Catastrophic landslides,glacier behaviour and moraine formation – A view from an active plate margin

The influence of large bedrock landslides (“rock avalanches”) on the behaviour of glaciers is incompletely recognised. Here we present an example from an active tectonic margin in South Island, New Zealand where large earthquakes leave a significant imprint on glacial records. We demonstrate that terminal moraines on the western side of the Southern Alps record both ‘ordinary’ (i.e. climate-driven) and landslide-initiated glacial advances. Following consideration of the processes involved in rock avalanche-initiated moraine construction we suggest ways of determining the nature of the advance that built the terminal moraine. The implications of these observations are important in breaking the conventional linkage of individual terminal moraines with climate forcing.     

Sulfur in peat-forming systems of the Okefenokee Swamp and Florida Everglades: origins of sulfur in coal

Six sulfur forms were investigated in profiles of freshwater- and marine-derived peat-forming systems of the Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia and Everglades Swamp, Florida. Total sulfur levels of 0.1–10% were found, thus indicating a major incorporation of sulfur in the very early stages of coal formation. The quantities of hydrogen sulfide and elemental sulfur observed appeared to be indicative of whether marine or freshwater conditions prevailed at the site of deposition. Carbon-bonded sulfur accounted for 70% of the total sulfur in the freshwater peat and 50% of the total sulfur in the marine peat. Over 15% of the total sulfur was in pyritic combination in the marine environment, while levels of pyrite in the freshwater peats were an order of magnitude lower. An ester-sulfate fraction represented 25% of the total sulfur in both freshwater and marine peats. The levels of sulfur forms in the peat profiles are compared to those observed in living plants and to various coals; levels of pyrite and organic sulfur in the peat are similar to those found by other investigators in freshwater-derived and marine-derived coals.     

An unstable arch model of a solar flare

The theoretical consequences of assuming that a current flows along flaring arches consistent with a twist in the field lines of these arches are examined. It is found that a sequence of magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) and resistive MHD instabilities driven by the assumed current (which we refer to as the toroidal current) can naturally explain most manifestations of a solar flare.The principal flare instability in the proposed model is the resistive kink (or tearing mode in arch geometry) which plays the role of thermalizing some of the field energy in the arch and generating X-configured neutral points needed for particle acceleration. The difference between thermal and nonthermal flares is elucidated and explained, in part, by amplitude-dependent instabilities, generally referred to as overlapping resonances. We show that the criteria for the generation of flare shocks strongly depend on the magnitude and gradient steepness of the toroidal current, which also are found to determine the volume and rate of energy release. The resulting model is in excellent agreement with present observations and has successfully predicted several flare phenomena.     

The danger of overvaluing methane’s influence on future climate change

Minimizing the future impacts of climate change requires reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) load in the atmosphere. Anthropogenic emissions include many types of GHG’s as well as particulates such as black carbon and sulfate aerosols, each of which has a different effect on the atmosphere, and a different atmospheric lifetime. Several recent studies have advocated for the importance of short timescales when comparing the climate impact of different climate pollutants, placing a high relative value on short-lived pollutants, such as methane (CH₄) and black carbon (BC) versus carbon dioxide (CO₂). These studies have generated confusion over how to value changes in temperature that occur over short versus long timescales. We show the temperature changes that result from exchanging CO₂ for CH₄ using a variety of commonly suggested metrics to illustrate the trade-offs involved in potential carbon trading mechanisms that place a high value on CH₄ emissions. Reducing CH₄ emissions today would lead to a climate cooling of approximately ~0.5 °C, but this value will not change greatly if we delay reducing CH₄ emissions by years or decades. This is not true for CO₂, for which the climate is influenced by cumulative emissions. Any delay in reducing CO₂ emissions is likely to lead to higher cumulative emissions, and more warming. The exact warming resulting from this delay depends on the trajectory of future CO₂ emissions but using one business-as usual-projection we estimate an increase of 3/4 °C for every 15-year delay in CO₂ mitigation. Overvaluing the influence of CH₄ emissions on climate could easily result in our “locking” the earth into a warmer temperature trajectory, one that is temporarily masked by the short-term cooling effects of the CH₄ reductions, but then persists for many generations.     

