Comparison of surface and borehole locations of induced seismicity

Monitoring of induced microseismic events has become an important tool in hydraulic fracture diagnostics and understanding fractured reservoirs in general. We compare microseismic event and their uncertainties using data sets obtained with surface and downhole arrays of receivers. We first model the uncertainties to understand the effect of different acquisition geometries on location accuracy. For a vertical array of receivers in a single monitoring borehole, we find that the largest part of the final location uncertainty is related to estimation of the backazimuth. This is followed by uncertainty in the vertical position and radial distance from the receivers. For surface monitoring, the largest uncertainty lies in the vertical position due to the use of only a single phase (usually P‐wave) in the estimation of the event location. In surface monitoring results, lateral positions are estimated robustly and are not sensitive to the velocity model. In this case study, we compare event location solutions from two catalogues of microseismic events; one from a downhole array and the second from a surface array of 1C geophone. Our results show that origin time can be reliably used to find matching events between the downhole and surface catalogues. The locations of the corresponding events display a systematic shift consistent with a poorly calibrated velocity model for downhole dataset. For this case study, locations derived from surface monitoring have less scatter in both vertical and horizontal directions.     

Using GIS to Model and Forecast HIV/AIDS Rates in Africa, 1986–2010

In this article we draw on the power of geographic information systems (GIS) to examine the progression of HIV/AIDS in Africa for the period from 1986 to 2003. We use GIS for two purposes: (1) to transform and interpolate a set of annual point-based HIV/AIDS rates into area data; and (2) to extract or “mine” annual HIV/AIDS prevalence rates from the interpolated area (country) level maps. Once the rates are extracted from the GIS analysis we then model and forecast them into the near future (i.e., 2004–2010) by using the UNAIDS Estimation and Projection Package (EPP) software. The article offers an alternative grounded in geospatial analysis for yielding estimates of HIV/AIDS rates in Africa. Using incomplete sets of data for the period from 1986 to 2003, mean HIV/AIDS rates are generated from spatially interpolated data and future trends are estimated. The results indicate that the HIV/AIDS epidemic for many countries in Africa has reached the saturation or maturity level as evidenced by the typical S-shaped curves in the trends over time. As a matter of fact, some countries have begun to experience a sustained decline in the rates (e.g., Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe).     

Chlorinated compounds and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) collected from Apulia Region coasts

This project was carried out to assess the levels and spatial distribution of organochlorine compounds in the coastal marine environment, using mussels as bioindicators to evaluate the coastal water quality. Levels of polychlorobiphenils (PCB), chlorinated pesticides (DDT isomers, HCH isomers, Aldrin, Dieldrin, alfa-Endosulfan, Hexachlorobenzene, Pentachlorobenzene) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were determined in tissues from mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) collected along the Apulia Region coasts (Mediterranean Sea). Results indicate that contamination by organochlorine compounds is higher in mussels sampled in the Ionian Sea than in those from the Adriatic Sea, with PCB levels up to seven times higher in mussels from Ionian than from the Adriatic Sea. Although PCB levels were above the maximum values indicated by both European Community (EC) and National regulation in several sample sites, the PCB concentrations were particularly high in some stations, suggesting that these locations require a much specific attention. Conversely, results on the mussel contamination by PBDEs highlight their ubiquitous environmental distribution, and underline the need to establish the maximum level for these compounds in foodstuff, according to European Regulations.     

Seismic risk ranking for large dams in South Africa

Earthquake motion is one of the extreme loads acting on large dams. Dam owners and regulators must therefore ensure that dams are safely operated and present minimal risk to the public in case of extreme loads such as floods and earthquakes. Owners of many dams or officials in charge of dam safety programs may consider comparative assessment of the seismic risk associated with their dams and establish priorities for detailed evaluation. South Africa has in excess of 100 large state-owned dams and the characteristics of these dams have been used to perform a basic seismic hazard assessment and rank the vulnerability of these dams from the lowest to highest. One of the most decisive factors that contributes to the risk of a dam is the wall type; with gravity and earthfill dams being the most vulnerable to earthquake motion. Another aspect that needs further investigation is the downstream hazard potential which, if known to a better degree of accuracy, can provide more reasonable estimates of the risk factors.     

Observations of estuarine circulation and solitary internal waves in a highly energetic tidal channel

Despite vigorous tidal and wind mixing, observations in an estuarine tidal inlet in the Wadden Sea show that during part of the tidal cycle, vertical stratification and internal waves may still develop. Acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and conductivity, temperature, depth observations, collected over the past 6 years at 13 h anchor stations (ASs), reveal that these occur especially during slack tide, when there is little wind and large freshwater discharge from nearby Lake IJssel. Measurements with a moored ADCP show that in the same tidal phase, strong cross-channel circulation develops, which may suddenly reverse circulation sense due to passing density fronts. In the vertically stratified phase that follows after the front passage, propagating mode-one solitary internal waves are observed. These are resonantly generated during decelerating tidal ebb currents when the (shear) flow passes a transcritical regime (Froude number equal to 1). A combination of photographs (including one from the International Space Station), bathymetric data, and ASs data leads to the discovery of yet another source of internal waves in this area, produced during slackening tide by propagating lee waves that develop over a deep trench. We suggest that both the cross-channel circulation as well as the (solitary) internal waves may locally be of importance for the (re)distribution and transport of sediments and nutrients and may influence tidally averaged transports.     

