Guagua pichincha volcano, Ecuador: fluid geochemistry in volcanic surveillance

The densely populated metropolitan area of Quito is located on the slopes of the active Guagua Pichincha volcano at only 10 km from the crater. Recently, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sponsored a project for the mitigation of volcanic hazard in this area. The geochemical study carried out as part of this project was aimed at constructing a geochemical model of the zone for use in volcanic surveillance.According to this geochemical model, a hydrothermal aquifer (T = 200–240°C), fed both by meteoric waters and by fluids released by a magma body, lies at shallow levels beneath Guagua Pichincha crater. The crater fumaroles are essentially fed by steam boiled off from the hydrothermal aquifer. The high flow rate fumaroles located in the dome area show significant SO₂ contents, which suggest a relatively high contribution of magmatic fluids in the zone of the aquifer feeding them. The absence of SO₂ in the fumarolic discharges near the southern crater wall indicates instead that the magmatic fluids dissolve entirely into the aquifer here. The hot springs located at the western end of the crater represent the lateral discharge of the hydrothermal aquifer.On the basis of this model, it is likely that an increment in the flux of both the magmatic fluids and the heat from a magma body produces an increase, albeit small, of the pressure-temperature conditions of the hydrothermal system and consequent changes in flow rate and fluid chemistry of the fumarolic vents. In particular, total sulphur and possibly hydrochloric acid may increase in all the vents and sulphur dioxide may appear in other fumarolic discharges. The varying thermodynamic conditions in the hydrothermal aquifer can be evaluated on the basis of the equilibria among carbon species and hydrogen. Only minor delayed changes are expected in the physical-chemical characteristics of the springs located at the western end of the crater.     

Purines and triazines in the Murchison meteorite

Two samples of the Murchison C2 chondrite were examined for organic nitrogen compounds, using mass spectrometry as well as paper and thin-layer chromatography. Under mild extraction conditions (water or formic acid) only aliphatic amines and C₂-C₆ alkylpyridines were seen; the latter may be contaminants. Under drastic extraction conditions (hot, 3–6 M HCl or CF₃COOH), a variety of basic nitrogen compounds appeared, in the following amounts (ppm): adenine (15), guanine (5), melamine (20), cyanuric acid (20–30), guanylurea (30–45), urea (25), etc. Apparently these compounds are present mainly in macromolecular material, and are released only upon acid hydrolysis.These findings support our earlier identifications of these compounds in the Orgueil meteorite. They also suggest that the recent failure by Folsomeet al. (Nature232, 108–109, 1971; Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta37, 455–465, 1973) to find purines or triazines in carbonaceous chondrites was due to inadequate extraction conditions: water and formic acid, rather than HCl. Conversely, we were unable to detect the principal compound class reported by Folsome et al.: 4-hydroxypyrimidines.     

Co-seismic landslide detection after M 7.4 earthquake on June 23, 2020, in Oaxaca,Mexico, based on rapid mapping method using high and medium resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images

Landslides are the fourth most common natural disasters in the world, with Costa Rica and southern Mexico being the most affected regions of Central America (Froude and Petley, 2018). In this work, we propose a semi-automated method to detect earthquake-triggered landslides for rapid mapping after a disaster event using open Sentinel-1 data. We used high-resolution TerraSAR-X data and very high-resolution Spot-7 images to compare and evaluate the accuracy of landslide distribution maps generated from the semi-automated method, applied to the M 7.1 earthquake on June 23, 2017, in Oaxaca, Mexico. The outcomes showed better accuracy in descending orbits due to ‘windward-leeward’ physiographic conditions, with a 50.56% quality percentage. This shows a reasonably good capacity to detect co-seismic landslides. However, the breaching factor was also high because several features, such as bare soils and agricultural areas, were incorrectly identified as co-seismic landslides. Finally, this semi-automated method establishes a basis for future improvements in methodologies applied to construct rapid mapping inventories using medium SAR scales.

     

Riparian zone, stream, and floodplain issues: a review

In the last two decades, the effects of forest management on streams, riparian zones, and floodplains have become of much interest. In general, there is agreement that such areas should be maintained in a state approximating naturalness, although it is recognised that definition of this state is usually difficult or impossible. A diversity of management effects has been recognised and, in some cases quantified. For upland catchments, issues particularly relate to direct disturbance of the zone, changes in the flow of woody debris into the stream, or disturbance to the environment by effects generated upstream or downstream. For many areas, a particularly important commercial aspect is the definition of a ‘stream’, as this can impose many expensive and severe restrictions on management of the land. For large rivers, a common issue is the effect of river management on flooding forests. In each case, the issues are complex, information is difficult to collect, and there are fundamental difficulties in going from anecdotal observation to data. Currently, most information appears to be at a relatively local level, and there is a very inadequate knowledge base to give a more holistic overview, although the concept of ‘cumulative effects’, with the effects accumulated over both space and time, has much potential value. There are many opportunities for work in this field.     

