Determination of flow exits in the Soultz borehole GPK2 by using the brine displacement method

The article presents a method to derive synthetic flow logs from low rate injection tests in wells, which are otherwise not accessible for logging. The tests were carried out in the 5 km deep geothermal well GPK2 in the Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) project of Soultz-sous-Forêts (France) and were aimed at characterizing the status of the well before chemical treatments. The method consists of injecting water at constant flow rates into the well initially filled with brine. The wellhead pressure record of this test is transformed into log of the flow velocity versus depth by a technique described in the paper. Applying this method to borehole GPK2, three outlets could be detected and quantified within the cased and uncased section of this borehole. The outlet in the cased section at 3860 m absorbed 15% of the total flow. This depth corresponds to a known casing restriction, which makes the borehole inaccessible for logging operations. The two other outlets are at the casing shoe at 4420 m (15%) and at 4670 m (70%).     

Coral skeletal delta(15)N reveals isotopic traces of an agricultural revolution

This study introduces a new method of tracing the history of nutrient loading in coastal oceans via delta(15)N analysis of organic nitrogen preserved in the skeleton of the massive Porites coral. Four coral cores were collected in Bali, Indonesia, from reefs exposed to high levels of fertilizers in agricultural run-off, from lagoonal corals impacted by sewage, and from a reef located 30 km offshore. Skeletal delta(15)N in the agriculturally exposed coral declined from 10.7+/-0.4 per thousand in 1970-1971, when synthetic fertilizers (-0.8 per thousand+/-0.2 per thousand) were introduced to Bali, to a depleted "anthropogenic" baseline of 3.5 per thousand+/-0.4% in the mid-1990s. delta(15)N values were negatively correlated with rainfall, suggesting that marine delta(15)N lowers during flood-bourn influxes of waste fertilizers. Reef cores exposed to untreated sewage in terrestrial discharge were enriched (7.8 and 7.3+/-0.4 per thousand), while the offshore core reflected background oceanic signals (6.2+/-0.4 per thousand). delta(15)N, N concentration, and C:N systematics indicate that the N isotopic composition of skeletal organic matter was generally well preserved over 30 years. We suggest that skeletal organic delta(15)N can serve as a recorder of past nitrogen sources. In Bali, this tracer suggests that the intensification of Western style agricultural practices since 1970 are contributing to the degradation of coastal coral reefs.     

A first application of a marine inductive source electromagnetic configuration with remote electric dipole receivers: Palinuro Seamount,Tyrrhenian Sea

We study a new marine electromagnetic configuration that consists of a ship‐towed inductive source transmitter and a series of remote electric dipole receivers placed on the seafloor. The approach was tested at the Palinuro Seamount in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, at a site where massive sulphide mineralization has been previously identified by shallow drilling. A 3D model of the Palinuro study area was created using bathymetry data, and forward modelling of the electric field diffusion was carried out using a finite volume method. These numerical results suggest that the remote receivers can theoretically detect a block of shallowly buried conductive material at up to ～100 m away when the transmitter is located directly above the target. We also compared the sensitivity of the method using either a horizontal loop transmitter or a vertical loop transmitter and found that when either transmitter is located directly above the mineralized zone, the vertical loop transmitter has sensitivity to the target at a farther distance than the horizontal loop transmitter in the broadside direction by a few tens of metres. Furthermore, the vertical loop transmitter is more effective at distinguishing the seafloor conductivity structure when the vertical separation between transmitter and receiver is large due to the bathymetry. As a horizontal transmitter is logistically easier to deploy, we conducted a first test of the method with a horizontal transmitter. Apparent conductivities are calculated from the electric field transients recorded at the remote receivers. The analysis indicates higher apparent seafloor conductivities when the transmitter is located near the mineralized zone. Forward modelling suggests that the best match to the apparent conductivity data is obtained when the mineralized zone is extended southward by 40 m beyond the zone of previous drilling. Our results demonstrate that the method adds value to the exploration and characterization of seafloor massive sulphide deposits.     

Misfit functionals in Laplace‐Fourier domain waveform inversion,with application to wide‐angle ocean bottom seismograph data

In seismic waveform inversion, non‐linearity and non‐uniqueness require appropriate strategies. We formulate four types of L2 normed misfit functionals for Laplace‐Fourier domain waveform inversion: i) subtraction of complex‐valued observed data from complex‐valued predicted data (the ‘conventional phase‐amplitude’ residual), ii) a ‘conventional phase‐only’ residual in which amplitude variations are normalized, iii) a ‘logarithmic phase‐amplitude’ residual and finally iv) a ‘logarithmic phase‐only’ residual in which the only imaginary part of the logarithmic residual is used. We evaluate these misfit functionals by using a wide‐angle field Ocean Bottom Seismograph (OBS) data set with a maximum offset of 55 km. The conventional phase‐amplitude approach is restricted in illumination and delineates only shallow velocity structures. In contrast, the other three misfit functionals retrieve detailed velocity structures with clear lithological boundaries down to the deeper part of the model. We also test the performance of additional phase‐amplitude inversions starting from the logarithmic phase‐only inversion result. The resulting velocity updates are prominent only in the high‐wavenumber components, sharpening the lithological boundaries. We argue that the discrepancies in the behaviours of the misfit functionals are primarily caused by the sensitivities of the model gradient to strong amplitude variations in the data. As the observed data amplitudes are dominated by the near‐offset traces, the conventional phase‐amplitude inversion primarily updates the shallow structures as a result. In contrast, the other three misfit functionals eliminate the strong dependence on amplitude variation naturally and enhance the depth of illumination. We further suggest that the phase‐only inversions are sufficient to obtain robust and reliable velocity structures and the amplitude information is of secondary importance in constraining subsurface velocity models.     

