The hydrochemical facies and anomalous fluoride content in the Serra Geral aquifer system,southern Brazil: a GIS approach with tectonic and principal component analysis

Groundwater with high fluoride content and water mixture patterns were studied in Serra Geral aquifer system (SGAS) using three aspects, principal component analysis (PCA), tectonic scenery and hydrochemical interpretation from 309 groundwater chemical data information from deep wells. A four-component model is suggested and explains 81% of total variance in the PCA. Six hydrochemical facies were identified. These facies suggest two different fluoride sources. Tectonic approach shows the relationship between defined hydrochemical facies and regional fracture control. The applied methodology reveals a minimum level to understand hydrochemical mixtures. The fluoride enrichment mechanisms into the groundwater are comprised in advance to guide the future uses of SGAS to the public supply.     

Climate change impacts on forest fire potential in boreal conditions in Finland

The aim of this work was to study the forest fire potential and frequency of forest fires under the projected climate change in Finland (N 60°–N 70°). Forest fire index, generally utilized in Finland, was used as an indicator for forest fire potential due to climatological parameters. Climatic scenarios were based on the A2 emission scenario. According to the results, the forest fire potential will have increased by the end of this century; as a result of increased evaporative demand, which will increase more than the rise in precipitation and especially in southern Finland. The annual number of forest fire alarm days is expected to increase in southern Finland to 96–160 days by the end of this century, compared to the current 60–100 days. In the north, the corresponding increase was from 30 to 36 days. The expected increase in the annual frequency of forest fires over the whole country was about 20% by the end of this century compared to the present day. The greatest increase in the frequency of fires, per 1,000 km², was in the southernmost part of the country, with six to nine fires expected annually per 1,000 km² at the end of this century, meaning a 24–29% increase compared to the present day frequencies.     

2.5D seismic velocity modelling in the south-eastern Romanian Carpathians Orogen and its foreland

The DACIA-PLAN (Danube and Carpathian Integrated Action on Processes in the Lithosphere and Neotectonics) deep seismic reflection survey was performed in August–September 2001, with the objective of obtaining new information on the deep structure of the external Carpathians nappe system and the architecture of the Tertiary/Quaternary basins developed within and adjacent to the Vrancea zone, including the rapidly subsiding Focsani Basin. The DACIA-PLAN profile is about 140 km long, having a roughly WNW–ESE direction, from near the southeast Transylvanian Basin, across the mountainous south-eastern Carpathians and their foreland to near the Danube River. A high resolution 2.5D velocity model of the upper crust along the seismic profile has been determined from a tomographic inversion of the DACIA-PLAN first arrival data. The results show that the data fairly accurately resolve the transition from sediment to crystalline basement beneath the Focsani Basin, where industry seismic data are available for correlation, at depths up to about 10 km. Beneath the external Carpathians nappes, apparent basement (material with velocities above 5.8 km/s) lies at depths as shallow as 3–4 km, which is less than previously surmised on the basis of geological observations. The first arrival travel-time data suggest that there is significant lateral structural heterogeneity on the apparent basement surface in this area, suggesting that the high velocity material may be involved in Carpathian thrusting.     

The Influence of Climate Warming on Soil Frost on Snow-Free Surfaces in Finland

The influence of the predicted climate warming on soil frost conditions in Finland was studied using a climate scenario based on a Hadley Centre (U.K.) global ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (HadCM2) run. HadCM2 results were dynamically downscaled to the regional level using the regional climate model at the Rossby Centre (Sweden). The future period this study focuses on is the end of the 21st century. The study was limited to ground surface conditions in which snow has been removed. The predicted air temperature rise was interpreted in terms of changes in soil frost conditions using an empirical dependence that was found between measured soil frost depths and the sum of daily mean air temperatures calculated from the beginning of the freezing period. On average the annual maximum soil frost depth will decrease in southern and central Finland from the present approx. 100–150 cm by about 50 cm. In northern Finland the change will be from depths of about 200–300 cm to about 100–200 cm depending on station. The annual maximum soil frost depth in the future would thus be about the same in northern Finland as it is in the current climate in southern Finland. In southern Finland after about 100 years the ground will seldom be frozen in December and even in January there will be no soil frost in about half of the years. In Central and northern Finland the probability of completely unfrozen ground in December–March is very small, even in the future.     

