EM induction in the Vancouver Island region: 3D numerical,analogue model,and field site results

Electromagnetic induction in the Vancouver Island region for a uniform inducing source field for 300 s period is investigated with the aid of three-dimensional (3-D) numerical and analogue model results and field site measurements. The thin sheet numerical model, based on the subducting Juan de Fuca plate analogue model ofDosso et al., consists of a 5km thick non-uniform thin sheet (comprising the lateral conductivity contrasts arising from the land, the varying depth ocean, and the sediment) underlain by a four-layer conductive structure. The four-layer conductive structure beneath the non-uniform thin sheet simulates the effect of the Juan de Fuca plate subducting Vancouver Island. To examine the effects of the ocean channel depth between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia (Canada) mainland, numerical results were obtained for two channel depths (0 and 600 m). The results indicate that the channel plays an important role in the geomagnetic response in the central and inner coastal regions of Vancouver Island. The general agreement of the 3-D numerical model induction arrows with the analogue model and field site induction arrows for 300 s supports the premise of a layered conductive substructure dipping at a small angle, at most, beneath Vancouver Island.Lithoprobe Publication No. 311.     

Comparison of analogue model and field station EM responses on Southern Vancouver Island

Measurements of geomagnetic induction responses for a laboratory analogue model, that includes a simulation of the subducting Juan de Fuca Plate, are compared with those obtained at three sites on Vancouver Island. Good agreement between model and field responses at the central Vancouver Island site is observed over the period range 3–60 min, while at the east and west coastal sites, good agreement is achieved only for periods greater than 20 min. At shorter periods, departures of the observed responses from those of the model are possibly the result of upper crust inhomogeneities not replicated in the simulation, and the complex strait with its numerous small islands and its irregular coastlines inadequately simulated in the course model. Nevertheless, the analogue model results are consistent with the premise of a Juan de Fuca plate, underlain by the conductive asthenosphere, subducting at a shallow depth beneath Vancouver Island.     

On the comparison of laboratory electromagnetic analogue model measurements and finite-difference numerical calculations

This work compares experimental analogue model measurements and finite-difference numerical calculations of the electric and magnetic fields for the cases of induction in a highly conducting plate and wedge embedded in a poorly conducting host earth. The results indicate very good agreement between the experimental and theoretical results and confirm the validity of the analogue and numerical methods for studying complex induction problems.     

Electromagnetic induction in the San Juan Bay region of Vancouver Island

The response of the electric and magnetic field variations over the San Juan Bay region of Vancouver Island is studied using a scaled laboratory analogue model. The laboratory frequencies simulate periods of 10 and 100 s in the geophysical problem. The model results indicate that, for both E- and H-polarization of the source field, induced current in the ocean is deflected around Cape Flattery and channelled into the Juan de Fuca Strait. With increasing period, the proportion of current channelled into the Strait decreases sharply. Induced current in the strait is also funnelled into San Juan Bay, a finger-shaped bay ca. 4 km wide and 7.5 km long, for both polarizations of the source field. The effect of the Bay on the field response is confined to the local region, within approximately 6 km of the centre of the Bay. Good agreement between field station and analogue model H_z results was obtained for the San Juan Bay. The behaviour of the Parkinson arrow for these two stations is examined with the aid of the analogue model results.     

A three-dimensional numerical sea model with eddy viscosity varying piecewise linearly in the vertical

The solution of the three-dimensional linear hydrodynamic equations which describe wind-driven flow in a homogeneous sea are solved using the eigenfunction method. The eddy viscosity is taken to vary piecewise linearly in the vertical over an arbitrary number of layers. Using this formulation the eigenfunctions are given in terms of Bessel functions. The coefficients of integration as well as the eigenvalues are determined accurately such that the boundary conditions are satisfied. Values of the eigenfunctions at any depth can then be determined very fast and to a high degree of accuracy.Current profiles at any position can hence be computed accurately. The expansion of the horizontal component of current converges very fast at all depths.     

