Intertidal subsidence and collapse features on wave‐exposed,drift‐aligned sandy beaches subject to Amazon mud: Cayenne,French Guiana

Short‐lived collapse features affecting the intertidal sandy profile were observed on mud‐rich beaches in Cayenne. They were formed in packets of beach sand accumulating over thick (several metres) fluid to under‐consolidated foreshore mud, which adjusts to this sand loading by seaward and longshore migration of fluid mud and subsequent in situ mud dewatering, thus generating subsidence and deformation of the overlying sand sheet. These sandy collapse features required active longshore sand transport and were washed out by wave processes at each rising tide. They finally disappeared permanently as adjustment of the underlying mud enabled stabilization of the beach profile. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lava discharge during Etna's January 2011 fire fountain tracked using MSG-SEVIRI

Etna's January 2011 eruption provided an excellent opportunity to test the ability of Meteosat Second Generation satellite's Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) sensor to track a short-lived effusive event. The presence of lava fountaining, the rapid expansion of lava flows, and the complexity of the resulting flow field make such events difficult to track from the ground. During the Etna's January 2011 eruption, we were able to use thermal data collected by SEVIRI every 15 min to generate a time series of the syn-eruptive heat flux. Lava discharge waxed over a ~1-h period to reach a peak that was first masked from the satellite view by a cold tephra plume and then was of sufficient intensity to saturate the 3.9-μm channel. Both problems made it impossible to estimate time-averaged lava discharge rates using the syn-eruptive heat flux curve. Therefore, through integration of data obtained by ground-based Doppler radar and thermal cameras, as well as ancillary satellite data (from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer), we developed a method that allowed us to identify the point at which effusion stagnated, to allow definition of a lava cooling curve. This allowed retrieval of a lava volume of ~1.2 × 10⁶ m³, which, if emitted for 5 h, was erupted at a mean output rate of ~70 m³ s⁻¹. The lava volume estimated using the cooling curve method is found to be similar to the values inferred from field measurements.     

Simulation of damage–permeability coupling for mortar under dynamic loads

The results reported in this paper deal with the simulation of damage in cohesive geomaterials such as rocks or concrete subjected to dynamic loads. The practical objective is to stimulate the production of tight gas reservoirs with a technique that is an alternative to hydraulic fracturing. The principle is that when subjected to dynamic loads, cohesive materials such as concrete, rocks or ceramics exhibit distributed micro‐cracking as opposed to localised cracking observed under static loads. Hence, a low permeability rock containing gas trapped into occluded pores can be fragmented with the help of dynamic loads, and gas can be extracted in a much more efficient way compared with hydraulic fracturing, where only large macro cracks are formed with very few connections between occluded pores. At the stage of laboratory development of this technique, compressive underwater shock waves have been used to increase the intrinsic permeability of concrete specimens. In a previous study, pressure waves generated by pulsed arc electrohydraulic discharges in water were used in order to induce micro‐cracking and an increase of average permeability of concrete hollow cylinders subjected to confinement stresses (equivalent to geostatic stresses). We discuss here a 3‐D anisotropic constitutive model aimed at describing the dynamic response of these specimens. It is based on rate‐dependent continuum damage constitutive relations. Crack closure effects and damage‐induced anisotropy are included in the model. The directional growth of damage is related to the directional growth of material intrinsic permeability. Numerical simulations of damage induced by shock waves show good agreement with the experiments for various confinement levels of the specimens. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coupling eruption and tsunami records: the Krakatau 1883 case study,Indonesia

