Lateral extrusion along the Altyn Tagh Fault,Qilian Shan (NE Tibet): insight from a 3D crustal budget

The lithospheric strike‐slip Altyn Tagh Fault has accommodated hundreds of kilometres of displacement between the Qaidam and Tarim blocks since its Eocene reactivation. However, the way the deformation is accommodated in the Qilian Shan and further east remains uncertain. Based on 360 km of north‐eastward migration of the relatively rigid Qaidam block along the Altyn Tagh Fault and 3D isovolumetric balancing of the crustal deformation within the Altyn Tagh Fault–Qilian Shan system, we demonstrate that 250 ± 28 km (43.8–49.4%) of N20E directed crustal shortening and an additional ~250–370 km of eastward motion of the Qilian Shan crust must be accounted for by strike‐slip faulting in the Qilian Shan and crustal thickening in the Qinling area, as well as by extension in the adjoining North China block graben systems.     

Deterministic sensitivity analysis for a model for flow in porous media

A deterministic method for sensitivity analysis is developed and applied to a mathematical model for the simulation of flow in porous media. The method is based on the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the Jacobian matrix of the model. It is a local approach to sensitivity analysis providing a hierarchical classification of the directions in both the input space and of those in the output space reflecting the degree of sensitiveness of the latter to the former. Its low computational cost, in comparison with that of statistical approaches, allows the study of the variability of the results of the sensitivity analysis due to the variations of the input parameters of the model, and thus it can provide a quality criterion for the validity of more classical probabilistic global approaches. For the example treated here, however, this variability is weak, and deterministic and statistical methods yield similar sensitivity results.     

Review: The Yucat��n Peninsula karst aquifer, Mexico

The Yucatán Peninsula karst aquifer is one of the most extensive and spectacular karst aquifer systems on the planet. This transboundary aquifer system extends over an area of approximately 165,000? km² in México, Guatemala and Belize. The Triassic to Holocene Yucatán limestone platform is located in the vicinity of the North American/Caribbean plate boundary and has been reshaped by a series of tectonic events over its long geologic history. At the end of the Cretaceous period, the Yucatán Peninsula was hit by a large asteroid, which formed the Chicxulub impact crater. The Yucatán Peninsula karst aquifer hosts large amounts of groundwater resources which maintain highly diverse groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Large parts of the aquifer are affected by seawater intrusion. Anthropogenic pollution of the aquifer has been increasing over the past few decades, owing to relentless economic development and population growth on the Peninsula. This review summarizes the state of knowledge on the Yucatán Peninsula karst aquifer and outlines the main challenges for hydrologic research and practical groundwater-resources management on the Peninsula.     

Indirect unstructured hex-dominant mesh generation using tetrahedra recombination

Corner-point gridding is widely used in reservoir and basin modeling but generally yields approximations in the representation of geological interfaces. This paper introduces an indirect method to generate a hex-dominant mesh conformal to 3D geological surfaces and well paths suitable for finite-element and control-volume finite-element simulations. By indirect, we mean that the method first generates an unstructured tetrahedral mesh whose tetrahedra are then merged into primitives (hexahedra, prisms, and pyramids). More specifically, we focus on determining the optimal set of primitives that can be recombined from a given tetrahedral mesh. First, we detect in the tetrahedral mesh all the feasible volumetric primitives using a pattern-matching algorithm (Meshkat and Talmor Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. 49(1-2), 17–30 2000) that we re-visit and extend with configurations that account for degenerated tetrahedra (slivers). Then, we observe that selecting the optimal set of primitives among the feasible ones can be formalized as a maximum weighted independent set problem (Bomze et al. 1999), known to be \(\mathcal {N}\mathcal {P}\)-Complete. We propose several heuristic optimizations to find a reasonable set of primitives in a practical time. All the tetrahedra of each selected primitive are then merged to build the final unstructured hex-dominant mesh. This method is demonstrated on 3D geological models including a faulted and folded model and a discrete fracture network.     

