Groundwater-flow modeling in the Yucatan karstic aquifer, Mexico

The current conceptual model of the unconfined karstic aquifer in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, is that a fresh-water lens floats above denser saline water that penetrates more than 40 km inland. The transmissivity of the aquifer is very high so the hydraulic gradient is very low, ranging from 7–10 mm/km through most of the northern part of the peninsula. The computer modeling program AQUIFER was used to investigate the regional groundwater flow in the aquifer. The karstified zone was modeled using the assumption that it acts hydraulically similar to a granular, porous medium. As part of the calibration, the following hypotheses were tested: (1) karstic features play an important role in the groundwater-flow system; (2) a ring or belt of sinkholes in the area is a manifestation of a zone of high transmissivity that facilitates the channeling of groundwater toward the Gulf of Mexico; and (3) the geologic features in the southern part of Yucatan influence the groundwater-flow system. The model shows that the Sierrita de Ticul fault, in the southwestern part of the study area, acts as a flow barrier and head values decline toward the northeast. The modeling also shows that the regional flow-system dynamics have not been altered despite the large number of pumping wells because the volume of water pumped is small compared with the volume of recharge, and the well-developed karst system of the region has a very high hydraulic conductivity. Electronic Publication     

Simultaneous use of geochemical and geophysical methods to characterise abandoned landfills

. Groundwater sampling and geophysical methods determined a serious contamination problem associated with refilled exploitation sites at the Cal Dimoni area, Llobregat delta, Barcelona, Spain. To characterise this process, hydrogeochemical analyses were performed and showed the following modifications to groundwater chemical composition: increasing pH values, changing redox conditions, significant increases in total organic carbon (TOC) and certain trace elements, and high groundwater conductivity values. Major ion content accumulations were found under the refilled area. In contrast, elements involved in the oxidation–reduction processes, such as iron, manganese and nitrates, clearly diminished. Electromagnetic prospecting methods were also performed and delineated the contamination plume extent. These methods also showed separate sources of contamination, one clearly related to the groundwater–refilled zone leachate interaction, another as a consequence of the manure–accumulation surface site. Geochemical and geophysical methods have shown similar results for locating groundwater contamination sources, and for determining leachate generation mechanisms and flow paths.     

Carbon budget for a subtropical seagrass dominated coastal lagoon: How important are seagrasses to total ecosystem net primary production?

It has been assumed that because seagrasses dominate macrophyte biomass in many estuaries they also dominate primary production. We tested this assumption by developing three carbon budgets to examine the contribution of autotrophic components to the total ecosystem net primary production (TENPP) of Lower Laguna Madre, Texas. The first budget coupled average photosynthetic parameters with average daily irradiance to calculate daily production. The second budget used average photosynthetic parameters and hourly in situ irradiance to estimate productivity. The third budget integrated temperature-adjusted photosynthetic parameters (using Q₁₀=2) and hourly in situ irradiance to estimate productivity. For each budget TENPP was calculated by integrating production from each autotroph based on the producers’ areal distribution within the entire Lower Laguna Madre. All budgets indicated that macroalgae account for 33–42% of TENPP and seagrasses consistently accounted for about 33–38%. The contribution by phytoplankton was consistently about 15–20%, and the contribution from the benthic microalgae varied between 8% and 36% of TENPP, although this may have been underestimated due to our exclusion of the within bed microphytobenthos component. The water column over the seagrass beds was net heterotrophic and consequently was a carbon sink consuming between 5% and 22% of TENPP, TENPP ranged between 5.41×10¹⁰ and 2.53×10¹¹ g C yr⁻¹, depending on which budget was used. The simplest, most idealized budget predicted the highest TENPP, while the more realistic budgets predicted lower values. Annual production rates estimated using the third budget forHalodule urightii andThalassia testudinum compare well with field data. Macroalgae and microalgae contribute 50–60% of TENPP, and seagrass may be more important as three-dimensional habitat (i.e., structure) than as a source of organic carbon to the water column in Lower Laguna Madre.     

