Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Hydroelectric Reservoirs in Tropical Regions

This paper discusses emissions by power-dams in the tropics. Greenhouse gas emissions from tropical power-dams are produced underwater through biomass decomposition by bacteria. The gases produced in these dams are mainly nitrogen, carbon dioxide and methane. A methodology was established for measuring greenhouse gases emitted by various power-dams in Brazil. Experimental measurements of gas emissions by dams were made to determine accurately their emissions of methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) gases through bubbles formed on the lake bottom by decomposing organic matter, as well as rising up the lake gradient by molecular diffusion.The main source of gas in power-dams reservoirs is the bacterial decomposition (aerobic and anaerobic) of autochthonous and allochthonous organic matter that basically produces CO₂ and CH₄. The types and modes of gas production and release in the tropics are reviewed.     

Assessment of predictions of the response of the Hualien containment model during forced vibration tests

Blind predictions for the response of the 1/4-scale reinforced concrete Hualien (Taiwan) containment model during forced vibration tests are compared with the observed data. The predictions obtained by the CLASSI approach reflect the experimental conditions prior to and after backfill of the soil surrounding the embedded foundation. The experimental data show a strong and unexpected coupling between the response in the NS and EW directions which is not present in the results for the axisymmetric theoretical models. Also, significant differences can be seen between the experimental responses in the two orthogonal horizontal directions which minimize cross-axis coupling. Although these differences are not accounted for in the theoretical models, the discrepancies between predictions and observations are within the uncertainty of the structural and geotechnical data. The obtained differences between predictions and observations give an excellent measure of the prediction error that can be expected in this type of analysis from uncertainty in the data. A detailed assessment of the initial structural and geotechnical data based on extensive comparisons with the results of previous identification studies is also presented. Finally, comparisons between the observed response and calculations based on revised models for the structure and the soil show that current methods of analysis can account accurately for the observed response.     

Non-linear channel–shoal dynamics in long tidal embayments

The dynamics of finite-amplitude bed forms in a tidal channel is studied with the use of an idealized morphodynamic model. The latter is based on depth-averaged equations for the tidal flow over a sandy bottom. The model considers phenomena on spatial scales of the order of the tidal excursion length. Transport of sediment mainly takes place as suspended load. The reference state of this model is characterized by a spatially uniform M₂ tidal current over a fixed horizontal bed. The temporal evolution of deviations from this reference state is governed by amplitude equations: these are a set of non-linear equations that describe the temporal evolution of bed forms. These equations are used to obtain new morphodynamic equilibria which may be either static or time-periodic. Several of these bottom profiles show strong similarity with the tidal bars that are observed in natural estuaries. The dependence of the equilibrium solutions on the value of bottom friction and channel width is investigated systematically. For narrow channels (width small compared to the tidal excursion length) stable static equilibria exist if bottom friction is slightly larger than r_cr. For channel widths more comparable to the tidal excursion length, multiple stable steady states may exist for bottom friction parameter values below r_cr. Regardless of channel width, stable time-periodic equilibria seem to emerge as the bottom friction is increased.Responsible Editor: Jens Kappenberg     

A model for grain-size sorting over tidal sand ridges

A model was developed and analyzed to quantify the effect of graded sediment on the formation of tidal sand ridges. Field data reveal coarse (fine) sediment at the crests (in the troughs), but often phase shifts between the mean grain-size distribution and the bottom topography occur. Following earlier work, this study is based on a linear stability analysis of a basic state with respect to small bottom perturbations. The basic state describes an alongshore tidal current on a coastal shelf. Sediment is transported as bed load and dynamic hiding effects are accounted for. A one-layer model for the bed evolution is used and two grain size classes (fine and coarse sand) are considered. Results indicate an increase in growth and migration rates of tidal sand ridges for a bimodal mixture, whilst the wavelength of the ridges remains unchanged. A symmetrical externally forced tidal current results in a grain-size distribution which is in phase with the ridges. Incorporation of an additional external M₄ tidal constituent or a steady current results in a phase shift between the grain-size distribution and ridge topography. These results show a general agreement with observations. The physical mechanism responsible for the observed grain-size distribution over the ridges is also discussed.Responsible Editor: Jens Kappenberg     

Assessing land use/cover changes: a nationwide multidate spatial database for Mexico

A nationwide multidate GIS database was generated in order to carry out the quantification and spatial characterization of land use/cover changes (LUCC) in Mexico. Existing cartography on land use/cover at a 1:250,000 scale was revised to select compatible inputs regarding the scale, the classification scheme and the mapping method. Digital maps from three different dates (the late 1970s, 1993 and 2000) were revised, evaluated, corrected and integrated into a GIS database. In order to improve the reliability of the database, an attempt was made to assess the accuracy of the digitalisation procedure and to detect and correct unlikely changes due to thematic errors in the maps. Digital maps were overlaid in order to generate LUCC maps, transition matrices and to calculate rates of conversion. Based upon this database, rates of deforestation between 1976 and 2000 were evaluated as 0.25 and 0.76% per year for temperate and tropical forests, respectively.     