The well-documented 1883 eruption of Krakatau volcano (Indonesia) offers an opportunity to couple the eruption’s history with the tsunami record. The aim of this paper is not to re-analyse the scenario for the 1883 eruption but to demonstrate that the study of tsunami deposits provides information for reconstructing past eruptions. Indeed, though the characteristics of volcanogenic tsunami deposits are similar to those of other tsunami deposits, they may include juvenile material (e.g. fresh pumice) or be interbedded with distal pyroclastic deposits (ash fall, surges), due to their simultaneity with the eruption. Five kinds of sedimentary and volcanic facies related to the 1883 events were identified along the coasts of Java and Sumatra: (1) bioclastic tsunami sands and (2) pumiceous tsunami sands, deposited respectively before and during the Plinian phase (26–27 August); (3) rounded pumice lapilli reworked by tsunami; (4) pumiceous ash fall deposits and (5) pyroclastic surge deposits (only in Sumatra). The stratigraphic record on the coasts of Java and Sumatra, which agrees particularly well with observations of the 1883 events, is tentatively linked to the proximal stratigraphy of the eruption.     

Why are climate policies of the present decade so crucial for keeping the 2 °C target credible?

Decision-makers have confirmed the long term objective of preventing a temperature increase greater than 2 °C. This paper aims at appraising by means of a cost-benefit analysis whether decision makers’ commitment to meet the 2 °C objective is credible or not. Within the framework of a cost-benefit type integrated assessment model, we consider that the economy faces climate damages with a threshold at 2 °C. We run the model for a broad set of scenarios accounting for the diversity of “worldviews” in the climate debate. For a significant share of scenarios we observe that it is considered optimal to exceed the threshold. Among those “non-compliers” we discriminate ”involuntary non-compliers” who cannot avoid the exceedance due to physical constraint from ”deliberate compliers” for whom the exceedance results from a deliberate costs-benefit analysis. A second result is that the later mitigation efforts begin, the more difficult it becomes to prevent the exceedance. In particular, the number of ”deliberate non-compliers” dramatically increases if mitigation efforts do not start by 2020, and the influx of involuntary non-compliers become overwhelming f efforts are delayed to 2040. In light of these results we argue that the window of opportunity for reaching the 2 °C objective with a credible chance of success is rapidly closing during the present decade. Further delay in finding a climate agreement critically undermines the credibility of the objective.     

Luminescence spectroscopy and microscopy applied to study gem materials: a case study of C centre containing diamonds

The methods of luminescence spectroscopy and microscopy are widely used for the analysis of gem materials. This paper gives an overview of the most important applications of the analysis of laser and UV excited luminescence by spectroscopy and visually by microscopy with emphasis on diamond, and specifically natural type Ib diamond, little studied so far. Luminescence based techniques are paramount to the gemmological analysis of diamond, in order to determine whether it is natural, treated or synthetic. The great sensitivity of luminescence helps detect some emitting centres that are undetectable by any other analytical method. Hence, especially for diamond, luminescence is an enabling technology, as illustrated by its pioneering use of imagery for the separation of natural and synthetic diamond, and of spectroscopy for the detection of High Pressure–High Temperature treatment. For all other gemstones the applications are at the moment less numerous, but nevertheless they remain highly important. They provide quickly information on the identification of a gem material, and its treatment. Besides the study of broad band emissions caused by various colour centres, the typical PL-causing trace elements (amongst others) are chromium, manganese, uranium and rare earth elements. In pearls the study of broad band luminescence can be useful, and particularly the study of pink to red porphyrin luminescence in pearls from certain species such as Pinctada and Pteria and others can help identify the pearl-producing mollusc, or if a pearl has been dyed or not. Type Ib diamonds are representative of the importance and complexity of the analysis of luminescence by microscopy and spectroscopy. They show a wide range of sometimes very complex emissions that result in luminescence colours from green to yellow to orange or red. These emissions show generally very inhomogeneous distribution. They are caused by a range of defects, however only a few of them are well characterized.     

