A Study on the Surface Wettability of Clastic Rocks with Potential Application for CO2 Storage Sites

Natural Resources Research - There have been many studies carried out in the past decades attempting to develop strategies for a safe injection of CO2 into storage sites without leakage and...     

Low-cost volcano surveillance from space: case studies from Etna, Krafla, Cerro Negro, Fogo, Lascar and Erebus

 Satellite data offer a means of supplementing ground-based monitoring during volcanic eruptions, especially at times or locations where ground-based monitoring is difficult. Being directly and freely available several times a day, data from the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) offers great potential for near real-time monitoring of all volcanoes across large (3000×3000 km) areas. Herein we describe techniques to detect and locate activity; estimate lava area, thermal flux, effusion rates and cumulative volume; and distinguish types of activity. Application is demonstrated using data for active lavas at Krafla, Etna, Fogo, Cerro Negro and Erebus; a pyroclastic flow at Lascar; and open vent systems at Etna and Stromboli. Automated near real-time analysis of AVHRR data could be achieved at existing, or cheap to install, receiving stations, offering a supplement to conventional monitoring methods. Received: 21 January 1997 / Accepted: 3 April 1997     

Comparison of microbial indicators and seasonal temperatures as means for evaluating the vulnerability of water resources from karst and siliciclastic springs

Hydrogeology Journal - Spring water is a critical resource in many parts of the world, however, there are few effective and efficient means of evaluating the vulnerability and sustainability of...     

Origin and palaeo‐environments of calcareous sediments in the Moshaweng dry valley,southeast Botswana

Quaternary sedimentation in the Moshaweng dry valley of southeastern Botswana is evaluated on the basis of geomorphological evolution and sedimentological analyses. Stratigraphic evidence reveals an upper surface (1095 m) containing abundant sil‐calcrete, an intermediate surface (1085 m) in which sil‐calcrete underlies nodular calcrete and lower (1075 m) surface in which sil‐calcrete and nodular calcrete are interbedded. This subdivision is reflected in the geochemical composition of the sediments which show an overall trend of decreasing SiO₂ content (and increasing CaCO₃ content) with depth from the highest to the lowest surface levels. The calcretes and sil‐calcretes represent modifications of pre‐existing detrital Kalahari Group sand and basal Kalahari pebbles which thinned over a Karoo bedrock high. Modification took place during wet periods when abundant Ca⁺⁺‐rich groundwater flowed along the structurally aligned valley system. With the onset of drier conditions, water table fluctuations led to the precipitation of nodular calcretes in the phreatic layer to a depth of about 20 m. A major geochemical change resulted in the preferential silicification of the nodular calcrete deposits. Conditions for silica mobilization may be related to drying‐induced salinity and in situ geochemical differentiation brought about by pebble dissociation towards the top of the sediment pile. As calcretization and valley formation progressed to lower levels, silica release took place on a diminishing scale. Thermoluminescence dating infers a mid‐Pleistocene age for sil‐calcrete formation suggesting that valley evolution and original calcrete precipitation are much older. Late stage dissolution of CaCO₃ from pre‐existing surface calcretes or sil‐calcretes led to the formation of pedogenic case‐hardened deposits during a time of reduced flow through the Moshaweng system possibly during the upper or late Pleistocene. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diagenesis in Okavango fan and adjacent dune deposits with implications for the record of palaeo-environmental change in Makgadikgadi–Okavango–Zambezi basin, northern Botswana

