Structural-stratigraphic control on the Umitaka Spur gas hydrates of Joetsu Basin in the eastern margin of Japan Sea

Integrated geological, geochemical, and geophysical exploration since 2004 has identified massive accumulation of gas hydrate associated with active methane seeps on the Umitaka Spur, located in the Joetsu Basin on the eastern margin of Japan Sea. Umitaka Spur is an asymmetric anticline formed along an incipient subduction zone that extends throughout the western side of the Japanese island-arc system. Seismic surveys recognized chimney structures that seem strongly controlled by a complex anticlinal axial fault system, and exhibit high seismic amplitudes with apparent pull-up structures, probably due to massive and dense accumulation of gas hydrate. Bottom simulating reflectors are widely developed, in particular within gas chimneys and in the gently dipping eastern flank of the anticline, where debris can store gas hydrates that may represent a potential natural gas resource. The axial fault system, the shape of the anticline, and the carrier beds induce thermogenic gas migration to the top of the structure, and supply gas to the gas hydrate stability zone. Gas reaching the seafloor produces strong seepages and giant plumes in the sea water column.     

Water quality and risk assessment of dug wells: a case study for a poor community in the city of São Paulo, Brazil

Sparsely populated areas, or peripheral communities commonly lack access to a public water supply and sewerage systems. The inhabitants of these areas must make use of excavated wells to provide their water needs, and cesspits for domestic wastewater disposal. These on-site sanitation systems can release pathogens and nutrients into shallow groundwater. These poor communities urgently require cheap and efficient techniques for the detection of sanitary conditions, in order to prevent contamination of the water resources supplied by dug wells. The sanitary risk assessment methodology, applied in an irregular settlement south of the city of São Paulo, was based on a questionnaire with yes/no questions (risk factors), which allowed the identification of problems related to the well construction and operation, and the presence of potential contamination sources in its vicinity. These risk factors were compared against nitrate and bacterial analysis using the clustering statistical method, to verify the relationship between contamination and certain aspects surveyed in the questionnaire. Questions that were more related to contaminated wells were those concerning the presence of cover and its integrity; gaps between mouth and cover; the surrounding pavement and presence of ground irregularities; infiltration in the well casing; water-suspended materials; and proximity to contamination sources. Contamination models based on variograms allowed to observe that bacterial contamination presented a strong localized component, which was associated frequently with the way residents handled the wells, whereas nitrate contamination was related more to a regional (spatial) component; that is, the distance between wells and cesspits.     

Removal of Copper,Nickel and Zinc Ions from Aqueous Solution by Chitosan‐8‐Hydroxyquinoline Beads

In this work, 8‐hydroxyquinoline is used as the active sites in cross‐linked chitosan beads with epichlorohydrin (CT‐8HQ). The CT‐8HQ material was shaped in bead form and used for heavy metal removal from aqueous solution. The study was carried out at pH 5.0 with both batch and column methods and the maximum adsorption capacity of metal ions by the CT‐8HQ was attained in 4 h in the batch experiment. The adsorption capacity order was: Cu²⁺ > Ni²⁺ > Zn²⁺ for both mono‐ and multi‐component systems with batch conditions. From breakthrough curves with column conditions, the adsorption capacity followed the order Cu²⁺ > Zn²⁺ > Ni²⁺ for both mono‐ and multi‐component systems. The CT‐8HQ beads maintained good metal adsorption capacity for all five cycles with absorbent restoration achieved with the use of 1.0 mol L^–1 HCl solution, with 90% regeneration.     