Spatial and temporal variation of the nekton and hyperbenthos from a temperate European estuary with regulated freshwater inflow

The aquatic macrofauna of the Guadalquivir estuary were sampled (1 mm mesh persiana net) at 5 sampling sites located along the entire (except the tidal freshwater region) estuarine gradient of salinity (outer 50 km). A total of 134 fish and macroinvertebrate species was collected but only 62 were considered common or regularly present in the estuary. Univariate measures of the community structure showed statistically significant differences among sampling sites: species richness, abundance, and biomass decreased in the upstream direction, being positively correlated with the salinity. Temporal differences of these three variables were also statistically significant. While a clear seasonal pattern (minimum densities in winter and maximum in spring-summer) was observed for abundance and biomass, no such pattern existed for the number of species. Mysids was the most dominant group throughout the estuary (96% to 99% of abundance; 49% to 85% of biomass), although fish biomass was also important at the outer estuary (36% to 38%). Multivariate analyses indicated highly significant spatial variation in the macrofaunal communities observed along the salinity gradient. These analyses suggest that the underlying structure was a continuum with more or less overlapping distributions of the species dependent on their ability to tolerate different physicochemical conditions. There were also significant temporal (intermonthly + interannual) variation of the estuarine community; the relative multivariate dispersion indicated that monthly variation was more considerable (relative multivariate dispersion >1) at the outer part of the estuary during the wet year (last 20 km) and was higher in the inner stations during the dry year (32 to 50 km from the river mouth). Since a clear negative exponential relationship was observed between the freshwater input (from a dam located 110 km upstream) and water salinity at all sampling stations, it is concluded that the human freshwater management is probably affecting the studied estuarine communities. While the higher seasonal (long-term) stability of the salinity gradient, due to the human control of the freshwater input, may facilitate the recruitment of marine species juveniles during the meteorologically unstable early-spring, the additional (short-term) salinity fluctuations during the warm period may negatively affect species that complete their lifecycle within the estuary.     

Sub-wavebase cross-bedded grainstones on a distally steepened carbonate ramp, Upper Miocene, Menorca, Spain

Cross‐bedded grainstones on carbonate ramps and shelves are commonly related to the locus of major wave energy absorption such as shorelines, shoals or shelf breaks. In contrast, on the Early Tortonian carbonate platform of Menorca (Balearic Islands), coarse‐grained, cross‐bedded grainstones are found at a distance from the palaeoshoreline where they were deposited below the wavebase. Excellent exposures along continuous outcrops on the sea cliffs of Menorca reveal the depositional profile and three‐dimensional distribution of the different facies belts of the Tortonian ramp depositional system. Basinward from the palaeoshoreline, fan deltas and beach deposits pass into 5‐km‐wide gently dipping bioturbated dolopackstone (inner and middle ramp), then into 12–20°‐dipping dolograinstone/rudstone clinobeds (ramp slope) and, finally, into subhorizontal fine‐grained basinal dolowackestone to dolopackstone (outer ramp). In this Miocene example, coarse‐grained grainstones exist in five different settings other than beach deposits: (1) on the middle ramp, where cross‐bedded grainstones were deposited by currents roughly parallel to the shoreline at 40–70 m estimated water depth and are interbedded with gently dipping bioturbated dolomitized packstones; (2) on the upper slope, where clinobeds are composed mostly of in situ rhodoliths and red‐algae fragments; (3) on the lower slope, as small‐scale bedforms (small three‐dimensional subaqueous dunes) migrating parallel to the slope; (4) at the transition between the lower slope and the outer ramp, where mollusc‐rich and rhodolithic rudstones and grainstones, interbedded in dolomitized laminated wackestones containing abundant planktonic foraminifera, infill slide/slump scars as upslope‐backstepping bodies (backsets); (5) at the toe of the slope, where coarse skeletal grainstones indicate bedform migration parallel to the platform margin, induced by currents at more than 150 m estimated water depth. This Late Miocene example also illustrates how changes in intrabasinal environmental conditions (nutrients and/or temperature) may produce changes in stratal patterns and facies architecture if they affect the biological system. Two depositional sequences compose the Miocene platform on Menorca, where a reef‐rimmed platform prograded onto an earlier distally steepened ramp. The transition from the ramp to the reef‐rimmed platform was effected by an increase in accommodation space caused by ecological changes, promoting a shift from a grain‐ to a framework‐producing biota.     