This work considers the spatial distribution and ages of western MOZ basin siliclastic sediments prior to providing insights into the diagenesis of degraded dune and alluvial fan sands. Previously published and new TL/OSL ages imply that extensive over-washing of dune sands took place at least 100 ka ago while ages on Okavango floodplains imply that the fan was formed ca. 40 ka and has since undergone periods of higher and lower flood regimes. Sediment analyses indicate that both dune and fan sands contain a diagenetic matrix of clay-enhanced amorphous silica (CEAS) which bonds weakly formed aggregates. The time of formation of diagenetic matrix products is inconclusive but may have been accelerated during or shortly after events dated using OSL/TL techniques. Hence earlier dune over-washing may have led to greater porewater of an acidic to near neutral nature which in turn promoted smectite formation and silicic acid precipitation > 100 000 years ago. The relatively abundant CEAS matrix in floodplain sands implies more recent semi-continuous flood events again of an acidic-near neutral nature leading to the formation of smectite. In this case the floodplain sediments are dated as having been deposited around 40 and 11 ka, when porewater content may have accelerated clay formation and silica dissolution. The dual nature of the CEAS in the islands reflects a changing environment from smectite-dominated flooding events to sepiolite-dominated desiccation events. Flooding may also correspond to TL/OSL ages over the past 40 000 years which contributed to accelerated CEAS formation. The sepiolite is associated with a Ca-rich matrix implying desiccation which may relate to drying events over the 40 000 year period or to riparian tree root pumping and selective salt accumulation. This work shows that sedimentation in incipient rifts is complex and rarely explained totally in terms of primary depositional events. The implications of different stages of sand diagenesis may be significant in enhancing palaeo-environmental interpretations in semi-arid fluvial environments.     

Nature of sedimentary deposits in the western Makgadikgadi basin, Botswana

Quaternary sedimentation in the western Makgadikgadi basin of north central Botswana is evaluated on the basis of new evidence from satellite imagery and sedimentological analyses. Thematic Mapper imagery interpretation, combined with field evidence, has led to the identification of geomorphological features which are mainly composed of light grey calcareous sandstones (formerly calcretes) overlain by dark grey sands. The literature suggests that palaeolake Makgadikgadi I formed and developed intermittently after initial downwarping in the early–mid Pleistocene. The calcareous sandstones were formed when calcium carbonate precipitation took place in pre-existing Kalahari sands along the western shoreline of Makgadikgadi I. Field evidence, supported by X-ray diffraction and SEM analyses, indicates that CaCO₃precipitated mainly in marshy conditions around plant roots and stems and in association with bacteria in embayments along the lakeshore. The sandstones thickened and became partially indurated as a result of increasing palaeolake levels. Deposition was terminated by renewed tectonism which uplifted the shoreline zone relative to the lake basin, leading to falling palaeolake levels. Post-uplift reworking led to case hardening and pedogenic calcrete formation in the upper sections of the calcareous sandstones. Sedimentary conditions altered during the late Pleistocene. Extensive distributaries from the proto-Okavango system incised the shoreline ridge contributing to the filling of Makgadikgadi II. Satellite data suggest that the proto-Okavango rivers formed a series of fan deltas at this time along the western Makgadikgadi basin. Widespread dispersal of fluvial grey sands took place as a result of basin tilting which led to anastomosing channels flowing southward possibly around 18,000 B.P. These results, although preliminary in nature, augment previous geomorphological analyses by adding some detail in terms of depositional environments and by providing a tentative age and origin for the ubiquitous grey sands.     

Xixth International Congress of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

The XIXth International Congress of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing was held at the Amsterdam RAI International Exhibition and Congress Centre, the Netherlands, from 16th to 23rd July 2000. Reports are given on the Congress as a whole, including the General Assembly, some Technical Commission activities and the Congress Exhibition. Papers from the Congress are published in the International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 33.     

Lower tropospheric transport over the Southern Ocean

Radon and particle concentrations obtained at Macquarie Island, halfway between Australia and Antarctica, and on Tasmania's north-west coast at Cape Grim during 1987 are examined. Four-day trajectories based on 12 hourly analyses over the Australian region are used to explore the transport of continental material across the Southern Ocean. This study suggests that at least 25% of the variance of radon concentration at Macquarie Island can be accounted for by transport from the Australian continent. Trajectories at intervals of one hour are used to demonstrate the agreement between episodes of trajectories passing over land and episodes of elevated radon and particle concentration. Wind roses of percentage probability of various levels of radon and particle concentration are compared with back trajectories for their accuracy in depicting episodes of continental air incursion.