Neuralizing target superresolution algorithms

Tatem et al. (2001) have designed a Hopfield network-based algorithm for superresolving discrete targets that are larger than the sample spacing of an image. The algorithm iteratively minimizes a criterion function that contains a sigmoidal activation term. We have altered their algorithm to bring it in line with Hopfield's original network by reducing the pseudotemperature of the sigmoid. We found that smaller values of the pseudotemperature lead to faster convergence to a solution and resulting solutions that are more accurate.     

Reversibility of radiocaesium sorption on illite

Adsorption of trace amounts of radiocaesium on NH₄-, K-, and Na-saturated Fithian illite and subsequent desorption by 1 M NH₄ showed that a substantial amount of radiocaesium (44%, 46%, and 91% for NH₄-, K-, and Na-illite, respectively) cannot be desorbed after only 5 min of adsorption. Our results suggest that this instantaneous fixation is caused by the collapse of the frayed edges of the clay mineral and the relatively high concentration of radiocaesium building up in solution in the batch desorption experiments. Consequently, commonly applied high-NH₄ extractions underestimate truly exchangeable amounts of radiocaesium in soils and sediments containing illitic clay minerals. The rate of desorption of trace amounts of radiocaesium from the solids using high NH₄ or Cs concentrations has a half-life of about 2 yr, reflecting radiocaesium desorption from (partially) collapsed interlayers. Extraction of radiocaesium from illite after 5 min of contact time with a Cs-selective adsorbent or a 1 × 10^-6 M CsCl solution shows that 100% of the bound radiocaesium is readily available. The desorption rate in the presence of a Cs-selective adsorbent has a half-life of about 0.2 yr. Desorption of radiocaesium from illite using different ammonium concentrations shows that radiocaesium partitioning follows reversible ion-exchange theory if the NH₄ concentration is below 1 × 10^-4 M, and sufficient time (weeks) is allowed for the reaction to proceed. Thus, radiocaesium sorption reversibility in the natural environment is much higher than generally assumed, and equilibrium solid/liquid partitioning may be assumed for the long-term modelling of radiocaesium mobility in the natural environment. In the particular case of anoxic freshwater sediments with very high NH₄ concentrations in the pore waters (up to several mmol.L^-1), collapse of the frayed edges of illite may occur, influencing radiocaesium partitioning. If collapse occurs before radiocaesium adsorbs to illite, high caesium sorption reversibility as measured by high-NH₄ extraction can be expected because further collapse of the frayed edges during the extraction procedure will be limited. This effect has indeed been observed earlier in the extraction of radiocaesium from anoxic freshwater sediments with high-NH₄ solutions and was as yet unexplained.     

Beryllium-10 in Australasian tektites: Constraints on the location of the source crater

By using accelerator mass spectrometry we have measured the ¹⁰Be concentrations of 86 Australasian tektites. Corrected to the time of tektite production ∼0.8 My ago, the ¹⁰Be concentrations (10⁶ atom/g) range from 59 for a layered tektite from Huai Sai, Thailand, to 280 for an australite from New South Wales, Australia. The average value is 143 ± 50. When tektites are sorted by country, their average measured ¹⁰Be concentrations increase slowly with increasing distance from Southeast Asia, the probable location of the tektite producing event, from 59 ± 9 for 6 layered tektites from Laos to 136 ± 20 for 20 splash-form tektites from Australia. The lowest ¹⁰Be concentrations for tektites fall on or within a contour centered off the shore of Vietnam, south of the Gulf of Tonkin (107°E; 17°N), but also encompassing two other locations in the area of northeastern Thailand previously proposed for the site of a single tektite-producing impact. The ¹⁰Be concentrations of layered tektites show only a weak anticorrelation (R ∼ −0.3) with the numbers of relict crystalline inclusions.Loosely consolidated, fine-grained terrestrial sediments or recently consolidated sedimentary rocks are the most likely precursor materials. Dilution of sediments with other kinds of rock raises problems in mixing and is not supported by petrographic data. Sedimentary columns that have the right range of ¹⁰Be concentrations occur off the coasts of places where sedimentation rates are high relative to those in the deep sea. A single impact into such a region, 15 to 300 m thick, could have propelled near-surface, high-¹⁰Be material farthest—to Australia—while keeping the deeper-lying, low-¹⁰Be layers closer to home. We do not rule out, however, other proposed mechanisms for tektite formation.     