Environmental and biological controls on elemental (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and Mn/Ca) ratios in shells of the king scallop Pecten maximus

The relationship between potential elemental proxies (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and Mn/Ca ratios) and environmental factors was investigated for the bivalve Pecten maximus in a detailed field study undertaken in the Menai Strait, Wales, U.K. An age model constructed for each shell by comparison of measured and predicted oxygen-isotope ratios allowed comparison on a calendar time scale of shell elemental data with environmental variables, as well as estimation of shell growth rates. The seasonal variation of shell Mn/Ca ratios followed a similar pattern to one previously described for dissolved Mn²⁺ in the Menai Strait, although further calibration work is needed to validate such a relationship. Shell Sr/Ca ratios unexpectedly were found to co-vary most significantly with calcification temperature, whilst shell Mg/Ca ratios were the next most significant control. The temporal variation in the factors that control shell Sr/Ca ratios strongly suggest the former observation most likely to be the result of a secondary influence on shell Sr/Ca ratios by kinetic effects, the latter driven by seasonal variation in shell growth rate that is in turn influenced in part by seawater temperature. P. maximus shell Mg/Ca ratio to calcification temperature relationships exhibit an inverse correlation during autumn to early spring (October to March-April) and a positive correlation from late spring through summer (May-June to September). No clear explanation is evident for the former trend, but the similarity of the records from the three shells analysed indicate that it is a real signal and not a spurious observation. These observations confirm that application of the Mg/Ca proxy in P. maximus shells remains problematic, even for seasonal or absolute temperature reconstructions. For the range of calcification temperatures of 5-19 °C, our shell Mg/Ca ratios in P. maximus are approximately one-fourth those in inorganic calcite, half those in the bivalve Pinna nobilis, twice those in the bivalve Mytilus trossulus, and four to five times higher than Mg/Ca ratios in planktonic and benthonic foraminifera. Our findings further support observations that Mg/Ca ratios in bivalve shell calcite are an unreliable temperature proxy, as well as substantial taxon- and species-specific variation in Mg incorporation into bivalves and other calcifying organisms, with profound implications for the application of this geochemical proxy to the bivalve fossil record.     

Statistical study of the occurrence of shallow earthquakes

Summary. The time—space-magnitude interaction of shallow earthquakes has been investigated for three catalogues: worldwide ( M ≥ 7.0), Southern and Northern California ( M ≥ 4.0) and Central California ( M ≥ 1.5). The earthquake sequences are considered as a multi-dimensional stochastic point process; the estimates of the parameters for a branching model of the seismic process are obtained by a maximum-likelihood procedure. After applying magnitude—time and magnitude—distance scaling, the pattern of relationship among earthquakes of different magnitude ranges is almost identical. The number of foreshocks diminishes as the magnitude difference between the main shock and the foreshocks increases, while the magnitude distribution of aftershocks has the opposite property. The strongest aftershocks are likely to occur at the beginning of the sequence; later they migrate away with velocities of the order of km/day. The sequences which are composed of smaller aftershocks last longer and there are indications that they remain essentially in the focal region. Foreshocks also appear to migrate, but in this case, toward the main shock. The rate of occurrence of dependent shocks increases as t ^-1 as the origin time of the main shock is approached, effectively making every earthquake a multi-shock event. This interaction of earthquakes was modelled by a Monte-Carlo simulation technique. The statistical inversion of simulated catalogues was undertaken to derive the information we would be able to retrieve from actual data, as well as possible errors of estimates. The possibility of using these results as a tool for seismic risk prediction is discussed and evaluated.     

Soil stabilization with microbially induced desaturation and precipitation (MIDP) by denitrification: a field study

Acta Geotechnica - A field trial was performed to test the feasibility of microbially induced desaturation and precipitation (MIDP) by denitrification for the stabilization of a silty soil....     