Recordings and occurrence of geomagnetically induced currents in the Finnish natural gas pipeline network

A project implemented to study the effects of space weather on the Finnish natural gas pipeline was started in August 1998. The aims of the project were (1) to derive a model for calculating geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) and pipe-to-soil (P/S) voltages in the Finnish natural gas pipeline, (2) to perform measurements of GIC and P/S voltages in the pipeline and (3) to derive statistical predictions for the occurrences of GIC and P/S voltages at different locations in the pipeline network.GIC and P/S voltage were recorded at a compressor station. The GIC measurement was made with two magnetometers, one right above the pipe, and another at the Nurmijärvi Geophysical Observatory about 30 km southwest. The largest GIC since November 1998 has been 30 A. The P/S voltage recording was stopped in May 1999, but GIC is still measured.GIC statistics were derived based on the recordings of the geomagnetic field at Nurmijärvi. The geoelectric field was calculated by using the plane wave model. This field was input to the general pipeline model resulting in the distribution of currents and P/S voltages at selected points in the pipeline. As could be expected, the largest P/S voltage variations occur at the ends of the pipeline network, while the largest GIC flow in the middle parts.     

Free non-radial vibrations of the earth

Summary Earthquake shear waves with period around 12.2 min have been lately reported byM. Båth (1958), who suggests that these might be due to torsional vibrations of the whole mantle on some axis through the centre of the earth. An attempt has been made here to put forward a theory which accounts for such vibrations. The general elastokinetic equation for a heterogeneous isotropic medium is solved for a free spherical shell overlying a liquid core, and the solution is investigated for the first two modes. The frequency equation is solved for a shell and the limiting cases of a full sphere and an infinitely thin shell. Application is then made for various approximate mantle models, and periods are found which are in fair agreement with the observed. It is then shown that if the rigidity of the core is taken into consideration a closer agreement with the observed might be attained.

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Zusammenfassung Seismische Transversalwellen mit einer Periode von rund 12.2 min sind neulich vonM. Båth (1958) beobachtet worden, der vermutet, dass sie Torsionsschwingungen des ganzen Erdmantels um eine Achse durch das Erdzentrum sind. Ein Versuch wird hier gemacht eine Theorie für solche Schwingungen zu entwickeln. Die allgemeine elastokinetische Gleichung für ein heterogenes, isotropisches Medium wird für eine freie, sphärische Schale über einem flüssigen Kern gelöst, und die Lösung wird für die zwei ersten Schwingungsformen untersucht. Die Frequenzgleichung wird für eine Schale und für die Grenzfälle einer ganzen Sphäre und einer unendlich dünnen Schale gelöst. Die Lösungen werden dann auf verschiedene, approximative Mantel-Modellen angewendet, und Perioden werden gefunden, die ziemlich gute Übereinstimmung mit der beobachteten Periode zeigen. Es wird danach gezeigt, dass, falls die Righeit des Erdkerns in Betracht gezogen wird, eine noch bessere Übereinstimmung mit der beobachteten Periode erreicht wird.

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This research was supported by Eng.Herbert E. Linden of Beverly Hills, California.     

Deformation of a homogeneous gravitating sphere by internal dislocations

Summary An explicit solution is obtained for the system of equations describing the spheroidal motion in a homogeneous, isotropic, gravitating, elastic medium possessing spherical symmetry. This solution is used to derive the Green's dyad for a homogeneous gravitating sphere. The Green's dyad is then employed to obtain the displacement field induced by tangential and tensile dislocations of arbitrary orientation and depth within the sphere.Notation G Gravitational constant - a Radius of the earth - A _o =4/3 G - Perturbation of the gravitational potential - Circular frequency - V _p ,V _s Compressional and shear wave velocities - k _p =/V _p - k _s =/V _s - k _p [(2.8)] - , [(2.17)] - f _l ⁺ Spherical Bessel function of the first kind - f _l ^– Spherical Hankel function of the second kind - x =r - y =r - x _o =r _o - y _o =r_o - x =r k _s - y =r k _p - x _o =r _o k _s - y _o =r _o k _p - =a - =a - [(5.17)] - _{m, l}