The Visible Solar Spectral Irradiance from 350 to 850 nm As Measured by the SOLSPEC Spectrometer During the ATLAS I Mission

The SOLSPEC instrument has been built to carry out solar spectral irradiance measurements from 200 to 3000 nm. It consists of three spectrometers designed to measure the solar spectral irradiance in ultraviolet, visible, and infrared domains. It flew with the ATLAS I mission in March 1992. This paper is dedicated to the visible part of the solar spectrum. Comparisons with recent data are shown and differences below 450 nm are discussed.     

Machine Learning Feature Selection Methods for Landslide Susceptibility Mapping

This paper explores the use of adaptive support vector machines, random forests and AdaBoost for landslide susceptibility mapping in three separated regions of Canton Vaud, Switzerland, based on a set of geological, hydrological and morphological features. The feature selection properties of the three algorithms are studied to analyze the relevance of features in controlling the spatial distribution of landslides. The elimination of irrelevant features gives simpler, lower dimensional models while keeping the classification performance high. An object-based sampling procedure is considered to reduce the spatial autocorrelation of data and to estimate more reliably generalization skills when applying the model to predict the occurrence of new unknown landslides. The accuracy of the models, the relevance of features and the quality of landslide susceptibility maps were found to be high in the regions characterized by shallow landslides and low in the ones with deep-seated landslides. Despite providing similar skill, random forests and AdaBoost were found to be more efficient in performing feature selection than adaptive support vector machines. The results of this study reveal the strengths of the classification algorithms, but evidence: (1) the need for relying on more than one method for the identification of relevant variables; (2) the weakness of the adaptive scaling algorithm when used with landslide data; and (3) the lack of additional features which characterize the spatial distribution of deep-seated landslides.     

Luminescence investigation of loess and tephra from Halfway House section, Central Alaska

Infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) properties of the Old Crow tephra and bracketing loess from the Halfway House site in Central Alaska are investigated in order to test newly developed techniques, including SAR and recently proposed fading corrections. Loess samples investigated show a standard growth of luminescence with regenerative dose while the tephra sample is less sensitive by an order of magnitude and saturates at lower dose. The growth curves obtained using multiple-aliquots regeneration (MAR) saturate at a higher value than those with the single-aliquot regeneration (SAR) protocol. Fading rate determinations for these samples are shown to be imprecise and no noticeable difference was observed between loess and tephra materials. Anomalous fading corrections using an average g value of 5% are applied to the natural test dose signal intensity using the dose rate correction (DRC) method. IRSL ages obtained for loess are in agreement with the expected age while the tephra age is lower than expected, suggesting the measured fading rate is underestimated for this material.     

Dominant amphipods of Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows display considerable trophic diversity

Gut content examination and trophic markers (fatty acids, stable isotopes of C and N) were combined to delineate the diet of the dominant species of amphipods from Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows and to highlight trophic diversity among this community. Our results indicate that, although all dominant species heavily relied on macroalgal epiphytes, considerable interspecific dietary differences existed. Carbon stable isotope ratios notably showed that some of the amphipod species favored grazing on epiphytes from leaves or litter fragments (Apherusa chiereghinii, Aora spinicornis, Gammarus aequicauda), while others such as Dexamine spiniventris preferred epiphytes from rhizomes. The remaining amphipods (Caprella acanthifera, Ampithoe helleri and Gammarella fucicola) readily consumed both groups. In addition, SIAR modeling suggested that most species had a mixed diet, and relied on several food items. Fatty acid analysis and gut contents revealed that contributions of microepiphytic diatoms and of benthic and suspended particulate organic matter to the diet of amphipods were anecdotal. None of the examined species seemed to graze on their seagrass host [low 18:2(n‐6) and 18:3(n‐3) fatty acids contents], but Gammarus aequicauda partly relied on seagrass leaf detritus, as demonstrated by the lesser ¹³C‐depletion of their tissues. Overall, our findings suggest that amphipods, because of their importance in the transfer of organic matter from primary producers and detritus to higher rank consumers, are key items in P. oceanica‐associated food webs.     

Envisat and SARAL/AltiKa Observations of the Antarctic Ice Sheet: A Comparison Between the Ku-band and Ka-band

The AltiKa altimeter onboard SARAL is a joint CNES/ISRO mission launched in February 2013 that has the same 35 days repeat orbit of the previous European altimeters, Envisat, and ERS-1/2. SARAL/AltiKa is thus a unique opportunity to extend the repeat observations of this orbit that have been surveyed since 1991. However, the altimeter operates in Ka-band, which is higher than the previous frequencies, and offers new paths of investigation. The penetration depth is theoretically reduced from around 10 m in Ku-band to less than 1 m in Ka-band, such that the volume echo originates from the near subsurface. Second, the sharper antenna aperture leads to a narrower leading edge that reduces the impact of the ratio between surface and volume echoes of the height retrieval. Indeed, the spatial and temporal observations of AltiKa at cross-over points and along-track indicate that the impact of backscatter changes on the height decreasesfrom 0.3 m/dB for the Ku-band to only 0.05 m/dB for the Ka-band. Therefore, the height measurement is stable over time. Moreover, the volume echo in the Ka-band results from the near subsurface layer and is mostly controlled by ice grain size, unlike the Ku-band.     

