Neue Ergebnisse zur Gliederung der unterpermischen Eruptivfolge der Bozener Porphyr-Platte

Zusammenfassung Am Südrand der Bozener Porphyr-Platte (im Raum nordöstlich von Trento) konnte auf Grund neuer Untersuchungen für die unterpermische Eruptivfolge eine Zweiteilung gewonnen werden, die mit der bisher für diesen Bereich geltenden Gliederung (Trener 1904, 1933) in Widerspruch steht. Die untere, basische, Basale Tuff-Serie genannte Abteilung wird neben einzelnen eingeschalteten Melaphyr- und Porphyritlagen hauptsächlich von Kristall-, Aschen- und Agglomerattuffen zusammengesetzt. Den hangenden, saueren Komplex nehmen Quarzporphyre und untergeordnet Tuffe der Lagorai-Quarzporphyr-Serie ein.Am Nord-, West- und Ostrand der Bozener Porphyr-Platte ist im großen ganzen eine ähnliche Zweiteilung beobachtbar. Hier entspricht der Basalen Tuff-Serie des Trentiner Bereiches der Trostburg-Melaphyr-KomplexWolffs (1909). Dagegen sind der Porphyr von St. Ulrich, der Eggentaler, Branzoller, Hocheppaner und der Kasteiruther PorphyrWolffs (1909) nicht zeitlich nacheinander gebildete Lavaströme, sondern nur lokale Varietäten ein und derselben Ergußphase. Sie sind lithologisch und zeitlich dem Lagorai-Quarzporphyr des Südrandes gleichzusetzen.     

Life and death of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccocoma tenella</Emphasis> (G<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">oldfuss</Emphasis>)

The morphology of the small stalkless Saccocoma tenella is unique among crinoids. It is characterized by an extremely light skeleton with dish-like lateral wings on the proximal brachials and peculiar paired vertical processes flanking the food grooves of more distal brachials. The arms are heavily branched. The lateral wings obviously were involved in vertical movement. For the vertical processes a “baffle rail” function for arm curling and “snap swimming” has been postulated, with muscles between the processes. However, there is no evidence that the processes were connected by muscles. For food collection a “pulsating funnel” model in the water column is advocated, with the processes serving to collect plankton during upward movement of the arms. The resulting mouth-up position is supported by the biostratinomy. Saccocoma tenella is considered to have been pelagic, a benthic lifestyle is rejected on ecologic and taphonomic grounds. Adorally-curled arms are considered a reaction to hostile environment before death, not a taphonomic artefact.     

Interprétation hydrogéologique de l'aquifère des bassins sud-rifains (Maroc) : apport de la sismique réflexion

The aquifer of the Rharb Basin is constituted by heterogeneous material. The seismic reflexion interpretation carried out in this area, highlighted a permeable device compartmentalized in raised and subsided blocks. Depressions identified in the northern and southernmost zones are characterized by Plio-Quaternary fillings that are favourable to the hydrogeological exploitation. Two mechanisms contribute to structure the Plio-Quaternary aquifer: the Hercynian reactivation in the southernmost part, and the gravitational mechanism of the Pre-Rifean nappe. The groundwater flow and the aquifer thickening are controlled by this reactivation.     

RAPTOR‐UAV: Real‐time particle tracking in rivers using an unmanned aerial vehicle

River system measurement and mapping using UAVs is both lean and agile, with the added advantage of increased safety for the surveying crew. A common parameter of fluvial geomorphological studies is the flow velocity, which is a major driver of sediment behavior. Advances in fluid mechanics now include metrics describing the presence and interaction of coherent structures within a flow field and along its boundaries. These metrics have proven to be useful in studying the complex turbulent flows but require time‐resolved flow field data, which is normally unavailable in geomorphological studies. Contactless UAV‐based velocity measurement provides a new source of velocity field data for measurements of extreme hydrological events at a safe distance, and could allow for measurements of inaccessible areas. Recent works have successfully applied large‐scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) using UAVs in rivers, focusing predominantly on surficial flow estimation by tracking intensity differences between georeferenced images. The objective of this work is to introduce a methodology for UAV based real‐time particle tracking in rivers (RAPTOR) in a case study along a short test reach of the Brigach River in the German Black Forest. This methodology allows for large‐scale particle tracking velocimetry (LSPTV) using a combination of floating, infrared light‐emitting particles and a programmable embedded color vision sensor in order to simultaneously detect and track the positions of objects. The main advantage of this approach is its ability to rapidly collect and process the position data, which can be done in real time. The disadvantages are that the method requires the use of specialized light‐emitting particles, which in some cases cannot be retrieved from the investigation area, and that the method returns velocity data in unscaled units of px/s. This work introduces the RAPTOR system with its hardware, data processing workflow, and provides an example of unscaled velocity field estimation using the proposed method. First experiences with the method show that the tracking rate of 50 Hz allows for position estimation with sub‐pixel accuracy, even considering UAV self‐motion. A comparison of the unscaled tracks after Savitzky–Golay filtering shows that although the time‐averaged velocities remain virtually the same, the filter reduces the standard deviation by more than 40% and the maxima by 20%. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the quality of marine magnetic anomaly sources and sea-floor topography

Summary. The quality of marine magnetic anomaly sources is described with the power-density representation of a stochastic model of random temporal and spatial emplacement of the marine magnetic anomaly source in the oceanic crust. Typical values of sea-floor spreading and emplacement parameters define a high-fidelity process of recording and sea-surface detection of the palaeomagnetic field reversals for spreading rates over 20 mm yr^-1. An analogous stochastic model is developed for the formation of sea-floor topography by normal faulting. It is shown that the random process of normal faulting observed in the inner walls of the FAMOUS rift valley can account for the quality of the adjacent West Rift Mountains topography.     