Cretaceous and Tertiary terrane accretion in the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes of Ecuador

New field, geochronological, geochemical and biostratigraphical data indicate that the central and northern parts of the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes of Ecuador comprise two terranes. The older (Pallatanga) terrane consists of an early to late (?) Cretaceous oceanic plateau suite, late Cretaceous marine turbidites derived from an unknown basaltic to andesitic volcanic source, and a tectonic mélange of probable late Cretaceous age. The younger (Macuchi) terrane consists of a volcanosedimentary island arc sequence, derived from a basaltic to andesitic source. A previously unidentified, regionally important dextral shear zone named the Chimbo-Toachi shear zone separates the two terranes. Regional evidence suggests that the Pallatanga terrane was accreted to the continental margin (the already accreted Cordillera Real) in Campanian times, producing a tectonic mélange in the suture zone. The Macuchi terrane was accreted to the Pallatanga terrane along the Chimbo-Toachi shear zone during the late Eocene, probably in a dextral shear regime. The correlation of Cretaceous rocks and accretionary events in the Cordillera Occidental of Ecuador and Colombia remains problematical, but the late Eocene event is recognised along the northern Andean margin.     

On the Acoustic-Electromagnetic Analogy for the Reflection-Refraction Problem

The same mathematical theory can be used to describe physical phenomena of different nature. For instance, the wave equation and the related mathematical developments can be used to describe elastic and electromagnetic wave propagation, and it is also extensively used in quantum mechanics. Fresnel's equations are a classical example of the analogy between shear waves and light waves. George Green in the nineteenth century, used analogies to obtain the reflection coefficients for sound waves and light waves, before the advent of the electromagnetic theory of light.In this work, we investigate the mathematical analogy between elastic waves and electromagentic waves. We obtain a complete parallelism for the reflection and refraction problem, considering the most general situation, that is, the presence of anisotropy and attenuation—viscosity in the elastic case and conductivity in the electromagnetic case. The analogy is illustrated with Fresnel's equations, the Brewster and critical angles, the concept of reflectivity and transmissivity, and the corresponding duals fields. The analysis of the elastic-solid theory of reflection applied by Green to light waves, and a brief historical review of wave propagation through the ether, further illustrate the analogy.     

Moment Tensor Inversion of Regional Phases: Application to a Mine Collapse

—?The aim of our study consists of analyzing potentially non-double-couple seismic events recorded at regional distances. In order to define the nature of the seismic source, a moment tensor inversion is carried out as this method is general enough not to initially constrain the source mechanism. In this paper we present an application to a seismic event induced by a mine collapse which occurred near the town of Halle in Germany. Because of its induced nature, many parameters such as the location and geometry of this seismic source are known. This information allows us to test the influence of inadequate propagation modeling on the moment tensor obtained from the inversion. Green's functions have been computed with the reflectivity method in a flat layered medium, using the European model EurID (Du et? al., 1998; Dufumier et al., 1997). From the inversion of P-wave seismograms recorded by the German Regional Seismic Network will, we obtained a source time function which can be decomposed into two subevents. The first one has a large isotropic part and a deviatoric mechanism with near vertical nodal planes. No volume change is observed for the second subevent, but a deviatoric component opposite of the first one. The addition of S-waves does not change the results of the inversion which are stable. Surface waves were not used because of their poor dispersion curves. Based on the moment tensor obtained from these inversions, the physical process at the source is compatible with a large cavity collapse.