An analogue model study of electromagnetic induction in the Tasmania region

Laboratory analogue model magnetic measurements are carried out for a model of the region including Tasmania, Bass Strait with its highly conductive deep sedimentary basins, and the south coast of mainland Australia. The model source frequencies used simulate naturally occurring geomagnetic variations of periods 5–120 min. In-phase and quadrature magnetic H_x, H_y and H_z field measurements for the modelled region are presented for an approximately uniform overhead horizontal source field for E-polarization (electric field of the source in the N-S direction) and for H-polarization (electric field of the source in the E-W direction). Large anomalous in-phase and quadrature model magnetic fields are observed over Bass Strait and the coastal regions at short periods for both E- and H-polarization, but with increasing period, the field anomalies decrease more rapidly for E-polarization, than for H-polarization. The difference in response with polarization for the Bass Strait region is attributed to current induced in the deep ocean, for all periods, being channelled through Bass Strait for H-polarization but not for E-polarization. The persistent large coastal field anomalies elsewhere, for H-polarization, can be accounted for by the coastal current concentrations due to currents induced in the deep ocean for all periods deflected to the south and to the north by the shelving sea-floor and channelled through Bass Strait and around the southern coast of Tasmania. The phenomena of current deflection and channelling for H-polarization for the geometry of the southern Australia coastline and associated ocean bathymetry is particularly effective in producing field anomalies for a large period range.The coastal horizontal H_x and H_y field anomalies, present for E-polarization at short periods and for H-polarization at all periods, do not extend far inland, and thus, for inland station sites somewhat removed from the coast, should not present serious problems for magnetic soundings in field work. The sharp vertical field (H_z) gradient over Tasmania at short periods, which is predominantly in the E-W direction for E-polarization and the N-S direction for H-polarization, is strongly frequency dependent, becoming almost undetectable at 60 min. The behaviour of the H_z field gradients, however, are very similar from traverse to traverse over inland Tasmania, and thus, the effects of the ocean should not present too serious a problem in the interpretation of field station studies. The discrepancies between model and field station results should be useful in mapping geological boundaries in the region.     

A heat pipe model for vertical, magma-filled conduits

A 5-m radius magma-filled conduit will solidify in much less than one year if heat losses to the conduit wall are not offset by some form of forced or free convection of magma from some source body through the conduit. If the forced convection of magma from a source through the conduit is either too weak or is prevented by closure of the conduit at the end nearest the surface, only free convective circulations between the source chamber and conduit are available to balance the wall heat loss. Using an integral approach, the efficiency of free convection is investigated for conduits emplaced in both conductive and hydrothermally convective host rock environments. The results of the model strongly suggest that free circulations within conduits of large aspect ratio provide an efficient mechanism for offsetting heat losses to the conduit wall. The model provides a possible explanation for the occurrence of periodic eruptions from a conduit when the periodicity greatly exceeds the time scale for the cooling of a quiescent conduit by heat loss through the wall.     

A multi-envelope vertical coordinate system for numerical ocean modelling

A multi-envelope generalised coordinate system for numerical ocean modelling is introduced. In this system, computational levels are curved and adjusted to multiple ‘virtual bottoms’ (aka envelopes) rather than following geopotential levels or the actual bathymetry. This allows defining computational levels which are optimised to best represent different physical processes in different sub-domains of the model. In particular, we show how it can be used to improve the representation of tracer advection in the ocean interior. The new vertical system is compared with a widely used z-partial step scheme. The modelling skill of the models is assessed by comparison with the analytical solutions or results produced by a model with a very high-resolution z-level grid. Three idealised process-oriented numerical experiments are carried out. Experiments show that numerical errors produced by the new scheme are much smaller than those produced by the standard z-partial step scheme at a comparable vertical resolution. In particular, the new scheme shows superiority in simulating the formation of a cold intermediate layer in the ocean interior and in representing dense water cascading down a steep topography.     