The information system of the French Peatland Observation Service: Service National d'Observation Tourbières – A valuable tool to assess the impact of global changes on the hydrology and biogeochemistry of temperate peatlands through long term monitoring

Mitigating and adapting to global changes requires a better understanding of the response of the Biosphere to these environmental variations. Human disturbances and their effects act in the long term (decades to centuries) and consequently, a similar time frame is needed to fully understand the hydrological and biogeochemical functioning of a natural system. To this end, the ‘Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique’ (CNRS) promotes and certifies long-term monitoring tools called national observation services or ‘Service National d'Observation’ (SNO) in a large range of hydrological and biogeochemical systems (e.g., cryosphere, catchments, aquifers). The SNO investigating peatlands, the SNO ‘Tourbières’, was certified in 2011 ( https://www.sno-tourbieres.cnrs.fr/ ). Peatlands are mostly found in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere and French peatlands are located in the southern part of this area. Thus, they are located in environmental conditions that will occur in northern peatlands in coming decades or centuries and can be considered as sentinels. The SNO Tourbières is composed of four peatlands: La Guette (lowland central France), Landemarais (lowland oceanic western France), Frasne (upland continental eastern France) and Bernadouze (upland southern France). Thirty target variables are monitored to study the hydrological and biogeochemical functioning of the sites. They are grouped into four datasets: hydrology, fluvial export of organic matter, greenhouse gas fluxes and meteorology/soil physics. The data from all sites follow a common processing chain from the sensors to the public repository. The raw data are stored on an FTP server. After operator or automatic processing, data are stored in a database, from which a web application extracts the data to make them available ( https://data-snot.cnrs.fr/data-access/ ). Each year at least, an archive of each dataset is stored in Zenodo, with a digital object identifier (DOI) attribution ( https://zenodo.org/communities/sno_tourbieres_data/ ).     

Is Pre-Eruptive Null Point Reconnection Required for Triggering Eruptions?

We study the magnetic field evolution and topology of the active region NOAA 10486 before the 3B/X1.2 flare of October 26, 2003, using observational data from the French–Italian THEMIS telescope, the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) onboard Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), the Solar Magnetic Field Telescope (SMFT) at Huairou Solar Observation Station (HSOS), and the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE). Three dimensional (3D) extrapolation of photospheric magnetic field, assuming a potential field configuration, reveals the existence of two magnetic null points in the corona above the active region. We look at their role in the triggering of the main flare, by using the bright patches observed in TRACE 1600 Å images as tracers at the solar surface of energy release associated with magnetic reconnection at the null points. All the bright patches observed before the flare correspond to the low-altitude null point. They have no direct relationship with the X1.2 flare because the related separatrix is located far from the eruptive site. No bright patch corresponds to the high-altitude null point before the flare. We conclude that eruptions can be triggered without pre-eruptive coronal null point reconnection, and the presence of null points is not a sufficient condition for the occurrence of flares. We propose that this eruptive flare results from the loss of equilibrium due to persistent flux emergence, continuous photospheric motion and strong shear along the magnetic neutral line. The opening of the coronal field lines above the active region should be a byproduct of the large 3B/X1.2 flare rather than its trigger.     

Wave climate variability in the North-East Atlantic Ocean over the last six decades