Study of Metal Distribution in Raw and Screened Swine Manure

The growth of industrial swine production over the last few years has led to a growth in concern over effluents generated by the activity. Several elements, mainly toxic metals, can be present in swine wastewater and can have a serious environmental impact. It is important, therefore, to know the metal concentration before the discharge of wastewater. In this work the temporal metal distribution in swine manure and its potential reduction using coarse (2 mm) and fine (<0.45 μm) liquid‐solid separation techniques were investigated. In order to do this, different swine manure sample preparation methods for Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr and Zn determination by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP OES) were tested. The acid mixtures used to digest the manure sample significantly affected the metal recovery. Good analyte recoveries were observed with nitric acid/hydrogen peroxide mixtures or nitric acid/perchloric acid mixtures. Sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide mixtures produced inconsistent results and poor recoveries, mainly for Ba and Pb. It was observed that metal concentrations in swine manure varied greatly with time, up to one order of magnitude, due to changes in swine production such as feed and animal numbers. Metals concentrations observed in the raw wastewater exceeded Brazilian limits for discharge into water bodies and recommendations for agricultural use. Results obtained from the liquid‐solid separation study showed that metals in the raw swine manure were not removed with coarse screening. However, the major fraction of metals were removed by filtration (0.45 μm), with the exception of Na, K and Sr. Thus, the use of liquid‐solid separation techniques that capture the fine solid fractions (and associated metals) from raw manure can have a favorable impact on the environment and contribute to swine production wastewater treatment.     

Shock deformation confirms the impact origin for the Cerro do Jarau,Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil, structure

Cerro do Jarau is a conspicuous, circular morpho‐structural feature in Rio Grande do Sul State (Brazil), with a central elevated core in the otherwise flat “Pampas” terrain typical for the border regions between Brazil and Uruguay. The structure has a diameter of approximately 13.5 km. It is centered at 30^o12′S and 56^o32′W and was formed on basaltic flows of the Cretaceous Serra Geral Formation, which is part of the Paraná‐Etendeka Large Igneous Province (LIP), and in sandstones of the Botucatu and Guará formations. The structure was first spotted on aerial photographs in the 1960s. Ever since, its origin has been debated, sometimes in terms of an endogenous (igneous) origin, sometimes as the result of an exogenous (meteorite impact) event. In recent years, a number of studies have been conducted in order to investigate its nature and origin. Although the results have indicated a possible impact origin, no conclusive evidence could be produced. The interpretation of an impact origin was mostly based on the morphological characteristics of the structure; geophysical data; as well as the occurrence of different breccia types; extensive deformation/silicification of the rocks within the structure, in particular the sandstones; and also on the widespread occurrence of low‐pressure deformation features, including some planar fractures (PFs). A detailed optical microscopic analysis of samples collected during a number of field campaigns since 2007 resulted in the disclosure of a large number of quartz grains from sandstone and monomict arenite breccia from the central part of the structure with PFs and feather features (FFs), as well as a number of quartz grains exhibiting planar deformation features (PDFs). While most of these latter grains only carry a single set of PDFs, we have observed several with two sets, and one grain with three sets of PDFs. Consequently, we here propose Cerro do Jarau as the seventh confirmed impact structure in Brazil. Cerro do Jarau, together with Vargeão Dome (Santa Catalina state) and Vista Alegre (Paraná State), is one of very few impact structures on Earth formed in basaltic rocks.     

A spatiotemporal calculus for reasoning about land-use trajectories

Earth observation images are a powerful source of data about changes in our planet. Given the magnitude of global environmental changes taking place, it is important that Earth Science researchers have access to spatiotemporal reasoning tools. One area of particular interest is land-use change. Using data obtained from images, researchers would like to express abstractions such as ‘land abandonment’, ‘forest regrowth’, and ‘agricultural intensification’. These abstractions are specific types of land-use trajectories, defined as multi-year paths from one land cover into another. Given this need, this paper introduces a spatiotemporal calculus for reasoning about land-use trajectories. Using Allen’s interval logic as a basis, we introduce new predicates that express cases of recurrence, conversion and evolution in land-use change. The proposed predicates are sufficient and necessary to express different kinds of land-use trajectories. Users can build expressions that describe how humans modify Earth’s terrestrial surface. In this way, scientists can better understand the environmental and economic effects of land-use change.     