Amplified exchange rate by tidal forcing of a piecewise-linear Helmholtz bay

Sea-level and current measurements have been performed in the Mok Bay, a tidal embayment in the Dutch Wadden Sea, situated on the island of Texel, the Netherlands. Characteristic for this estuary is its nonuniform hypsometry. Oscillations in both water level and inflow of the estuary were observed, with characteristic frequencies of 31 and 48 cycles per day. The significant change in basin shape between low and high water is the cause for the existence of these two frequencies of resonance. Due to its semi-enclosed nature, the basin could at both tidal phases be characterized as a Helmholtz resonator, albeit of different dimensions. Depth measurements were performed to find these characteristic dimensions of the estuary, allowing the determination of its theoretical Helmholtz frequencies. These estimates match to within 10% with the observed frequencies, and this deviation can partly be explained. Although sea level oscillations at these frequencies have small amplitude (of order 1 cm), the accompanying oscillatory flow at the entrance is of similar magnitude as the tidal flow. The water level measurements (spanning only 8 days of data) were therefore modeled using a piecewise-uniform hypsometry that approximates the real hypsometric curve well. The simplified semi-analytical piecewise-linear viscous Helmholtz model captures the observed combination of tidal and eigenoscillations well. However, despite its simplicity, this model is able to display nonlinear behavior for certain parameter values. This is because of the intrinsic nonlinearity that accompanies the matching of the low and high water phases. In the setting studied here, bifurcations up to period 13 were found. This nonlinear type of response may be of importance in facilitating an extra exchange of sediments and nutrients between the Bay and the sea.     

Tissue distribution of metals in striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from the Apulian coasts, southern Italy.

Tissue distributions of metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, zinc, copper, iron, manganese) were determined in six specimens of striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba, Meyen) stranded on the Apulian coasts (Southern Italy) between February and June 1987. Methyl mercury and selenium were also determined in the liver samples. The liver accumulated the highest concentrations of metals, except for cadmium and chromium. Metal levels were higher than those found in dolphins living in the Atlantic, but lower than those recorded in the same species from the French Mediterranean coasts. Necroscopic surveys found that all specimens were affected by haemorrhagic gastritis, but the cause was not clear. While it was not possible to related the death of dolphins to a specific cause, or to contaminants, the accumulation of metals is likely to contribute to the health of the organism and represents a risk factor for dolphins.     

Cascaded image analysis for dynamic crack detection in material testing

Concrete probes in civil engineering material testing often show fissures or hairline-cracks. These cracks develop dynamically. Starting at a width of a few microns, they usually cannot be detected visually or in an image of a camera imaging the whole probe. Conventional image analysis techniques will detect fissures only if they show a width in the order of one pixel. To be able to detect and measure fissures with a width of a fraction of a pixel at an early stage of their development, a cascaded image analysis approach has been developed, implemented and tested. The basic idea of the approach is to detect discontinuities in dense surface deformation vector fields. These deformation vector fields between consecutive stereo image pairs, which are generated by cross correlation or least squares matching, show a precision in the order of 1/50 pixel. Hairline-cracks can be detected and measured by applying edge detection techniques such as a Sobel operator to the results of the image matching process. Cracks will show up as linear discontinuities in the deformation vector field and can be vectorized by edge chaining. In practical tests of the method, cracks with a width of 1/20 pixel could be detected, and their width could be determined at a precision of 1/50 pixel.     

The ability of detainment bunds to decrease sediments transported from pastoral catchments in surface runoff

Erosion leading to sedimentation in surface water may disrupt aquatic habitats and deliver sediment-bound nutrients that contribute to eutrophication. Land use changes causing loss of native vegetation have accelerated already naturally high erosion rates in New Zealand and increased sedimentation in streams and lakes. Sediment-bound phosphorus (P) makes up 71–79% of the 17–19 t P y⁻¹ delivered from anthropogenic sources to Lake Rotorua in New Zealand. Detainment bunds (DBs) were first implemented in the Lake Rotorua catchment in 2010 as a strategy to address P losses from pastoral agriculture. The bunds are 1.5–2 m high earthen stormwater retention structures constructed across the flow path of targeted low-order ephemeral streams with the purpose of temporarily ponding runoff on productive pastures. The current DB design protocol recommends a minimum pond volume of 120 m³ ha⁻¹ of contributing catchment with a maximum pond storage capacity of 10 000 m³. No previous study has investigated the ability of DBs to decrease annual suspended sediment (SS) loads leaving pastoral catchments. Annual SS yields delivered to two DBs with 20 ha and 55 ha catchments were 109 and 28 kg SS ha⁻¹, respectively, during this 12-month study. The DBs retained 1280 kg (59%) and 789 kg (51%) of annual SS loads delivered from the catchments as a result of the bunds' ability to impede stormflow and facilitate soil infiltration and sediment deposition. The results of this study highlight the ability of DBs to decrease SS loads transported from pastures in surface runoff, even during large storm events, and suggests DBs are able to reduce P loading in Lake Rotorua.