Seismic source mechanism inversion from a linear array of receivers reveals non-double-couple seismic events induced by hydraulic fracturing in sedimentary formation

We developed a new method to invert source mechanisms of seismic events observed from a single (vertical or near vertical) array of receivers. This method was tested on a synthetic dataset and applied to a seismic dataset acquired during hydraulic fracturing of a sedimentary formation. We show that a crack-opening seismic event recorded on a single vertical array can be inverted as a pure shear seismic event, indicating that the best fitting shear mechanisms inverted from seismic data acquired along a vertical borehole provide misleading information. We found that the majority of the analyzed source mechanisms of the induced events are not consistent with pure shear faulting as previously thought. The non-shear source mechanisms are required even when seismic noise, location uncertainty, and uncertainty in the attenuation structural model are considered.     

A time-series analysis framework for the flood-wave method to estimate groundwater model parameters

The flood-wave method is implemented within the framework of time-series analysis to estimate aquifer parameters for use in a groundwater model. The resulting extended flood-wave method is applicable to situations where groundwater fluctuations are affected significantly by time-varying precipitation and evaporation. Response functions for time-series analysis are generated with an analytic groundwater model describing stream–aquifer interaction. Analytical response functions play the same role as the well function in a pumping test, which is to translate observed head variations into groundwater model parameters by means of a parsimonious model equation. An important difference as compared to the traditional flood-wave method and pumping tests is that aquifer parameters are inferred from the combined effects of precipitation, evaporation, and stream stage fluctuations. Naturally occurring fluctuations are separated in contributions from different stresses. The proposed method is illustrated with data collected near a lowland river in the Netherlands. Special emphasis is put on the interpretation of the streambed resistance. The resistance of the streambed is the result of stream-line contraction instead of a semi-pervious streambed, which is concluded through comparison with the head loss calculated with an analytical two-dimensional cross-section model.     

Sr and Nd isotopic investigations towards the origin of feldspar megacrysts in microgranular enclaves in two I‐type plutons of the Lachlan Fold Belt,southeast Australia

New Sr and Nd isotopic data are presented for several large feldspar crystals occurring in microgranular enclaves in the Swifts Creek and Bridle Track plutons, along with analyses of their host enclave groundmass and adjacent granitoid. In the Swifts Creek Pluton several previous studies have concluded that the microgranular enclaves represent admixed, more mafic and more primitive magmas, and new data presented here confirm that. Feldspar megacrysts in the microgranular enclaves have Sr and Nd isotopic signatures that are distinct from the surrounding enclave groundmass and from other enclaves in the pluton and therefore cannot have crystallised in situ. Isotopic compositions of these feldspars are more consistent with their having crystallised in a reservoir similar in composition to the most primitive granitoid analyses. The crystals were then physically transferred from the granitoid magma into the enclave while the latter was still partially liquid, thus invalidating arguments for a porphyroblastic origin. Field, petrographic and geochemical data are consistent with microgranular enclaves in the Bridle Track pluton also originating as admixed, more mafic magmas. However, Sr isotopic compositions of the enclaves are identical, within error, to the host granite and indicate that significant Sr isotopic equilibration has occurred. Nd isotopic compositions of the enclaves extend to slightly higher ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd_(i) and are consistent with a mingled magma origin followed by major isotopic equilibration. Feldspar phenocrysts in the studied enclave have isotopic compositions indistinguishable from both the enclave groundmass and host granite, preventing an interpretation of their origin using isotopic evidence alone.     

Thermal reservoir modeling in petroleum geomechanics

Thermal oil recovery processes involve high pressures and temperatures, leading to large volume changes and induced stresses. These cannot be handled by traditional reservoir simulation because it does not consider coupled geomechanics effects. In this paper we present a fully coupled, thermal half‐space model using a hybrid DDFEM method. A finite element method (FEM) solution is adopted for the reservoir and the surrounding thermally affected zone, and a displacement discontinuity method is used for the surrounding elastic, non‐thermal zone. This approach analyzes stress, pressure, temperature and volume change in the reservoir; it also provides stresses and displacements around the reservoir (including transient ground surface movements) in a natural manner without introducing extra spatial discretization outside the FEM zone. To overcome spurious spatial temperature oscillations in the convection‐dominated thermal advection–diffusion problem, we place the transient problem into an advection–diffusion–reaction problem framework, which is then efficiently addressed by a stabilized finite element approach, the subgrid‐scale/gradient subgrid‐scale method. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HIV and AIDS in Africa: a geographic analysis at multiple spatial scales

This study offers an alternative method rooted in GIS techniques and spatial analysis to estimate HIV/AIDS prevalence over space from an incomplete surveillance data set and explain the variation of those estimates. The results clearly show that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is complex and that it is interconnected with other geographic, historical, economic and cultural phenomena which help explain its spatial spread and variation. The regression models which were developed in this paper illustrated that variables which measure the historical context of colonialism such as resource exploitation and labor migration, gender, culture, contemporary global forces, poverty and disease burden have all contributed variously to the rapid spread of this disease both in space and time. The policy implication is that concentrating on behavior change or therapy alone may not turn the epidemic around. The attack needs to be multifaceted and interdisciplinary taking into consideration the context and the economic and social realities at multiple spatial scales.     

“The ESA XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre: Making Basic Space Science Available to the Whole Scientific World”

XMM-Newton is a major X-ray observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA). Its observing time is open to astronomers from the whole scientific community on a peer reviewed competitive basis. The Science Operations Centre, located at ESA’s premises in Villafranca del Castillo, Spain, is responsible for the instrument operations, as well as for all the tasks related to facilitating the scientific exploitation of the data which the mission has been producing since its launch in December 1999. Among them, one may list: