Surface-water quality for the Salí River watershed in NW Argentina

Spatial and temporal variations of Na, Mg, Si, K, Ca, SO₄^2-, Cl^-, HCO₃^-, Ag, Al, As, Au, B, Ba, Be, Bi, Br, Ce, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Dy, Er, Eu, F, Fe, Ga, Ge, Gd, Hf, Hg, Ho, I, La, Li, Mn, Mo, Nb, Nd, Ni, P, Pb, Pr, Rb, Sb, Sm, Sn, Sr, Ta, Tb, Te, Th, Ti, Tl, U, V, W, Y, Yb, Zn, and Zr were monitored through 37 sampling stations to determine the main aspects influencing the surface-water quality in the Salí River watershed (Tucumán Province, NW Argentina). The influence of the regional geological setting on water chemistry allows to distinguish three sub-basins. The interaction with sedimentary rocks was found to be dominant in the northern and central-eastern sub-basin as well as in the southern sub-basin, whereas the metamorphic-granitic basement of the Pampean Ranges was noted in the central sub-basin. In addition, anthropogenic activities affect the spatial variation of K, P, Mn, Rb, and Pb as well as dissolved oxygen concentrations and Eh. Temporal water-quality variation is related to the spatial distribution of precipitation and to the seasonal character of the main local industries (sugar cane, alcohol, citrus), increasing P and K concentrations and decreasing dissolved oxygen concentration and Eh in winter. Cl^-, Na, SO₄^2-, Al, As, B, Fe, Mn, Se and U concentrations exceed the regulated drinking-water thresholds at several sampling stations.     

Cosmogenic radiocarbon as a means of studying solar activity in the past

A series of yearly data on the concentration of radioactive carbon ¹⁴C in tree rings measured at the Tbilisi State University in 1983–1986 and covering the time interval 1600–1940 is statistically analyzed. We find evidence for a 22-year cyclicity in the intensity of Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) during the Maunder minimum of the solar activity (1645–1715), testifying that the solar dynamo mechanism continued to operate during this epoch. Variations of Δ¹⁴C on timescales of tens and hundreds of years correlate well with the corresponding variations of the GCR intensity and solar activity, making radiocarbon a reliable source of information on long-timescale variations of solar activity in the past. Short-timescale (<30 years) fluctuations of Δ¹⁴C may be appreciably distorted by time variations not associated directly with solar activity; probable origins of this distortion are discussed.     

Model of a multiscaled MHD dynamo

A simple model for a multiscaled MHD dynamo is suggested. The uppermost tier of the model controls the evolution of the large-scale magnetic field, while the lower tiers are responsible for the evolution of the small-scale velocity and magnetic fields. This approach makes it possible to reproduce, e.g., the evolution of the Galactic magnetic field for realistic magnetic Reynolds numbers, which cannot be done using direct, detailed simulations.     

Impact of Sea-level Rise and Storm Surges on a Coastal Community

A technique to evaluate the risk of storm tides (the combination of a storm surge and tide) under present and enhanced greenhouse conditions has been applied to Cairns on the north-eastern Australian coast. The technique combines a statistical model for cyclone occurrence with a state-of-the-art storm surge inundation model and involves the random generation of a large number of storm tide simulations. The set of simulations constitutes a synthetic record of extreme sea-level events that can be analysed to produce storm tide return periods. The use of a dynamic storm surge model with overland flooding capability means that the spatial extent of flooding is also implicitly modelled. The technique has the advantage that it can readily be modified to include projected changes to cyclone behaviour due to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Sea-level heights in the current climate for return periods of 50, 100, 500 and 1000 years have been determined to be 2.0 m, 2.3 m, 3.0 m and 3.4 m respectively. In an enhanced greenhouse climate (around 2050), projected increases in cyclone intensity and mean sea-level see these heights increase to 2.4 m, 2.8 m, 3.8 m and 4.2 m respectively. The average area inundated by events with a return period greater than 100 years is found to more than double under enhanced greenhouse conditions.     

Risk analysis of landslides – A case study

The effects of uncertainty due to the variability of soil parameters on the risk of landsliding in the Himalayan region are investigated using a random field model combined with slope stability analyses. Effects of spatial variability both in horizontal and vertical directions, number of test samples, variations in piezometric level and the influence of earthquake on the reliability of a typical slope in a slide area are investigated. The results show that the reliability of slopes in the slide area is significantly affected by the coefficients of variation of soil parameters, spatial variations of soil parameters, number of test samples and piezometric variations. The results also show that the assumption of isotropic variations to assess slope reliability isconservative. The results of the study are useful in providing guidelines and pointing to remedial measures in the form of sub-surface drainage to improve slope reliability in the area.     

Fault plane solutions of the january 26th, 2001 bhuj earthquake sequence

A 12-station temporary microearthquake network was established by the Geological Survey of India for aftershock monitoring of the January 26th, 2001 Bhuj earthquake (M _w 7.6) in the Kutch district of Gujarat state, western India. The epicentres of the aftershocks show two major trends: one in the NE direction and the other in the NW direction. Fault-plane solutions of the best-located and selected cluster of events that occurred along the NE trend, at a depth of 15–38 km, show reverse faulting with a large left-lateral strike-slip motion, which are comparable with the main-shock solution. The NW trending upper crustal aftershocks at depth <10 km, on the other hand, show reverse faulting with right-lateral strike-slip motion, and the mid crustal and lower crustal aftershocks, at a depth of 15–38 km, show pure reverse faulting as well as reverse faulting with right-lateral and left-lateral strike-slip motions; these solutions are not comparable with the main-shock solution. It is inferred that the intersection of two faults has been the source area for stress concentration to generate the main shock and the aftershocks.     

Age of Detrital Zircons from Sandstones of the Mesozoic Flysch Formation in the South Anyui Suture Zone (Western Chukotka)

The South Anyui fold zone (western Chukotka) is considered a suture zone related to closure of the South Anyui oceanic basin and collision of Eurasia with the Chukotka–Arctic Alaska microcontinent in the Early Cretaceous. The existence of a compensatory sedimentation basin (foredeep) during folding in the terminal Jurassic–initial Cretaceous remains debatable. This work presents first data on age estimates of detrital zircons from Upper Mesozoic terrigenous sequences of the South Anyui suture zone obtained by the fission-track method. The distal flysch of presumably Late Jurassic age and the proximal flysch of probably Late Triassic age were sampled in the Uyamkanda River basin. The fission-track dating showed that sandstones from the flysch sections contain detrital zircons of two different-age populations. Young zircon populations from sandstones of distal turbidites in the upper course of the Uyamkanda River (two samples) are 149 ± 10.2 and 155.4 ± 9.0 Ma old (Late Jurassic), whereas those from coarse-grained proximal turbidites sampled in the lower course of the Uyamkanda River (one sample) is 131.1 ± 7.5 Ma old (Early Cretaceous). The data obtained indicate that the Late Mesozoic folding in the South Anyui suture zone was accompanied by the formation of a marginal sedimentary basin. Sediments accumulated in this basin compose tectonic nappes that constitute a fold–thrust structure with the northern vergence.     

Compression mechanisms of coesite

 The structure of coesite has been determined at ten pressures up to a maximum of 8.68 GPa by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The dominant mechanism of compression is the reduction of four of the five independent Si–O–Si angles within the structure. There is no evidence of the fifth linkage, Si1–O1–Si1, deviating from 180°. Some Si–O bond distances also decrease by up to 1.6% over the pressure range studied. The pattern of Si–O–Si angle reduction amounts to a rotation of the Si2 tetrahedron around the [001] direction. This rotation induces significant internal deformation of the Si1 tetrahedron. Comparison of the experimental data with rigid-unit distance least-squares simulations of coesite suggests that this pattern of compression, the anomalous positive values of both s₂₃ and K′′ in the equation of state of coesite, its high elastic anisotropy and the unusual straight Si1–O1–Si1 linkage within the structure are all consequences of the connectivity of the tetrahedral framework. Received: 11 July 2002 / Accepted: 14 January 2003 Acknowledgements The help of Christian Baerlocher of ETH Zurich in providing both the DLS-76 software and advice in its use is gratefully acknowledged, as are discussions with Paul Ribbe of Virginia Tech and the comments of two anonymous reviewers. The data analysis was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant EAR-0105864 to N.L. Ross and R.J. Angel.     

Is Prediction of Future Landslides Possible with a GIS?

This contribution explores a strategy for landslide hazard zonation inwhich layers of spatial data are used to represent typical settings inwhich given dynamic types of landslides are likely to occur. Theconcepts of assessment and prediction are defined to focus on therepresentation of future hazardous events and in particular on themyths that often provide obstacles in the application of quantitativemethods. The prediction rate curves for different applications describethe support provided by the different data layers in experiments inwhich the typical setting of hazardous events is approximated bystatistically integrating the spatial information.