Ocean surface gravity waves play a major role in many engineering and environmental problems, both in the open ocean and in coastal zones. Therefore, it is essential to improve our knowledge on spatial and temporal variability of wave climate. This study aims at investigating this variability in the North-East Atlantic Ocean (25°W–0°W and 30°N–60° N), using a 57-year hindcast (1953–2009) obtained with a spectral wave model forced with reanalysis wind fields. The hindcast analysis reveals firstly strong seasonal fluctuations of wave climate, with winters characterized by large and long-period waves of mean direction spreading from south-west to north-west, and summers characterized by smaller and shorter-period waves originating from norther directions. From northern (55°N) to southern (35°N) latitudes, the significant wave height (Hs) decreases by roughly 40%, the mean wave direction (Mwd) rotates clockwise by about 25% while the peak period (Tp) only grows by 5%. These three parameters also exhibit a strong inter-annual variability, particularly when winter-means (from 1st of December to 1st of April) are considered. Linear trend analysis over the studied period shows spatially variable long-term trends, with a significant increase of Hs (up to 0.02 m yr^?1) and a counterclockwise shift of Mwd (up to ?0.1° yr^?1) at northern latitude, contrasting with a fairly constant trend for Hs and a clockwise shift of Mwd (up to +0.15° yr^?1) at southern latitudes. Long-term trends of Tp are less significant, with still a slight increase in the north-eastern part of the study area (up to +0.01 s yr^?1). Eventually, a comparison between the inter-annual variability of the winter-means of the three selected wave parameters and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) reveals: (1) a strong positive correlation between Hs and the NAO index at northern latitudes (correlation coefficient up to R = 0.91) and a significant negative correlation at southern latitudes (up to R = ?0.6); (2) no significant correlation for Mwd north of 40°N and a clear positive correlation southward of 40°N (up to R = 0.8) and (3) a northward increasing correlation for Tp (up to R = 0.8). Long-term trends for Hs, Mwd and Tp are finally explained by a significant increase in the NAO index over the studied period.     

Comparative phylogeography of African rain forest trees: A review of genetic signatures of vegetation history in the Guineo-Congolian region

The biogeographic history of the African rain forests has been contentious. Phylogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of genetic lineages within species, can highlight the signatures of historical events affecting the demography and distribution of species (i.e. population fragmentation or size changes, range expansion/contraction) and, thereby, the ecosystems they belong to. The accumulation of recent data for African rain forests now enables a first biogeographic synthesis for the region. In this review, we explain which phylogeographic patterns are expected under different scenarios of past demographic change, and we give an overview of the patterns detected in African rain forest trees to discuss whether they support alternative hypotheses regarding the history of the African rain forest cover. The major genetic discontinuities in the region support the role of refugia during climatic oscillations, though not necessarily following the classically proposed scenarios. We identify in particular a genetic split between the North and the South of the Lower Guinean region. Finally we provide some perspectives for future study.     

Balancing deformation in NW Borneo: Quantifying plate-scale vs. gravitational tectonics in a delta and deepwater fold-thrust belt system

Recent GPS measurements demonstrate that NW Borneo undergoes 4–6 mm of plate-scale shortening a year, which is not accommodated by plate-scale structures. The only geological structure in NW Borneo described to accommodate on-going shortening is the Baram Delta System located on the outer shelf to basin floor. Delta toe fold-thrust belts are commonly thought to be caused by margin-normal compressional stresses generated by margin-parallel upslope gravitational extension.     

The Scale of VGI in Map Production: A Perspective on European National Mapping Agencies

The perspective of European National Mapping Agencies (NMA) on the role of citizen sensing in map production was explored. The NMAs varied greatly in their engagement with the community generating volunteered geographic information (VGI) and in their future plans. From an assessment of NMA standard practices, it was evident that much VGI was acquired with a positional accuracy that, while less than that typically acquired by NMAs, actually exceeded the requirements of the nominal data capture scale used by most NMAs. Opportunities for VGI use in map revision and updating were evident, especially for agencies that use a continuous rather than cyclical updating policy. Some NMAs had also developed systems to engage with citizen sensors and examples are discussed. Only rarely was VGI used to collect data on features beyond the standard set used by the NMAs. The potential role of citizen sensing and so its current scale of use by NMAs is limited by a series of concerns, notably relating to issues of data quality, the nature and motivation of the contributors, legal issues, the sustainability of data source, and employment fears of NMA staff. Possible priorities for future research and development are identified to help ensure that the potential of VGI in mapping is realized.