Tectonic interpretation of the magnetic anomalies southwest of Vancouver Island

Summary A tectonic interpretation of the magnetic anomalies off the coast of California, Oregon and Washington between 40° and 52° north latitude shows that in the area surveyed the oceanic crust is cut by seven major dislocation zones which divide the region in eight areas. For five of these areas the original connection can be reconstructed. The existence of a window of young crust surrounded by older crust and of a short, isolated length of active oceanic ridge southwest of Vancouver Island as proposed recently by different authors is not confirmed.     

An analogue model study of electromagnetic induction in the British Isles region

The behavior of electric- and magnetic-field variations over the British Isles region is studied using a scaled laboratory analogue model. The model source frequencies used simulate periods of 20 min to 2 h in the geophysical scale. The results indicate that conductive channelling of induced electric current by the English Channel is important for both E- and H-polarization, while channelling through the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and the North Sea is particularly important for the E-polarization. The funnel shape of the North Sea, leading to the relatively narrow English Channel, results in diffusion of current into the continent and the east coast of the British Isles, contributing to highly frequency-dependent horizontal electric- and vertical magnetic-field coastal anomalies. The model results also give ample evidence of current deflection at the complex coastlines.The model results for simulated $\text{1}\text{2}$ h period variations indicate vertical magnetic-field values changing by as much as a factor of five or six between certain coastal locations, and at least by a factor of two or three between interior locations. The horizontal electric- and magnetic-field components also show almost equally large changes, with particularly large enhancements near narrow ocean channels and irregular coastlines, responding to channelled and deflected current. With the relatively close proximity of the coasts for essentially all locations on the British Isles, the coast effects associated with the very complex coastlines can be expected to play a major role in the behavior of the electromagnetic fields over the British Isles.     

A 477‐year dendrohydrological assessment of drought severity for Tsable River,Vancouver Island,British Columbia,Canada

Summer streamflow droughts are becoming more severe in many watersheds on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, as a result of climate warming. Small coastal basins that are the primary water source for most communities and essential to Pacific salmon populations have been particularly affected. Because the most extreme naturally occurring droughts are rarely captured within short instrumental records water managers likely underestimate, and are unprepared for, worst‐case scenario low flows. To provide a long‐term perspective on recent droughts on Vancouver Island, we developed a 477‐year long dendrohydrological reconstruction of summer streamflow for Tsable River based on a network of annual tree‐ring width data. A novel aspect of our study is the use of conifer trees that are energy limited by spring snowmelt timing. Explaining 63% of the instrumental streamflow variability, to our knowledge the reconstruction is the longest of its kind in British Columbia. We demonstrate that targeting the summer streamflow component derived from snowmelt is powerful for determining drought‐season discharge in hybrid runoff regimes, and we suggest that this approach may be applied to small watersheds in temperate environments that are not usually conducive to dendrohydrology. Our findings suggest that since 1520, 21 droughts occurred that were more extreme than recent ‘severe’ events like those in 2003 and 2009. Recent droughts are therefore not anomalous relative to the ~400‐year pre‐instrumental record and should be anticipated within water management strategies. In coming decades, worst‐case scenario natural droughts compounded by land use change and climate change could result in droughts more severe than any since 1520. The influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation on instrumental and modelled Tsable River summer streamflow is likely linked to the enhanced role of snowmelt in determining summer discharge during cool phases. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An analogue model study of EM induction in the North China-Korea coastal region

The behaviour of the magnetic field variations over the North China-Korea coastal region is studied with the aid of a scaled laboratory analogue model. The model source frequencies simulate naturally occurring geomagnetic variations of 3–60 min periods. In-phase and quadrature magnetic B_x, B_y and B_z field measurements for the modelled region are presented for E- and B-polarizations. Large anomalous in-phase and quadrature model magnetic fields are observed over the Korea-Japan strait for E-polarization and over the Bohai strait for B-polarization due to current channelling through the straits. Large responses of the peninsulas in the shallow coastal areas occur at short periods but decrease abruptly with increasing period. In general, the effects of peninsulas, straits, bays and irregularities in the coastlines play an important role in the magnetic field responses both on-shore and off-shore for this complex North China-Korea coastal region. Model and field site induction arrows are compared for three sites west of Bohai Bay.     