Lode–gold mineralization in the Tanami region, northern Australia

The Tanami region of northern Australia has emerged over the last two decades as the largest gold-producing region in the Northern Territory. Gold is hosted by epigenetic quartz veins in sedimentary and mafic rocks, and by sulfide-rich replacement zones within iron formation. Although limited, geochronological data suggest that most mineralization occurred at about 1,805–1,790 Ma, during a period of extensive granite intrusion, although structural relationships suggest that some deposits predate this period. There are three main goldfields in the Tanami region: the Dead Bullock Soak goldfield, which hosts the world-class Callie deposit; The Granites goldfield; and the Tanami goldfield. In the Dead Bullock Soak goldfield, deposits are hosted by carbonaceous siltstone and iron formation where a late (D₅) structural corridor intersects an early F₁ anticlinorium. In The Granites goldfield, deposits are hosted by highly sheared iron formation and are interpreted to predate D₅. The Tanami goldfield consists of a large number of small, mostly basalt-hosted deposits that probably formed at a high structural level during D₅. The D₅ structures that host most deposits formed in a convergent structural regime with σ ₁ oriented between E–W and ENE–WSW. Structures active during D₅ include NE-trending oblique thrust (dextral) faults and ESE-trending (sinistral) faults that curve into N- to NNW-trending reverse faults localized in supracrustal belts between and around granite complexes. Granite intrusions also locally perturbed the stress field, possibly localizing structures and deposits. Forward modeling and preliminary interpretations of reflection seismic data indicate that all faults extend into the mid-crust. In areas characterized by the N- to NW-trending faults, orebodies also tend to be N- to NW-trending, localized in dilational jogs or in fractured, competent rock units. In areas characterized by ESE-trending faults, the orebodies and veins tend to strike broadly east at an angle consistent with tensional fractures opened during E–W- to ENE–WSW-directed transpression. Many of these deposits are hosted by reactive rock units such as carbonaceous siltstone and iron formation. Ore deposition occurred at depths ranging from 1.5 to 11 km from generally low to moderate salinity carbonic fluids with temperatures from 200 to 430°C, similar to lode–gold fluids elsewhere in the world. These fluids are interpreted as the product of metamorphic dewatering caused by enhanced heat flow, although it is also possible that the fluids were derived from coeval granites. Lead isotope data suggest that lead in the ore fluids had multiple sources. Hydrogen and oxygen isotope data are consistent with both metamorphic and magmatic origins for ore fluids. Gold deposition is interpreted to be caused by fluid unmixing and sulfidation of host rocks. Fluid unmixing is caused by three different processes: (1) CO₂ unmixing caused by interaction of ore fluids with carbonaceous siltstone; (2) depressurization caused by pressure cycling in shear zones; and (3) boiling as ore fluids move to shallow levels. Deposits in the Tanami region may illustrate the continuum model of lode–gold deposition suggested by Groves (Mineralium Deposita 28:366–374, 1993) for Archean districts.     

Characterizing infiltration and internal drainage of South African dryland soils

Surface infiltration and internal drainage properties of five soil types from arid drylands of South Africa were studied under double ring infiltrometer, rainfall simulation plots (1 m²) and instantaneous drainage plots (9 m²). Changes in soil water content during 40 minute rainfall simulation for a rainstorm with average intensity of 1.61 mm min^?1 and 30 day drainage period were measured at various depths by 1.5 m long capacitance soil water measuring (DFM) probe. Different (P < 0.05) mean surface steady infiltration rate ranged from 0.05 to 4.47 mm min^?1 and had a negative power relationship (R ² = 0.65) with horizon clay plus fine silt content. Power regression (R ² ≥ 86%) described rainstorm infiltration and obtained steady rates within an average time of 15 minutes. Mean total infiltrated soil water content was lowest (P < 0.05) from surface horizons with either 47.7% clay plus fine silt content or bulk density of 1.91 g cm^?3 and exchangeable sodium of not less than 44 mg kg^?1. Surface horizons with lower surface bulk density and total sand fraction of more than 72% had infiltrated depth and mean total infiltrated soil water content up to 40 cm deeper and 0.55 mm mm^?1 greater, respectively. Drainage rate at drained upper limit calculated from the Wilcox drainage model (R ² ≤ 0.97%) was 0.2 mm day^?1 or less were from underlying horizons with either clay plus fine silt of 45% or soft calcium carbonate. Higher drainage rate with accumulative drainage amount greater than 60 mm were from soil profile horizons with clay plus fine silt content of less than 20% and above unity steady infiltration rates. Rainstorm infiltration and drainage rates was shown to depend on permeability and coarseness of the respective soil surface and subsurface horizons; a phenomenon critical for harnessing rain and flood water to recharge groundwater. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.