Provenance of deep-water reservoir sandstones from the Jubarte oil field,Campos Basin,Eastern Brazilian Margin

The provenance of the Maastrichtian deep-water reservoir sandstones from the Jubarte oil field (Campos Basin, eastern Brazil), was studied using an integrated approach that included quantitative petrography, conventional heavy mineral analysis, garnet mineral chemistry and zircon geochronology. The reservoirs are predominantly coarse, poorly-sorted sandstones with feldspathic composition derived from uplifted basement terrains. The fourth- and fifth-order depositional sequences analyzed show no major variations in composition or in provenance through time. However, variations in apatite:tourmaline presents potential to be used as a parameter for sandstone correlation within the field. The composition of heavy minerals indicates derivation from high temperature and low-to-medium pressure aluminous metapelitic rocks, from granites and subordinate mafic rocks, derived from the Cabo Frio Tectonic Domain and the Oriental terrain of Ribeira orogen, characterizing a supply route from SW to NE. The low ZTR index, as well as the absence of low-grade stable heavy minerals and of metasedimentary rock fragments, suggest that by the end of Cretaceous all supracrustal, low-grade terrains had already been totally eroded, and that plutonic, infracrustal rocks were exposed, similarly to the present situation.     

Angular momenta in binary systems

The correlations angular momentaL to massesM are studied for different types of spectroscopic binaries. The functionsL=AM ^b have the coefficientb with the values expected from a Keplerian mechanics, but the valuesA(q, T), A(q, a), A(q, v), associated tob=5/3, 3/2, and 2, respectively, are given (statistically speaking) by multiples or submultiples of discrete values of: the mass ratiosq, the semi-major axesa, periodsT, and velocitiesv of the reduced mass. This indicates the existence of a discrete unit of actionL=(1/2)×potential energy xperiod. Postulates about equivalent states of angular momenta for different orbital parameters are introduced, being this coherent with the analysis of the up-to-date data. Among other examples of the application of such equivalence postulates, we haveL(M) (W-type of the WUMa systems)L(M) (main group of the Algol binaries). The quantum units of action seen here are equivalent to those seen in the solar system in one of our previous works. From comparisons with galaxies and single stars, it is evidence that there is not an unique universal functionL=AM ^b, when the fine structure of the relation is analysed: each type of object has its own coefficients,A, b. It sems to be that there are an upper and a lower limit for all the possible functions. The upper limit isL=A _gM^5/3, withA _g1 associated to periodsT Hubble time, and the lower limit isL=GM ^2/c, with 1. The existence of the upper limit can be investigated with studies of pairs of galaxies, and the lower limit can be tested with analysis of single G, K, M stars. The quantical hypothesis introduced here can be checked definitely, when available larger samples of data with low errors, with similar quality as the selected list of almost 80 eclipsing binaries (mainly detached systems) analysed here.     

Modelling of coupled fluid‐mechanical problems in fractured geological media using enriched finite elements

Geological environments, such as petroleum reservoirs, normally exhibit physical discontinuities, for example, fractures and faults. Because of the reduced thickness of these discontinuities, finite element formulations with strong discontinuity have been applied to the numerical modelling of geological environments. Until now, two relevant characteristics of petroleum reservoirs have not been addressed by these formulations. The first is the pore pressure jump in the direction normal to a discontinuity in a fluid‐mechanical coupling condition, which is present primarily in sealing faults owing to the contrast of permeability with the porous medium. The absence of this jump can affect the prediction of the deformability of a physical discontinuity. Furthermore, reservoir models frequently use coarse meshes. Thus, the method used to evaluate the pore pressure in the discontinuity may exhibit a strong dependence relative to the mesh refinement. Based on these characteristics, in this study, a formulation of an enriched finite element for application to coupled fluid‐mechanical problems with pre‐existing physical discontinuities saturated by a single fluid is presented. The formulation employs discontinuous interpolation functions and enables the reproduction of jumps of displacement and pore pressure associated with a discontinuity inside the element without the need to discretise it. An approximation to estimate the pore pressure in the discontinuity was developed, one which seeks to minimise the influence of refinement. The element's response is verified by comparison with a one‐dimensional analytical solution and simple examples that are simulated using commercial software. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.