A kinematics-uplift model for the HimalayanTibetan region

Ａｋｉｎｅｍａｔｉｃｓ－ｕｐｌｉｆｔｍｏｄｅｌｆｏｒｔｈｅＨｉｍａｌａｙａｎＴｉｂｅｔａｎｒｅｇｉｏｎＸｉａｎ－ＪｉｅＳＨＥＮ（沈显杰）ａｎｄＬａｄｉｓｌａｕｓＲＹＢＡＣＨ（ＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＧｅｏｌｏｇｙ，ＡｃａｄｅｍｉａＳｉｎｉｃａ，Ｂｅｉｊ...     

Electromagnetic induction in the British Isles region: analogue model and field station results

The results of a laboratory electromagnetic analogue model study, which employs a horizontal inducing field over a simple model of the British Isles region, delineate the location and frequency dependence of the major coast effect induction anomalies of the Scotland region. Contours of amplitudes, amplitude ratios, and in-phase and quadrature parts of the model field measurements are presented. The model vertical magnetic fields for two orthogonal source field polarizations and field station values for two hypothetical events for corresponding polarizations are compared.While major discrepancies occur between model and field H_z amplitudes, the H_z gradients across Scotland, which can be attributed to the coast-effect, are comparable in value, although sometimes reversed in sign. Superimposed on this coast-effect, the field data indicate the existence of current concentrations associated with the Great Glen and the Southern Uplands faults and possibly also of currents within the Scottish mainland near the east and west coasts.     

Side-scan sonar estimates of the utilization of gray whale feeding grounds along Vancouver Island,Canada

Infaunal prey communities and gray whale feeding excavations were found at three sites along the west coast of Vancouver Island: Ahous Bay, Pachena Bay and Port San Juan. Side-scan sonar records indicated that whales disturbed up to 36% of the sea floor. The mean percentage of the bottom covered with feeding excavations was > 17% in each of the three feeding grounds. There was a positive relationship between the biomass of ampeliscid amphipod prey and the total quantity of prey consumed by gray whales from the three feeding grounds. There also was considerable annual variation in the size of feeding excavations, the total area covered by excavations, and the dispersion of excavations over the entire prey community during 3 years of observations at Pachena Bay. In general, two types of gray whale feeding records occurred in the Ampelisca tube mats. One record was composed of large complex excavations (mean > 20.5 m²): the other contained only small features(mean < 4 m²). Gray whales expanded the small feeding excavations into large, complex features by feeding along the edges of existing depressions. Edge feeding may increase the energy yield per dive as whales avoid low biomass areas inside existing excavations. It may also require less energy to lift the bottom by suction along the edge of an exposed tube mat. Gray whale feeding suspended over 1000 m³ of sediment per day. Since sediment grain size was coarser inside feeding excavations (mean = 0.160 mm) compared to outside (mean = 0.124 mm), gray whales may help to maintain the mud poor fine sand habitat of its primary benthic prey, Ampelisca, by winnowing away finer sediments. Certain infaunal prey types (e.g. onuphid polychaetes) are less resilient to gray whale predation than others (e.g. Ampelisca) as a result of their local distribution patterns and life history.     

A model for the numerical simulation of tephra fall deposits

A simple semianalytical model to simulate ash dispersion and deposition produced by sustained Plinian and sub-Plinian eruption columns based on the 2D advection–dispersion equation was applied. The eruption column acts as a vertical line source with a given mass distribution and neglects the complex dynamics within the eruption column. Thus, the use of the model is limited to areas far from the vent where the dynamics of the eruption column play a minor role. Vertical wind and diffusion components are considered negligible with respect to the horizontal ones. The dispersion and deposition of particles in the model is only governed by gravitational settling, horizontal eddy diffusion, and wind advection. The model accounts for different types and size classes of a user-defined number of particle classes and changing settling velocity with altitude. In as much as wind profiles are considered constant on the entire domain, the model validity is limited to medium-range distances (about 30–200 km away from the source).The model was used to reconstruct the tephra fall deposit from the documented Plinian eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, Italy, in 79 A.D. In this case, the model was able to broadly reproduce the characteristic medium-range tephra deposit. The results support the validity of the model, which has the advantage of being simple and fast to compute. It has the potential to serve as a simple tool for predicting the distribution of ash fall of hypothetical or real eruptions of a given magnitude and a given wind profile. Using a statistical set of frequent wind profiles, it also was used to construct air fall hazard maps of the most likely affected areas around active volcanoes where a large eruption is expected to occur.     

