Simulating flow in karst aquifers at laboratory and sub-regional scales using MODFLOW-CFP

Groundwater flow in a well-developed karst aquifer dominantly occurs through bedding planes, fractures, conduits, and caves created by and/or enlarged by dissolution. Conventional groundwater modeling methods assume that groundwater flow is described by Darcian principles where primary porosity (i.e. matrix porosity) and laminar flow are dominant. However, in well-developed karst aquifers, the assumption of Darcian flow can be questionable. While Darcian flow generally occurs in the matrix portion of the karst aquifer, flow through conduits can be non-laminar where the relation between specific discharge and hydraulic gradient is non-linear. MODFLOW-CFP is a relatively new modeling program that accounts for non-laminar and laminar flow in pipes, like karst caves, within an aquifer. In this study, results from MODFLOW-CFP are compared to those from MODFLOW-2000/2005, a numerical code based on Darcy’s law, to evaluate the accuracy that CFP can achieve when modeling flows in karst aquifers at laboratory and sub-regional (Woodville Karst Plain, Florida, USA) scales. In comparison with laboratory experiments, simulation results by MODFLOW-CFP are more accurate than MODFLOW 2005. At the sub-regional scale, MODFLOW-CFP was more accurate than MODFLOW-2000 for simulating field measurements of peak flow at one spring and total discharges at two springs for an observed storm event.     

Miocene silicic volcanism in southwestern Idaho: geochronology,geochemistry, and evolution of the central Snake River Plain

New ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar geochronology, bulk rock geochemical data, and physical characteristics for representative stratigraphic sections of rhyolite ignimbrites and lavas from the west-central Snake River Plain (SRP) are combined to develop a coherent stratigraphic framework for Miocene silicic magmatism in this part of the Yellowstone ‘hotspot track’. The magmatic record differs from that in areas to the west and east with regard to its unusually large extrusive volume, broad lateral scale, and extended duration. We infer that the magmatic systems developed in response to large-scale and repeated injections of basaltic magma into the crust, resulting in significant reconstitution of large volumes of the crust, wide distribution of crustal melt zones, and complex feeder systems for individual eruptive events. Some eruptive episodes or ‘events’ appear to be contemporaneous with major normal faulting, and perhaps catastrophic crustal foundering, that may have triggered concurrent evacuations of separate silicic magma reservoirs. This behavior and cumulative time-composition relations are difficult to relate to simple caldera-style single-source feeder systems and imply complex temporal-spatial development of the silicic magma systems. Inferred volumes and timing of mafic magma inputs, as the driving energy source, require a significant component of lithospheric extension on NNW-trending Basin and Range style faults (i.e., roughly parallel to the SW–NE orientation of the eastern SRP). This is needed to accommodate basaltic inputs at crustal levels, and is likely to play a role in generation of those magmas. Anomalously high magma production in the SRP compared to that in adjacent areas (e.g., northern Basin and Range Province) may require additional sub-lithospheric processes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi: ) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. This paper constitutes part of a special issue dedicated to Bill Bonnichsen on the petrogenesis and volcanology of anorogenic rhyolites.     

Localised coherent response of the La Molina basin (Lima,Peru) to earthquakes,and future approaches suggested by Parkway basin (New Zealand) experience

Earthquake records from a 1984 temporary seismograph array set up in La Molina, Lima, Peru, are re-analysed. The array comprised eight three-component geophones; seven soil based and one rock based. Values of horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) for two small earthquakes peaked at around 1.3 Hz. In one distant earthquake, four of the seven soil-based stations showed a peak at 1.25 Hz in soil-to-rock spectral ratio (SSR), the same dominant frequency observed during an aftershock of a damaging earthquake. Because this frequency is not compatible with the shear wave velocity profile attributed to La Molina, and because the spectral peak is confined to a small ground area, it is concluded that the peak is caused by a localised deposit of soft soil. Because the area associated with the spectral peak includes the area of great damage in 1974, it is concluded that coherent monochromatic behaviour is responsible for the damage.     

Evaluation and Monitoring of Service Quality: Discussing Ways to Meet INSPIRE Requirements

Service oriented architectures (SOA) are widely used nowadays. As the name implies such architectures rely on services. Germany developed a marine‐specific service oriented data infrastructure (MDI‐DE – Marine Dateninfrastruktur Deutschland) from 2010 to 2013. The services in MDI‐DE can contribute to fulfilling reporting commitments for various European and national legislation. The services of MDI‐DE (just like other services affected, for instance, by INSPIRE) have to meet specific requirements regarding performance, availability and conformity (quality of service, QoS). Although SOA is an important field in scientific research there are very few publications and studies available on QoS, especially regarding INSPIRE requirements. The services of MDI‐DE were analyzed using various existing tools. Their usefulness to reflect where either the aspect's performance, availability or conformity needs improvement was partly verified. Due to varying results and the neglect of some services for various reasons it can be stated that the more tools are used, the more conclusive the outcome. Furthermore, service quality was not coherent when measured with different tools. This means that measuring QoS in terms of INSPIRE will be very difficult to do in the future and there is the danger that people will choose the tools with which their services perform best.     

