Tensile stresses around boreholes due to transient fluid flow

We present solutions for the effective stress induced by gas flow through a porous solid into a borehole resulting from sudden pressure reduction. Tensile effective stress that exceeds the strength of the solid will lead to borehole failure. This has applications to the intentional creation of cavities, relevant to the efficient recovery of coalbed methane, and the avoidance of borehole stability problems in conventional gas production.     

A Stable Carbon Isotope Study of the Food-web in a Freshwater-deprived South African Estuary, with Particular Emphasis on the Ichthyofauna

The importance of macrophytes as food sources for estuarine nekton is unclear. Previous carbon isotope investigations in the macrophyte-dominated, freshwater-deprived Kariega Estuary showed that the bivalveSolen cylindraceusdid not utilize the dominant estuarine macrophytes found within the estuary as a primary food source. This finding prompted questions as to what the nekton of this estuary utilize as primary energy sources. δ¹³C analyses of the principal autochthonous and allochthonous primary carbon sources, as well as the dominant invertebrate and fish species, indicate that there are two main carbon pathways within the Kariega Estuary. The littoral community, which incorporates the majority of crustaceans, gobies, mullet and a sparid, utilizes δ¹³C enriched primary food sources namelySpartina maritima,Zosteracapensis and epiphytes. The channel fauna, which includes the zooplankton, zooplanktivorous and piscivorous fish, utilizes a primary food source depleted in δ¹³C, which is most likely a mixture of phytoplankton, terrestrial plant debris and C₄macrophyte detritus. The C₃saltmarsh macrophytesSarcocornia perennisandChenolea diffusa, as well as benthic microalgae, appear to be less important as primary food sources to the nekton of the Kariega Estuary.     

The University of Durham Southern Hemisphere VHE gamma ray telescope

The design of very high energy (VHE) gamma ray telescopes is discussed and it is shown that a triple-mirror telescope operating in threefold fast coincidence provides an effective instrument. The design, construction and operation of a large VHE gamma ray telescope with an energy threshold of 300 GeV (at the zenith) and incorporating several novel features is described. The use of a coincidence guard ring technique is shown to result in the rejection of about 50% of the off-source (proton) events which form a high background and limit the sensitivity of such telescopes.     

Evidence for inherited Sm−Nd isotopes in granitoid zircons

This study presents evidence to show that, in addition to preserving U–Pb isotope systematics, refractory zircons also preserve, at least in part, an inherited Sm–Nd isotope component. The zircons analyzed during this study were taken from the Strontian granitoid (NW Scotland). The inner intrusion of this composite pluton is known from a previous study to contain substantial U–Pb zircon inheritance, whereas the outer part has only minor inheritance. Zircons from the inner intrusion were found to have significantly lower Nd₄₂₅ values than either their host rock, separated apatite or monazite. It is argued that this isotopic disequilibrium is due to the presence of an inherited Sm–Nd isotope component, rather than being due to a post-crystallization disturbance of the zircons. The preservation of inherted Sm–Nd isotopes within refractory zircons implies that they remain closed systems with respect to the diffusion of Sm and Nd (and presumably the other REE) to temperatures in excess of 700°C. The fact that zircons commonly have high Sm/Nd ratios, relative to sialic crustal material, means that the Nd isotopic evolution of inherited zircons will be very different to that of much of the continental crust.     

Relationship of intertidal surface sediment chlorophyll concentration to hyperspectral reflectance and chlorophyll fluorescence

Estimating biomass of microphytobenthos (MPB) on intertidal mud flats is extremely difficult due to their patchy occurrence, especially at the scale of an entire mud flat. We tested two optical approaches that can be applied in situ: spectral reflectance and chlorophyll fluorescence. These two approaches were applied in 4 European estuaries with different sediment characteristics. At each site, paired replicate measurements of hyperspectral reflectance, chlorophyll fluorescence (after 15 min dark adaptation, F_o ¹⁵), sediment water content, and chlorophylla concentrations were taken (including breakdown products: [chla+phaeo]). Sediments were further characterized by grain size and organic content analysis. The spectral signatures of tidal flats dominated by benthic microalgae, mainly diatoms, could be easily distinguished from sites dominated by macrophytes; we present a 3 waveband algorithm that can be used to detect the presence of macrophytes. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was found to be most strongly correlated to sediment [chla+phaeo], except for the predominantly sandy Sylt stations. F_o ¹⁵ was also significantly correlated to sediment [chla+phaeo] in all but one grid (Sylt grid A). Our results suggest that the functional relationships (i.e., the slopes) between NDVI or fluorescence and [chla+ phaeo] were not significantly different in the muddier grids, although the intercepts could differ significantly, especially for F_o ¹⁵. This suggests a mismatch of the optical depth seen by the reflectometer or fluorometer and the depth sampled for pigment analysis. NDVI appears to be a robust proxy for sediment [chla+phaeo] and can be used to quantify MPB biomass in muddy sediments of mid latitude estuaries.     