Decomposition of Structural Amplitude Effect and AVO Attributes: Application to a Gas-water Contact

—?The structural amplitude effect, associated with focusing and defocusing due to the reflector curvature, importantly contributes to reflection seismic amplitudes. This paper develops a conciliatory approach for estimating the structural amplitude effect and the attributes of amplitude variation versus offset (AVO). The AVO attributes are extracted from raw amplitudes, in which the structural effect is taken into account explicitly based on a structural model reconstructed from travel-time inversion. One of the goals is to conduct the AVO analysis not just locally (per CDP) but also horizontally to see the global variation along the reflection. The lateral variations of AVO attributes are decomposed by the Chebyshev expansion. The method is demonstrated with an example of weak shallow gas-water contact appearing on a 2-D seismic profile of a site survey in the North Sea.     

The impact of climate changes during the Holocene on vegetation in northern French Guiana

The impact of climatic changes that occurred during the last glacial maximum and the Holocene on vegetation changes in the Amazon Basin and the Guiana Shield are still widely debated. The aim of our study was to investigate whether major changes in vegetation (i.e. transitions between rainforests and C₄ savannas) occurred in northern French Guiana during the Holocene. We measured variations in the δ¹³C of soil organic matter at eight sites now occupied by forest or savannah. The forest sites were selected to cover two regions (forest refugia and peneplains) which are thought to have experienced different intensities of disturbance during the latest Pleistocene and the Holocene. We found that none of the forest sites underwent major disturbances during the Holocene, i.e. they were not replaced by C₄ savannahs or C₄ forest savannahs for long periods. Our results thus suggest that tropical rainforests in northern French Guiana were resilient to drier climatic conditions during the Holocene. Nevertheless, geographical and vertical variations in the ¹³C of SOM were compatible with minor changes in vegetation, variations in soil processes or in soil physical properties.     

Low signal-to-noise event detection based on waveform stacking and cross-correlation: application to a stimulation experiment

We study the microseismicity (M _L ?<?2) in the region of Landau, SW Germany. Here, due to thick sediments (~3?km) and high cultural seismic noise, the signal-to-noise ratio is in general very low for microearthquakes. To gain new insights into the occurrence of very small seismic events, we apply a three-step detection approach and are able to identify 207 microseismic events (?1?<?M _L ?<?~1) with signal-to-noise ratios smaller than 3. Recordings from a temporary broadband network are used with station distances of approximately 10?km. First, we apply a short-term to long-term average detection algorithm for data reduction. The detection algorithm is affected severely by transient noise signals. Therefore, the most promising detections, selected by coinciding triggers and high-amplitude measures, are reviewed manually. Thirteen seismic events are identified in this way. Finally, we conduct a cross-correlation analysis. As master template, we use the stacked waveforms of five manually detected seismic events with a repeating waveform. This search reveals additional 194 events with a cross-correlation coefficient exceeding 0.65 which ensures a stable identification. Our analysis shows that the repeating events occurred during the stimulation of a geothermal reservoir within a source region of only about 0.5?km³. Natural background seismicity exceeding our detection level of M _L ?~?0.7 is not found in the region of Landau by our analysis.     

A 50-year record of nitrate concentrations in the Slapton Ley Catchment,Devon, United Kingdom

Slapton Ley, a coastal lake, is the largest natural body of fresh water in south-west England. There was concern in the 1960s that the lake was becoming increasingly eutrophic. To quantify inputs of water, sediment and nutrients into the lake, Slapton Ley Field Centre initiated a programme of weekly water quality sampling in September 1970. Of all the chemical properties which have been measured over the decades, the nitrate record has been the subject of more research than any other. The weekly monitoring has been supplemented by research projects aimed at understanding aspects of processes and patterns of nitrate delivery to the stream network. Three aspects of the nitrate record are reviewed: short-term process dynamics; the annual cycle of influent streams and the lake itself; and long-term trends. In the first two decades of monitoring, there was increasing concern about a trend of rising nitrate concentrations, an issue in most lowland rivers in the United Kingdom at the time. In the 1990s, nitrate concentrations levelled off and then have fallen steadily in recent years. In relation to eutrophication, there are clear signs of improvement in the influent streams, but concerns remain about water quality in the lake itself.     

Two-layer rotating hydraulics: Strangulation,remote and virtual controls

The hydraulics of two-layer, rotating channel flow is examined in the limit where the channel width is large compared to the internal Rossby radius of deformation, but small compared to the external deformation radius. In this limit the baroclinic flow is contained in boundary layers along each side wall, while the barotropic flow is distributed over the width of the channel. Width variations along the channel cause the strength of the barotropic flow to vary and the barotropic variations influence the baroclinic boundary layers in two independent ways. The dual nature of this forcing gives rise to a new type of critical condition which we refer to as a remote control. Virtual and narrows controls also arise. Steady solutions can be obtained by solving a pair of simple quadratic equations and examples are given showing various combinations of controls.Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Contribution No. 7252.