Spatial variability and non-linearity of strong ground motion near a fault

We present observations of ground accelerations recorded at a small array close to the fault during the Düzce earthquake and its early aftershocks. The records show the strong spatial variability of ground acceleration over distances of only a few hundred metres. During the main shock, the peak horizontal acceleration values ranged from 0.3 to about 1.0 g at stations distant of 1.5 km only. We attribute this spatial variability to a fault zone site effect as peak ground acceleration steadily increases as the distance to the fault trace decreases. The spectral ratio between the ground motion recorded near the fault and the one outside the fault zone shows a shift of the spectral peak to lower frequencies with increasing peak accelerations. Such an observation suggests a non-linear behaviour of the fault zone due to the strong ground shaking. As much as a 45 per cent reduction in the shear wave velocity is necessary for the observed shifts. The opening of pre-existing cracks throughout the fault zone is the proposed mechanism to account for the observed shear wave reductions. The observation that elastic fault zone properties are soon recovered following episodes of large strains shows that cracks and fissures close rapidly after the strong shaking is over.     

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Debris-flow Indicator for an early warning system in the Aosta valley region

Natural Hazards - Aosta Valley, an Alpine region in north-western Italy, has an early warning system (EWS) that issues hydrogeological alerts based on hydrological modelling and rainfall thresholds...     

Effects of magnetic interactions in anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility: Models, experiments and implications for igneous rock fabrics quantification

Besides granites of the ilmenite series, in which the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) is mainly controlled by paramagnetic minerals, the AMS of igneous rocks is commonly interpreted as the result of the shape-preferred orientation of unequant ferromagnetic grains. In a few instances, the anisotropy due to the distribution of ferromagnetic grains, irrespective of their shape, has also been proposed as an important AMS source. Former analytical models that consider infinite geometry of identical and uniformly magnetized and coaxial particles confirm that shape fabric may be overcome by dipolar contributions if neighboring grains are close enough to each other to magnetically interact. On these bases we present and experimentally validate a two-grain macroscopic numerical model in which each grain carries its own magnetic anisotropy, volume, orientation and location in space. Compared with analytical predictions and available experiments, our results allow to list and quantify the factors that affect the effects of magnetic interactions. In particular, we discuss the effects of (i) the infinite geometry used in the analytical models, (ii) the intrinsic shape anisotropy of the grains, (iii) the relative orientation in space of the grains, and (iv) the spatial distribution of grains with a particular focus on the inter-grain distance distribution. Using documented case studies, these findings are summarized and discussed in the framework of the generalized total AMS tensor recently introduced by Cañon-Tapia (Cañon-Tapia, E., 2001. Factors affecting the relative importance of shape and distribution anisotropy in rocks: theory and experiments. Tectonophysics, 340, 117–131.). The most important result of our work is that analytical models far overestimate the role of magnetic interaction in rock fabric quantification. Considering natural rocks as an assemblage of interacting and non-interacting grains, and that the effects of interaction are reduced by (i) the finite geometry of the interacting clusters, (ii) the relative orientation between interacting grains, (iii) their heterogeneity in orientation, shape and bulk susceptibility, and (iv) their inter-distance distribution, we reconcile analytical models and experiments with real case studies that minimize the role of magnetic interaction onto the measured AMS. Limitations of our results are discussed and guidelines are provided for the use of AMS in geological interpretation of igneous rock fabrics where magnetic interactions are likely to occur.     

The pre-Cretaceous deep-seated tectonics of the Abukuma massif and its place in the structural framework of Japan

The structures and microstructures of the Takanuki and Hitachi areas in the Abukuma massif, Northeast Japan are described. In the Takanuki area, the basic Gosaisho series thrusts the pelitic Takanuki ones in a HP metamorphic context. The nappe structure is afterwards refolded by a migmatitic dome: the Samegawa dome, in a HT metamorphic context. Microtectonic analysis shows that the nappe was transported from south to north along the stretching lineation. Geometric features suggest that the Samegawa dome was emplaced by diapirism. The role of the thrust surface as an instable interface promoting the doming is emphasized. The Hitachi metamorphic rocks composed of basic schist, limestone and sandstone shist thrust the pelitic rocks of the western Hitachi gneisses. As for the Takanuki area, the thrusting occurred in ductile synmetamorphic conditions with a north or northeastward displacement. Owing to lithologic, petrologic, structural similitudes, the nappe of the Hitachi metamorphic rocks and that of the Gosaisho series are unified into a unique nappe with a northward motion. The emplacement occurred between late Permian and late Cretaceous likely in late Jurassic. The allochthonous units of the Abukuma massif are correlated with the Green Schist nappe described in Southwest Japan, since they are surrounded by the same zones, namely the Tanba zone and the Kurosegawa-Kitakami one. Moreover both in Southwest and Northeast Japan, the emplacement of the Green Schist nappes is due to a shear deformation inducing rotational structures along the stretching lineation indicating the same sense of transport, that is eastward in Southwest Japan and northward in Northeast Japan, owing to the late bending of the Japanese Islands. The late Jurassic nappe structure is obliquely overprinted by a HT metamorphism, Ryoke in Southwest Japan, Abukuma in Northeast Japan, and afterwards cut by late faults as the Median Tectonic Line or the Tanakura fault, giving rise to the present complexity.