Local site effects in Latur, India: an empirical study based on the aftershocks of the Killari earthquake of September 29, 1993

The site amplification is estimated at five seismic stations of the Latur region using the horizontal to vertical spectral ratios of 33 aftershocks of the main Killari earthquake of September 29, 1993 (UTC). Spectral amplifications, ranging from a factor of 2–6 are found to vary with frequency at different places. Significant amplification is found at four sites within the Latur region, at Basavakalyan, Kasgi, Killari, and Mudgad Eakoji villages. Our results show a positive correlation between the site amplification and the damage pattern in area. The pattern and the nature of the site amplification estimated in the present study corroborates also with the analytical models and the borehole data indicating alternating layers of unconsolidated sediments and basaltic rocks.     

Stratigraphic record of thrust propagation, Carboniferous foreland basin, Pyrenees, with emphasis on Pays-de-Sault (France/Spain)

The Carboniferous culm of the Pays-de-Sault is divided into two diachronous and synshortening series. These series are dated Late Visean (Pic d'Ourtiset series in a northern overthrust unit) and Early Namurian E2 (La Fajolle series in a southern underthrust unit) from an association of foraminifers, algae, and microproblematica identified in clasts of conglomerates. According to structural positions and facies criteria, these two series are interpreted as two turbiditic depocenters which were generated by southward thrust propagation during Late Visean and Early Namurian. At the scale of the Pyrenean Hercynian range, this evolution is consistent with a thrust and depocenter sequence propagating on the wedge-top depozone of a foreland basin system from the northeast (Mouthoumet subpyrenean massif) to the southwest (end of the High Primary Range) during Late Visean to Westphalian C time interval.     

Degradation and Detoxification of Chlorophenols in Continuous‐Flow Fixed‐Bed Aerobic Reactors

An indigenous bacterial strain of Delftia sp. capable of degrading 2,4‐dicholorophenol and an indigenous bacterial community that degrades 2,4,6‐trichlorophenol (TCP) were employed to inoculate continuous down‐flow fixed‐bed reactors. Continuous‐reactors were constructed from PVC employing hollow PVC cylinders as support material. Synthetic wastewater was prepared by dissolving the corresponding chlorophenol in non‐sterile groundwater. Biodegradation was evaluated by spectrophotometry, chloride release, GC, and microbial growth. Detoxification was evaluated by using Daphnia magna as test organism. Delftia sp. was able to remove an average of 95.6% of DCP. Efficiency in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was of 88.9%. The indigenous bacterial community that degrades TCP reached an average efficiency of 96.5 and 91.6% in terms of compound and COD removal, respectively. In both cases stoichiometric removal of chloride and detoxification was achieved. When synthetic wastewater feed was cut off for 7 days, both reactors showed a fast recovery after inflow restarting, reaching average outlet concentration values within 36 h. The promising behavior of the microorganisms and the low cost of the reactors tested allow us to suggest their possible application to remediation processes.     

Analyzing seismic imagery in the time–amplitude and time–frequency domains to determine fluid nature and migration pathways: A case study from the Queen Charlotte Basin,offshore British Columbia

Combining time–amplitude and time–frequency information from seismic reflection data sets of different resolutions allows the analysis of anomalous reflections from very-shallow to great subsurface depths. Thus, it can enhance the imaging of subsurface features which have a frequency-dependent reflectivity such as gas. Analysing seismic data of different resolution in the time–amplitude and time–frequency domains is a powerful method to determine hydrocarbon migration pathways from deep reservoirs to the seafloor. This interpretation method has been applied to the formerly-glaciated offshore Queen Charlotte Basin hosting several seafloor pockmarks and mounds associated with the leakage of underlying hydrocarbon reservoirs. Low-frequency shadows observed in the time–frequency domain provide evidence of different resolutions that several anomalous reflection amplitudes may be attributed to the occurrence of gas. The seismic imagery shows that gas uses a fault to migrate from deep reservoirs included in Upper Mesozoic strata towards secondary reservoirs located along the fault plane into Neogene layers. Once gas reaches a porous cut-and-fill succession, migration changes from structurally- to stratigraphically-controlled before gas leaks through unconsolidated Quaternary sediments forming the shallow subsurface to eventually seep at the seafloor where pockmarks and carbonate mounds are formed.     

Survivorship and growth of Fucus gardneri after transplant to an acid mine drainage-polluted area

Acid mine drainage (AMD) from an abandoned copper mine at Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada, enters the marine environment through Britannia Creek. The surrounding intertidal zone is devoid of rockweed, Fucus gardneri Silva, a seaweed that dominates nearby shores. Rockweed plants were transplanted to the intertidal zone near Britannia Creek and monitored for changes in percent cover, survivorship, growth rate and Cu content. Autumn and winter transplants to within 100 m of Britannia Creek resulted in negative growth rates and high mortality within 57 days of exposure to AMD, with Cu levels in rockweed surpassing 2,300 ppm in dry tissue. Summer transplants to sites 300-700 m from Britannia Creek showed no consistent differences between AMD-exposed rockweed and control plants, possibly because the plants were stressed by desiccation. The results are consistent with ecological effects observed in other studies, and provide strong evidence for the role of AMD in excluding rockweed from the shores near Britannia Creek.     

Models of the Southern Oscillation in the 300–100 mb layer and the basis of seasonal forecasting

Summary The geometry of the principal Upper High (near the Indian Occean) in the 300–100 mb layer appears to account for the Southern Oscillation (S.O.), and models of its behaviour are presented. Significant features of these models include the equatorial points of upper convergence (C) and divergence (D), a pressure discontinuity (CNDS) forming «arcs» and an «enclosure» around the high, and, lastly, encircling «crescents» both outside and inside the enclosure. The geography of the seasonal sucession can thus—in a qualitative manner—be interpreted in the light of known wind and contour patterns near the tropopause. With a few general principles, the established empirical rules of long-range forecasting then follow by deduction. The models and the terminology are useful likewise in the interpretation of solar-terrestrial relations and of climatic fluctuations.     

Beitrag zur Phosphorbestimmung im Klärschlamm

As the introduction, the advantages and drawbacks of a large number of phosphorus determination methods and digestion techniques for particulate matter, as e. g. sewage sludge, used in practice are described. The results of some investigations concerning the techniques of digestion as well as the further preparation of the extracts for the phosphorus determination proper are graphically and in tabular form represented and interpreted. The investigated photo-metric methods may be disturbed by iron and silicic-acid components. Advice about, and possibilities for avoiding such disturbances are given. In the case of the simultaneous application of the Kjeldahl digestion for the determination of nitrogen as well as of phosphorus there should be paid attention to possible disturbances by the selenium- or mercury-containing catalyst additives in the further processing of samples due to the formation of deposits.