A numerical model for the dynamics of pyroclastic flows at Galeras Volcano,Colombia

This paper presents a two-dimensional model for dilute pyroclastic flow dynamics that uses the compressible Navier–Stokes equation coupled with the Diffusion–Convection equation to take into account sedimentation. The model is applied to one of the slopes of Galeras Volcano to show: (1) the temperature evolution with the time; (2) dynamic pressure change; and (3) particle concentration along the computer domain from the eruption to the impact with a topographic barrier located more than 16 km from the source. Two initial solid volumetric fractions are modeled. For both cases, some of the structures located more distant than 10 km could survive, but in all cases the flow remains deadly. This paper shows that a dynamical model of pyroclastic flows can be implemented using personal computers.     

A comparison of cumulus parameterization schemes in a numerical weather prediction model for a monsoon rainfall event

In order to evaluate cumulus parameterization (CP) schemes for hydrological applications, the Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research's fifth‐generation mesoscale model (MM5) was used to simulate a summer monsoon in east China. The performances of five CP schemes (Anthes–Kuo, Betts–Miller, Fritsch–Chappell, Kain–Fritsch, and Grell) were evaluated in terms of their ability to simulate amount of rainfall during the heavy, moderate, and light phases of the event. The Grell scheme was found to be the most robust, performing well at all rainfall intensity and spatial scales. The Betts–Miller scheme also performed well, particularly at larger scales, but its assumptions may make it inapplicable to non‐tropical environments and at smaller scales. The Kain–Fritsch scheme was the best at simulating moderate rainfall rates, and was found to be superior to the Fritsch–Chappell scheme on which it was based. The Anthes–Kuo scheme was found to underpredict precipitation consistently at the mesoscale. Simulation performance was found to improve when schemes that included downdrafts were used in conjunction with schemes that did not include downdrafts. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrated geophysics for mineral exploration in drift-covered volcanic terrains: examples from northern Vancouver Island,Canada

Known mineral occurrences in northern Vancouver Island are typically hosted in volcanic units of the Bonanza Group. At a local scale, the mineralization is associated with advanced argillic bedrock alteration and is often intimately related to porphyry intrusions. On a larger scale, faults are thought to exert the most significant control on the distribution of mineralized host rocks. Poor exposures and a complex glacial history limit the use of traditional methods of geological mapping and mineral exploration in this region and to date geophysical methods have been under-utilized. Here we present findings from four standard geophysical (gravity, magnetics, electromagnetics and seismic refraction) methods, recently deployed here to elucidate the subsurface geology, as well as to identify new targets for base metal exploration. Results at two different sites show that the integrated interpretation of geophysical data, constrained by physical rock property measurements, yields detailed images of the subsurface at a fraction of the cost of drilling. At one site, east of Rupert Inlet, the final subsurface model shows that the Bonanza Group is not nearly as extensive as previously presumed. An extension of the Holberg Fault is identified some 50 km east of the visibly mapped outcrop and an extensive zone of alteration around the fault is recognized. Furthermore, a number of the methods provide support for the existence of a porphyry dike at this site. At the second site, north of Rupert Inlet, magnetic and electromagnetic data prove effective at mapping alteration and locating shear zones beneath a relatively thin drift cover. Together, these results help outline a strategy for exploration in drift-covered terrains and show that a redirection of exploration effort is warranted in the case of northern Vancouver Island.