Reflection from a deep interface in a strongly heterogeneous layered medium1

We consider the problem of acoustic pulse propagation through a layered medium with a reflector at one end. The fluctuations in the medium properties are assumed to be strong, i.e. of finite amplitude, rapid in comparison to the typical wavelength and to have statistical structure. The depth of the reflector is assumed to be large in comparison to the wavelength. In this regime, simple formulae for the reflected pulse and its arrival time at the surface are obtained. The amplitude of the pulse is broadened and attenuated as a result of multiple scattering: the fine-layered structure of the medium can be characterized by a single constant which appears in the formula for the limiting waveform and which measures the size of the fluctuations in the medium. Within the theory, the commonly observed discrepancy between the integrated sonic traveltime and the seismic traveltime can be studied and understood. The theory is a natural extension of the long-wavelength effective medium theory of Backus. The analysis is rigorous and based on the invariant embedding technique.     

Eddy correlation measurements of methane flux in a northern peatland ecosystem

A pilot study to measure methane flux using eddy correlation sensors was conducted in a peatland ecosystem in north central Minnesota. A prototype tunable diode laser spectrometer system was employed to measure the fluctuations in methane concentration.The logarithmic cospectrum of methane concentration and vertical wind velocity fluctuations under moderately unstable conditions had a peak nearf = 0.10 (wheref is the nondimensional frequency) and was quite similar to the cospectra of water vapor and sensible heat. Daytime methane flux during the first two weeks of August ranged from 120 to 270 mg m^-2 day^-1. The temporal variation in methane fluxes was consistent with changes in peat temperature and water table elevation. Our results compared well with the range of values obtained in previous studies in Minnesota peatlands.These field observations demonstrate the utility of the micrometeorological eddy correlation technique for measuring surface fluxes of methane. The current state-of-the-art in tunable diode laser spectroscopy makes this approach practical for use in key ecosystems.Published as Paper No. 9556, Journal Series, Nebraska Agricultural Research Division.     

Climate change in Yellowstone National Park: Is the drought-related risk of wildfires increasing?

The increased frequency of wildfires in the United States has become a common prediction associated with the build-up of greenhouse gases. In this investigation, variations in annual wildfire data in Yellowstone National Park are compared to variations in historical climate conditions for the area. Univariate and multivariate analytical techniques reveal that (a) summer temperatures in the Park are increasing, (b) January-June precipitation levels are decreasing, and (c) variations in burn area within the Park are significantly related to the observed variations in climate. Outputs from four different general circulation model simulations for 2 × CO₂ are included in the analyses; model predictions for increasing aridity in the Yellowstone Park area are generally in agreement with observed trends in the historical climate records.     

Residence times in river basins as determined by analysis of long-term tritium records

The US Geological Survey has maintained a network of stations to collect samples for the measurement of tritium concentrations in precipitation and streamflow since the early 1960s. Tritium data from outflow waters of river basins draining 4500–75000 km² are used to determine average residence times of water within the basins. The basins studied are the Colorado River above Cisco, Utah; the Kissimmee River above Lake Okeechobee, Florida; the Mississippi River above Anoka, Minnesota; the Neuse River above Streets Ferry Bridge near Vanceboro, North Carolina; the Potomac River above Point of Rocks, Maryland; the Sacramento River above Sacramento, California; the Susquehanna River above Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The basins are modeled with the assumption that the outflow in the river comes from two sources—prompt (within-year) runoff from precipitation, and flow from the long-term reservoirs of the basin. Tritium concentration in the outflow water of the basin is dependent on three factors: (1) tritium concentration in runoff from the long-term reservoir, which depends on the residence time for the reservoir and historical tritium concentrations in precipitation; (2) tritium concentrations in precipitation (the within-year runoff component); (3) relative contributions of flow from the long-term and within-year components. Predicted tritium concentrations for the outflow water in the river basins were calculated for different residence times and for different relative contributions from the two reservoirs. A box model was used to calculate tritium concentrations in the long-term reservoir. Calculated values of outflow tritium concentrations for the basin were regressed against the measured data to obtain a slope as close as possible to 1. These regressions assumed an intercept of zero and were carried out for different values of residence time and reservoir contribution to maximize the fit of modeled versus actual data for all the above rivers. The final slopes of the fitted regression lines ranged from 0.95 to 1.01 (correlation coefficient > 0.96) for the basins studied. Values for the residence time of waters within the basins and average relative contributions of the within-year and long-term reservoirs to outflow were obtained. Values for river basin residence times ranged from 2 years for the Kissimmee River basin to 20 years for the Potomac River basin. The residence times indicate the time scale in which the basin responds to anthropogenic inputs. The modeled tritium concentrations for the basins also furnish input data for urban and agricultural settings where these river waters are used.     

Chemical change in Antarctica—Significance? A perspective

The bitter confrontations of 20–25 years ago between a small environmental science community and several industries manufacturing chlorinated hydrocarbons are now only an historical footnote in the rapid evolution of an environmental consciousness. Regulations developed in industrial countries are being applied to protect the most pristine of the world's environments in Antarctica. Many of the proposed regulations, however, would serve no useful purpose; some of the reports of environmental damage are grossly exaggerated. A certain skepticism might be appropriate. Nevertheless, although monitoring is not a ‘scientific’ activity, the case is made for a monitoring programme in Antarctica that would measure temporal changes in the environmental levels of contaminants from both local and distant sources.     

Triggered earthquakes and deep well activities

Earthquakes can be triggered by any significant perturbation of the hydrologic regime. In areas where potentially active faults are already close to failure, the increased pore pressure resulting from fluid injection, or, alternatively, the massive extraction of fluid or gas, can induce sufficient stress and/or strain changes that, with time, can lead to sudden catastrophic failure in a major earthquake. Injection-induced earthquakes typically result from the reduction in frictional strength along preexisting, nearby faults caused by the increased formation fluid pressure. Earthquakes associated with production appear to respond to more complex mechanisms of subsidence, crustal unloading, and poroelastic changes in response to applied strains induced by the massive withdrawal of subsurface material. As each of these different types of triggered events can occur up to several years after well activities have begun (or even several years after all well activities have stopped), this suggests that the actual triggering process may be a very complex combination of effects, particularly if both fluid extraction and injection have taken place locally. To date, more than thirty cases of earthquakes triggered by well activities can be documented throughout the United States and Canada. Based on these case histories, it is evident that, owing to preexisting stress conditions in the upper crust, certain areas tend to have higher probabilities of exhibiting such induced seismicity.