con anterioridad a la colisión del Bloque de Alborán con las áreas continentales adyacentes en el Mioceno Inferior-Medio.A causa tanto de su afinidad magmática como de su amplia distribución areal, estas rocas vienen a indicar la existencia, contemporánea, de una zona de Benioff-Wadati activa bajo la región de Alborán y, por ende, la presencia previa de litosfera subducible en sus inmediaciones. El principal vector dilatacional durante la intrusión de los diques era ya normal a la actual elongación de la cuenca de Alborán, lo cual también sugiere la posibilidad de que aquella hubiese comenzado a individualizarse tectónicamente durante el Oligoceno ó Mioceno Inferior. En tal caso el episodio volcico representado por los diques podría explicar algunas de las características de la corteza subyacente a esta cuenca, y en especial la existencia de una prominente red de anomalias magnéticas de dirección E-W, paralela a la red de dikes. El desarrollo posterior del volcanismo en esta provincia podria haber resultado de la fusión partial de una zona del manto previamente contaminada, y aún térmicamente anómala, en conexión con la actuación de desgarres y fracturación distensiva en una banda litosférica que se extiende desde el sureste de la peninsula ibérica hasta Marruecos.

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A quantitative evaluation of Playfair's law and its use in testing long‐term stream erosion models

Playfair's law (J. Playfair, illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, 1802) requires any two tributaries in a river network to lower at the same rate near their junction. Although this law holds exactly at the junction, it is unclear how well it holds in the vicinity of the junction. This issue has practical importance because Playfair's law has been used to estimate parameters for detachment‐limited models of erosion. If the incision rate of a stream is modelled as βA^mSⁿ, where β is an erodibility parameter, A is the area drained by the stream, and S is the local gradient of the channel, then the ratio of the parameters m/n can be estimated from junctions by assuming that Playfair's law holds over the distance used to determine S for each tributary. In this paper, Playfair's law and associated m/n estimates are evaluated for simulated basins with constant and temporally varying uplift rates (or baselevel lowering rates). The results demonstrate that estimates of m/n may be biased for basins with upward‐concave stream profiles because the local slope must be approximated with an average upstream slope. In addition, when uplift rate varies temporally, knickpoints are shown to travel through the basins with constant vertical velocity. Because incision rates vary within the basin, Playfair's law only holds exactly at the junctions. These effects are more important when slopes are measured over longer distances. Finally, measurement techniques are presented which address these potential biases. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CodaQ as a combination of scattering and intrinsic attenuation: Numerical simulations with the boundary integral method

Numerical modelling ofSH wave seismograms in media whose material properties are prescribed by a random distribution of many perfectly elastic cavities and by intrinsic absorption of seismic energy (anelasticity) demonstrates that the main characteristics of the coda waves, namely amplitude decay and duration, are well described by singly scattered waves in anelastic media rather than by multiply scattered waves in either elastic or anelastic media. We use the Boundary Integral scheme developed byBenites et al. (1992) to compute the complete wave field and measure the values of the direct waveQ and coda wavesQ in a wide range of frequencies, determining the spatial decay of the direct wave log-amplitude relation and the temporal decay of the coda envelope, respectively. The effects of both intrinsic absorption and pure scattering on the overall attenuation can be quantified separately by computing theQ values for corresponding models with (anelastic) and without (elastic) absorption. For the models considered in this study, the values of codaQ ^–1 in anelastic media are in good agreement with the sum of the corresponding scatteringQ ^–1 and intrinsicQ ^–1 values, as established by the single-scattering model ofAki andChouet (1975). Also, for the same random model with intrinsic absorption it appears that the singly scattered waves propagate without significant loss of energy as compared with the multiply scattered waves, which are strongly affected by absorption, suggesting its dominant role in the attenuation of coda waves.     

An audio-magnetotelluric investigation in Terceira Island (Azores)

Ten audio-magnetotelluric soundings have been carried out along a profile crossing the Serra do Cume caldera in the eastern part of the Terceira Island (Azores). The main objectives of this investigation were to detect geoelectrical features related with tectonic structures and to characterize regional hydrological and hydrothermal aspects mainly those related to geothermal fluid dynamics.Three-dimensional numerical investigation showed that the data acquired at periods shorter than 1 s are not significantly affected by ocean effect. The data was analysed using the Smith's decomposition method in order to investigate possible distortions caused by superficial structures and to estimate a global regional strike. The results suggest that in general the soundings were not distorted. A regional N55°W strike was chosen for the two-dimensional data inversion.The low-resistivity zones (10–30 ohm-m) displayed in the central part of the 2-D geoelectrical model have been interpreted as caused by hydrothermal circulation. The low-resistivity anomalies at the ends of the profile might be attributed to alteration zones with interaction of seawater intrusion. High-resistivity (> 300 ohm-m) values have been related with less permeable zones in the SW of Cinco Picos and Guilherme Moniz caldera walls.     

The development of folds in bedded chert and related rocks in the Malaguide Complex, southern Spain

Folds and folding mechanism in a chert sequence and related rocks of the Maláguide Complex (the uppermost tectonic unit of the Betic Zone) have been investigated. The geometric study shows that folds that developed in the chert sequence are usually angular in shape and asymmetric. Chevron and conjugate folds are common.Folding in bedded chert is explained in terms of a suggested model:

1. (1) Development of folds by kink and conjugate kinking.

2. (2) As the shortening increases, the interlimb angles decrease; in the kink folds this is caused by a reduction of the angle between the layers within the kink and the kink boundaries. There seems to be a relationship between this angle and the asymmetrical thinning-out in the limbs of many folds: the smaller is the angle between the kink boundary and the layers within the kink band, the larger is the reduction of the thickness in these layers.

Single limestone layers embedded in slate deform very probably by a buckling mechanism, implying tangential longitudinal strain and an additional flattening.