Auswertung von Consolfunkfeuerpeilungen

Summary A table for the North Sea is given containing the Consol position lines radiating from Bushmills and Stavanger. Taking the coordinates of two points of the bearing from the tables according to the number of dots or dashes observed, one can immediately plot a part of the position line near the DR position.

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Hierzu Tafel 4–7 mit Tabelle 1–4     

Use of neural networks for the prediction of frictional drag and transmission of axial load in horizontal wellbores

The use of mud motors and other tools to accomplish forward motion of the bit in extended reach and horizontal wells allows avoiding large amounts of torque caused by rotation of the whole drill string. The forward motion of the drill string, however, is resisted by excessive amount of friction. In the presence of large compressive axial loads, the drill pipe or coiled tubing tends to buckle into a helix in horizontal boreholes. This causes additional frictional drag resisting the transmission of axial load (resulting from surface slack‐off force) to the bit. As the magnitude of the frictional drag increases, a buckled pipe may become ‘locked‐up’ making it almost impossible to drill further. In case of packers, the frictional drag may inhibit the transmission of set‐up load to the packer. A prior knowledge of the magnitude of frictional drag for a given axial load and radial clearance can help avoid lock‐up conditions and costly failure of the tubular. In this study a neural network model, for the prediction of frictional drag and axial load transmission in horizontal wellbores, is presented. Several neural network architectures were designed and tested to obtain the most accurate prediction. After cross‐validation of the Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) algorithm, a two‐hidden layer model was chosen for simultaneous prediction of frictional drag and axial load transmission. A comparison of results obtained from BPNN and General Regression Neural Network (GRNN) algorithms is also presented. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new device for investigating the hydro‐mechanical properties of rock joints

A new experimental system composed of two devices is presented for studying the hydraulic conductivity of rock joints and other interfaces in relation with their mechanical loading. This system allows for investigations on the anisotropy of the hydraulic conductivity, as well as for its heterogeneity. The first device controls the injection of a fluid, regulated in pressure or discharge near the centre of the sample of rock joint, which produces a quasi‐radial flow within the joint. The output flow is measured in real time using a sectorized peripheral membrane for acquisition of data about the directionality or anisotropy of the flow. The second device allows for the measurement of the evolution of the morphology and of the void map of the rock joints during their mechanical loading (compression or shearing). It is a laser beam moved by an (x, y) frame. This frame is installed within the shear box at several stages of the loading, after temporarily moving one rock wall away from the other one, but without unmounting them from the shear box. After the presentation of the experimental system, and of its performances, we give some examples of test results of replicas of rock joints, loaded in compression and shearing. First, these results show that the change in global transmissivity of the samples is strongly correlated with the normal relative displacement of the rock walls. Several statistical analyses of the change in the void map, taking into account the damage of the asperities of the joint, are presented and compared with the results of the directional output flows. Today further studies involving a FEM as well as a finite volume modelling of the flow within the joints, based on the measured void map are in progress for a more precise comparison to the experimental results. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The point‐estimate method with large numbers of variables

Rosenbleuth's point‐estimate method has become widely used in geotechnical practice for reliability calculations. Although the point‐estimate method is a powerful and simple method for evaluating the moments of functions of random variables, it is limited by the need to make 2ⁿ evaluations when there are n random variables. Modifications of the method reduce this to 2n evaluations by using points on the diameters of a hypersphere instead of at the corners of the inscribed hypercube. However, these techniques force the co‐ordinates of the evaluation points farther from the means of the variables; for a bounded variable, the points may easily fall outside the domain of definition of the variable. The problem can be avoided by using other techniques for some special cases or by reducing the number of random variables that must be considered. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Calendar year age estimates of Allerød–Younger Dryas sea‐level oscillations at Os,western Norway

A detailed shoreline displacement curve documents the Younger Dryas transgression in western Norway. The relative sea‐level rise was more than 9 m in an area which subsequently experienced an emergence of almost 60 m. The sea‐level curve is based on the stratigraphy of six isolation basins with bedrock thresholds. Effort has been made to establish an accurate chronology using a calendar year time‐scale by ¹⁴C wiggle matching and the use of time synchronic markers (the Vedde Ash Bed and the post‐glacial rise in Betula (birch) pollen). The sea‐level curve demonstrates that the Younger Dryas transgression started close to the Allerød–Younger Dryas transition and that the high stand was reached only 200 yr before the Younger Dryas–Holocene boundary. The sea level remained at the high stand for about 300 yr and 100 yr into Holocene it started to fall rapidly. The peak of the Younger Dryas transgression occurred simultaneously with the maximum extent of the ice‐sheet readvance in the area. Our results support earlier geophysical modelling concluding a causal relationship between the Younger Dryas glacier advance and Younger Dryas transgression in western Norway. We argue that the sea‐level curve indicates that the Younger Dryas glacial advance started in the late Allerød or close to the Allerød–Younger Dryas transition. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.