喀喇昆仑断裂的变形特征及构造演化

喀喇昆仑断裂的变形特征、形成时代、构造演化以及它的构造意义一直存在着争议。在喀喇昆仑断裂东南段阿伊拉日居山地区,沿断裂出露具右旋剪切应变的糜棱岩和糜棱岩化片麻岩-花岗岩,显微构造研究表明其存在高温右旋剪切变形特征,并伴随淡色同构造花岗岩的产生,同构造结晶锆石所记录的U-Pb同位素年龄,暗示了喀喇昆仑断裂的形成时代在23-25Ma以前,其连续变形作用持续到-12Ma,之后伴随阿伊拉日居山的快速隆升以及噶尔盆地开始形成。综合分析表明喀喇昆仑断裂生长过程可能是由南东向北西扩展的过程,是印度板块与欧亚大陆持续碰撞的结果。断裂的累积位移量至少为280km,其长期平均滑移速率约为11mm／a。通过块体间运动学分析,表明在-23-25Ma以后青藏高原物质以约16．2mmn/a的速率向-N108°方向挤出。     

It starts at home? Climate policies targeting household consumption and behavioral decisions are key to low-carbon futures

Through their consumption behavior, households are responsible for 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, they are key actors in reaching the 1.5 °C goal under the Paris Agreement. However, the possible contribution and position of households in climate policies is neither well understood, nor do households receive sufficiently high priority in current climate policy strategies. This paper investigates how behavioral change can achieve a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in European high-income countries. It uses theoretical thinking and some core results from the HOPE research project, which investigated household preferences for reducing emissions in four European cities in France, Germany, Norway and Sweden. The paper makes five major points: First, car and plane mobility, meat and dairy consumption, as well as heating are the most dominant components of household footprints. Second, household living situations (demographics, size of home) greatly influence the household potential to reduce their footprint, even more than country or city location. Third, household decisions can be sequential and temporally dynamic, shifting through different phases such as childhood, adulthood, and illness. Fourth, short term voluntary efforts will not be sufficient by themselves to reach the drastic reductions needed to achieve the 1.5 °C goal; instead, households need a regulatory framework supporting their behavioral changes. Fifth, there is a mismatch between the roles and responsibilities conveyed by current climate policies and household perceptions of responsibility. We then conclude with further recommendations for research and policy.     

Experimental determination of synthetic NdPO4 monazite end-member solubility in water from 21°C to 300°C: implications for rare earth element mobility in crustal fluids

The solubility of synthetic NdPO₄ monazite end-member has been determined experimentally from 21 to 300°C in aqueous solutions at pH = 2, and at 21°C and pH = 2 for GdPO₄. Measurements were performed in batch reactors, with regular solution sampling for pH measurement, rare earths and phosphorous analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) coupled with a desolvation system. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to check that no reprecipitation of secondary phases occurred and that the mineral surfaces remained those of a monazite. Coupled with speciation calculations, measured solution compositions permitted the determination of NdPO₄ and GdPO₄ solubility products which are in general agreement with previous experimental determination on rhabdophane at 25°C, but showing that monazite is more than two orders of magnitude less soluble than inferred on the basis of previous thermodynamic estimates. The temperature evolution from 21 to 300°C of the equilibrium constant (K) of the NdPO₄ monazite end-member dissolution reaction given by:

     

Suitability of airborne laser scanning for the assessment of forest protection effect against rockfall

Rockfall simulation models are now able to quantify the protective effect of forest with the integration of rock impacts on trees. Those models require spatially explicit forest characteristics which are costly to acquire in operational conditions. The present study compares rockfall simulation results obtained with different forest input data sources: field data with different levels of spatial detail and two methods based on airborne Lidar data. Three different forest stands are tested with several virtual terrain configurations. When rockfall energies are below 200 kJ, the forest protection effect is significant. For higher energies, it also exists but it is minor compared to the effects of topography and rock volume. For all forest input data sources, the estimated rockfall intensity is within ?13 and 16 % of the reference value, whereas the frequency is generally overestimated. Both Lidar methods yield a satisfactory forest protection effect evaluation, but single tree detection tends to underestimate it. Improvements are possible regarding the spatial heterogeneity of stem density and the diameter distribution by tree species.