Use of high spectral resolution remote sensing to determine leaf palatability of eucalypt trees for folivorous marsupials

In this study we assess the feasibility of remotely measuring canopy biochemistry, and thus the potential for conducting large-scale mapping of habitat quality. A number of studies have found nutrient composition of eucalypt foliage to be a major determinant of the distribution of folivorous marsupials. More recently it has been demonstrated that a specific group of secondary plant chemicals, the diformylphloroglucinols (DFPs), are the most important feeding deterrents, and are thus vital determinants of habitat quality. We report on the use of laboratory spectroscopy to attempt to identify one such DFP, sideroxylonal-A, in the foliage of Eucalyptus melliodora, one of the few eucalypt species browsed by folivorous marsupials. Reflectance spectra were obtained for freeze-dried, ground leaves using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and for both oven-dried and fresh whole leaves using a laboratory-based (FieldSpec) spectroradiometer. Modified partial least squares (MPLS) regression was used to develop calibration equations for sideroxylonal-A concentration based on the reflectance spectra transformed as both the first and second difference of absorbance (Log 1/R). The predictive ability of the calibration equations was assessed using the standard error of calibration statistic (SECV). Coefficients of determination (r²) were highest for the ground leaf spectra (0.98), followed by the fresh leaf and dry leaf spectra (0.94 and 0.87, respectively). When applied to independent validation sub-sets, sideroxylonal-A was most accurately predicted from the ground leaf spectra (r² = 0.94), followed by the dry leaf and fresh leaf spectra (0.72 and 0.53, respectively). Two spectral regions, centred on 674 nm and 1394 nm, were found to be highly correlated with sideroxylonal-A concentration for each of the three spectral data sets studied. Results from this study suggest that calibration equations derived from modified partial least squares regression may be used to predict sideroxylonal-A concentration, and hence leaf palatability, of Eucalyptus melliodora trees, thereby indicating that the remote estimation of habitat quality of eucalypt forests for marsupial folivores is feasible.     

Genetic techniques for livestock breeding: Restructuring institutional relationships in agriculture

This paper explores some of the key institutional transformations in livestock breeding associated with the increasing significance of genetic techniques, situating this within an assessment of an emerging agricultural bioeconomy. Focusing on beef cattle and sheep breeding in the United Kingdom, the paper examines how a move towards the involvement of international and corporate interests in livestock breeding is restructuring the network of institutional interests affecting the knowledge and decision making of individual breeders. The paper suggests that the structural transformation of beef cattle and sheep breeding is complicated by the need for negotiation between breeders’ ‘traditional’ knowledge-practices and the ‘geneticised’ techniques being made available to them. We are thus seeing the emergence of new and complex interactions between the major actors which are reconfiguring power relationships in the UK livestock breeding sector.     

Characterization,modeling, and remediation of karst in a changing environment

This introductory editorial paper provides a review and prospective outlook of the achievements and challenges in karst research under a changing environment. A brief discussion of the past and future karst research has been focused on: (1) data and new technologies; (2) modeling of karst flow and reactive transport; (3) responses of karst hydrosystems to climate variability and changes across scales.     

The practicalities of using CFCs and SF6 for groundwater dating and tracing

Knowledge of groundwater residence time is important in understanding key issues in the evolution of water quality, whether this occurs due to water–rock interaction or simply by mixing or contamination. The build-up in the atmosphere of the trace gases chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆) from the middle of the last century offers a convenient way of dating waters up to ∼60 a old. The gases are well-mixed in the atmosphere so their input functions are not area-specific as is the case with ³H. While any one of these trace gases can in principle provide a groundwater age, when two or more are measured on water samples the potential exists to distinguish between different modes of flow including piston flow, exponential flow and simple end-member mixing. As with all groundwater dating methods, caveats apply. Factors such as recharge temperature and elevation must be reasonably well-constrained. Primarily for SF₆, the phenomenon of ‘excess air’ also requires consideration. Primarily for the CFCs, local sources of contamination need to be considered, as do redox conditions. For both SF₆ and the CFCs, the nature and thickness of the unsaturated zone need to be factored into residence time calculations. However, as an inexpensive dating method, the trace gases can be applied to a wide range of groundwater problems where traditional age indicators might once have been used more sparingly. Examples include tracing flowlines, detecting small modern inputs in ‘old’ waters, and pollution risk assessment. In the future, with the main CFCs already declining in the atmosphere, new anthropogenic trace gases are likely to take their place.     

Basement-controlled faulting of Paleozoic strata in southern Ontario, Canada: new evidence from geophysical lineament mapping

Basement fault reactivation is now recognized as an important control on sedimentation and fault propagation in intracratonic basins. In southern Ontario, the basement consists of complexly structured mid-Proterozoic (ca. 1.2 Ga) crystalline rocks and metasedimentary rocks that are overlain by up to 1500 m of Paleozoic sedimentary strata. Reactivation of basement structures is suspected to control the location of Paleozoic fault and fracture systems, but evaluation has been hindered by a limited understanding of the regional structural characteristics of the buried basement. New aeromagnetic- and gravimetric-lineament mapping presented in this paper better resolves the location of basement discontinuities and provides further evidence for basement controls on the distribution of Paleozoic fault and fracture systems. Lineament mapping was facilitated by reprocessing and digital image enhancement (micro-levelling, regional residual separation, derivative filtering) of existing regional gravity and aeromagnetic datasets. Reprocessed images identify new details of the structural fabric of the basement below southern Ontario and delineate several previously unrecognized aeromagnetic and gravity lineaments and linear zones. Linear zones parallel the projected trends of mid-Proterozoic terrane boundaries identified by field mapping on the exposed shield to the north of the study area, and are interpreted as zones of shearing and basement faulting. Mapped aeromagnetic and gravity lineaments show similar trends to Paleozoic faults and fracture networks and broad zones of seismicity in southern Ontario. These new data support an ‘inheritance model’ for Paleozoic faulting, involving repeated reactivation and upward propagation of basement faults and fractures into overlying cover strata.