Lake Sediment Core Records of Sulphur Accumulation and Sulphur Isotopic Composition in Central Ontario, Canada Lakes

Stable isotopic compositions and concentrations of total sedimentary sulphur (S) were determined in cores from 6 lakes in the acid-sensitive Muskoka-Haliburton region of south-central Ontario. The isotopic composition of S in deep sediment (> ~ 20 cm) was approximately constant in all lakes, and indicated a pre-industrial δ ³⁴S value between +4.0 and +5.3‰, which is similar to current bulk deposition. Similarly, total S concentrations in deep sediment were relatively low (1.9–5 mg S g⁻¹ dwt) and approximately constant with depth within cores. All lakes exhibited up-core increases in total S and decreases in δ ³⁴S at a depth corresponding to the beginning of industrialization in the Great Lakes region ( ~ 1900), resulting in a generally reciprocal depth pattern between total S concentration and δ ³⁴S ratios. While initial shifts in total S and δ ³⁴S were likely due to enhanced SO₄ reduction of newly available anthropogenic SO₄, both the magnitude and pattern of up-core S enrichment and shifts in δ ³⁴S varied greatly among lakes, and did not match changes in S deposition post 1900. Differences between lakes in total S and δ ³⁴S were not related to any single hydrologic (e.g., residence time) or physical (e.g., catchment-area-to-lake area ratio) lake characteristic. This work indicates that sediment cores do not provide consistent records of changes in post-industrial S deposition in this region, likely due to redox-related mobility of S in upper sediment.     

Spectral Simulation and Conditioning to Local Continuity Trends in Geologic Modeling

Spectral simulation has gained application in building geologic models due to the advantage of better honoring the spatial continuity of petrophysical properties, such as reservoir porosity and shale volume. Distinct from sequential simulation methods, spectral simulation is a global algorithm in the sense that a global density spectrum is calculated once and the inverse Fourier transform is performed on the Fourier coefficient also only once to generate a simulation realization. The generated realizations honor the spatial continuity structure globally over the whole field instead of only within a search neighborhood, as with sequential simulation algorithms. However, the disadvantage of global spectral simulation is that it traditionally cannot account for the local information such as the local continuity trends, which are often observed in reservoirs and hence are important to be accounted for in geologic models. This disadvantage has limited wider application of spectral simulation in building geologic models. In this paper, we present ways of conditioning geologic models to the relevant local information. To account for the local continuity trends, we first scale different frequency components of the original model with local-amplitude spectrum ratios that are specific to the local trend. The sum of these scaled frequency components renders a new model that displays the desired local continuity trend. The implementation details of this new method are discussed and examples are provided to illustrate the algorithm.     

Community-based responses to climate hazards: typology and global analysis

Climatic Change - The severity and frequency of climate change hazards are increasing around the world. Because the impacts are most acutely felt in local communities, it is critical to improve...     

Paleolimnological reconstruction of recent changes in assemblages of Cladocera from acidified lakes in the Adirondack Mountains (New York)

Remains of Cladocera were examined in short sediment cores from three Adirondack lakes with mean pHs below 5 and a fourth with a mean pH of 6.5. These cores were collected as part of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA I) project. Historical and paleolimnological evidence suggests that pH has decreased in each of the acid lakes in recent decades. In all of the study cores, the greatest changes in net accumulation rates, assemblage composition, and species richness occurred in recently deposited sediments. The similar timing of events in all lakes suggests that a regional disturbance was responsible. In the three acid lakes, there was a strong association of changes in cladoceran assemblages and diatom, chrysophyte, and geochemical evidence of acidification. The occurrence of recent changes in non-acid Windfall Pond indicates that other factors may also have affected Cladocera in the study lakes.This is the fifteenth of a series of papers to be published by this journal which is a contribution of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) project. Drs. D. F. Charles and D. R. Whitehead are guest editors for this series.