Permeability profiles in granular aquifers using flowmeters in direct-push wells

Numerical hydrogeological models should ideally be based on the spatial distribution of hydraulic conductivity (K), a property rarely defined on the basis of sufficient data due to the lack of efficient characterization methods. Electromagnetic borehole flowmeter measurements during pumping in uncased wells can effectively provide a continuous vertical distribution of K in consolidated rocks. However, relatively few studies have used the flowmeter in screened wells penetrating unconsolidated aquifers, and tests conducted in gravel-packed wells have shown that flowmeter data may yield misleading results. This paper describes the practical application of flowmeter profiles in direct-push wells to measure K and delineate hydrofacies in heterogeneous unconsolidated aquifers having low-to-moderate K (10(-6) to 10(-4) m/s). The effect of direct-push well installation on K measurements in unconsolidated deposits is first assessed based on the previous work indicating that such installations minimize disturbance to the aquifer fabric. The installation and development of long-screen wells are then used in a case study validating K profiles from flowmeter tests at high-resolution intervals (15 cm) with K profiles derived from multilevel slug tests between packers at identical intervals. For 119 intervals tested in five different wells, the difference in log K values obtained from the two methods is consistently below 10%. Finally, a graphical approach to the interpretation of flowmeter profiles is proposed to delineate intervals corresponding to distinct hydrofacies, thus providing a method whereby both the scale and magnitude of K contrasts in heterogeneous unconsolidated aquifers may be represented.     

Propagation of the Southwest Indian Ridge at the Rodrigues Triple Junction

The analysis of multibeam bathymetric data of the Southwest Indian Ridge(SWIR) domain between the triple junction traces from 68° E to theRodrigues Triple Junction (RTJ; 70° E) reveals the evolution of thisridge since magnetic anomaly 4 (8 Ma). Image processing has been used toshow that the horizontal component of strain due to a network of normal stepfaults increases dramatically between 69°30 E and the RTJ. Thisarea close to the RTJ is characterized by a deep graben at the foot of thetriple junction trace on the African plate and by a narrow fault-boundedridge that joins an offset of the trace on the Antarctic plate. In thatarea, spreading is primarily amagmatic and dominated by tectonic extensionprocesses. To the west of 69°30 E, some lobate bathymetricfeatures atop of a large topographic high suggest volcanic constructions.Between 68°10 E and 69°25 E the southern flank of theSWIR domain is wider than the northern one and is characterized by a series of 7 en echelon bathymetric highs similar in size,shape and orientation to the one centred at 69°30E near the present-day triple junction. Their en echelon organization along the triple junction trace on the Antarctic plate and the typical lack of conjugated parts on the northern flank show that these bathymetric highs have been shifted to the south by successive northward relocalisations of the SWIR rifting zone. This evolution results in the asymmetric spreading of the SWIR in the survey area. The off-axis bathymetric highs connect to the offsets of the triple junction trace on the Antarctic plate when the Southeast Indian Ridges lightly lengthenstoward the northwest and the triple junction is relocated to the north. We propose that the SWIR lengthens toward the northeast with two propagation modes: 1) a continuous and progressive propagation with distributed deformation in preexisting crust of the Central Indian Ridge, 2) a discontinuous propagation with focusing of the deformation in a rift zone when the triple junction migrates rapidly to the north. The modes of propagation of the SWIR are related to different localisation and distribution of strain which are in turn controlled by changes of the triple junction configurations due to propagation, recession or a symmetric spreading on the Central and Southeast Indian Ridges.     

Spatially explicit models for exploring COVID‐19 lockdown strategies

This article describes two spatially explicit models created to allow experimentation with different societal responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic. We outline the work to date on modeling spatially explicit infective diseases and show that there are gaps that remain important to fill. We demonstrate how geographical regions, rather than a single, national approach, are likely to lead to better outcomes for the population. We provide a full account of how our models function, and how they can be used to explore many different aspects of contagion, including: experimenting with different lockdown measures, with connectivity between places, with the tracing of disease clusters, and the use of improved contact tracing and isolation. We provide comprehensive results showing the use of these models in given scenarios, and conclude that explicitly regionalized models for mitigation provide significant advantages over a “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach. We have made our models, and their data, publicly available for others to use in their own locales, with the hope of providing the tools needed for geographers to have a voice during this difficult time.     

Mutual Potential of Homogeneous Polyhedra

The mutual gravitational potential between a pair of homogeneous polyhedra is expressed using an infinite series. The nested volume integrals are evaluated analytically and result in simple tensor expressions containing no special functions. However, complexity increases as O(6 ⁿ ), where n is the term degree. An alternate formulation due to Liebenthal is also presented.     

The Geology and Petroleum Resources of Kansas: A Review From Alpha to Omega or From the Pleistocene to the Precambrian

The geological story of Kansas is told through the rocks that are present. It is a simple story in generalities but complex in detail. Knowing the story, gives insight into understanding the occurrence and location of possible economic valuable minerals, such as petroleum. This is a brief review of Kansas geology with respect to the known occurrence of oil and gas. Kansas is part of the Midcontinent oil province with oil having been discovered 150 years ago and commercial production commencing in 1873. Although many prospects remain in Kansas, the state has gone from the number 1 producer in the U.S. in 1916 to 8th today. Exploration for new oil and gas production therefore is going to have to be more imaginative and utilize new approaches and techniques to find the elusive petroleum. There are possibilities however for the prospector who can search diligently. Although the big fields probably have been discovered, the prospects today are deeper, in more undetectable traps, and in essentially untested places.