U–Pb geochronology of the southern Brasília belt (SE-Brazil): sedimentary provenance, Neoproterozoic orogeny and assembly of West Gondwana

The Brasília belt borders the western margin of the São Francisco Craton and records the history of ocean opening and closing related to the formation of West Gondwana. This study reports new U–Pb data from the southern sector of the belt in order to provide temporal limits for the deposition and ages of provenance of sediments accumulated in passive margin successions around the south and southwestern margins of the São Francisco Craton, and date the orogenic events leading to the amalgamation of West Gondwana.Ages of detrital zircons (by ID–TIMS and LA-MC-ICPMS) were obtained from metasedimentary units of the passive margin of the São Francisco Craton from the main tectonic domains of the belt: the internal allochthons (Araxá Group in the Áraxá and Passos Nappes), the external allochthons (Canastra Group, Serra da Boa Esperança Metasedimentary Sequence and Andrelândia Group) and the autochthonous or Cratonic Domain (Andrelândia Group). The patterns of provenance ages for these units are uniform and are characterised as follows: Archean–Paleoproterozoic ages (3.4–3.3, 3.1–2.7, and 2.5–2.4 Ga); Paleoproterozoic ages attributed to the Transamazonian event (2.3–1.9 Ga, with a peak at ca. 2.15 Ga) and to the ca. 1.75 Ga Espinhaço rifting of the São Francisco Craton; ages between 1.6 and 1.2 Ga, with a peak at 1.3 Ga, revealing an unexpected variety of Mesoproterozoic sources, still undetected in the São Francisco Craton; and ages between 0.9 and 1.0 Ga related to the rifting event that led to the individualisation of the São Francisco paleo-continent and formation of its passive margins. An amphibolite intercalation in the Araxá Group yields a rutile age of ca. 0.9 Ga and documents the occurrence of mafic magmatism coeval with sedimentation in the marginal basin.Detrital zircons from the autochthonous and parautochthonous Andrelândia Group, deposited on the southern margin of the São Francisco Craton, yielded a provenance pattern similar to that of the allochthonous units. This result implies that 1.6–1.2 Ga source rocks must be present in the São Francisco Craton. They could be located either in the cratonic area, which is mostly covered by the Neoproterozoic epicontinental deposits of the Bambuí Group, or in the outer paleo-continental margin, buried under the allochthonous units of the Brasília belt.Crustal melting and generation of syntectonic crustal granites and migmatisation at ca. 630 Ma mark the orogenic event that started with westward subduction of the São Francisco plate and ended with continental collision against the Paraná block (and Goiás terrane). Continuing collision led to the exhumation and cooling of the Araxá and Passos metamorphic nappes, as indicated by monazite ages of ca. 605 Ma and mark the final stages of tectonometamorphic activity in the southern Brasília belt.Whilst continent–continent collision was proceeding on the western margin of the São Francisco Craton along the southern Brasília belt, eastward subduction in the East was generating the 634–599 Ma Rio Negro magmatic arc which collided with the eastern São Francisco margin at 595–560 Ma, much later than in the Brasília belt. Thus, the tectonic effects of the Ribeira belt reached the southernmost sector of the Brasília belt creating a zone of superposition. The thermal front of this event affected the proximal Andrelândia Group at ca. 588 Ma, as indicated by monazite age.The participation of the Amazonian craton in the assembly of western Gondwana occurred at 545–500 Ma in the Paraguay belt and ca. 500 Ma in the Araguaia belt. This, together with the results presented in this work lead to the conclusion that the collision between the Paraná block and Goiás terrane with the São Francisco Craton along the Brasília belt preceded the accretion of the Amazonian craton by 50–100 million years.     

The Role of Pre-existing Structures in the Origin, Propagation and Architecture of Faults in the Main Ethiopian Rift

Four major fault systems oriented N–S to NNE–SSW, NE–SW, E–W and NW–SE are identified from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images and a high resolution digital elevation model (DEM) over the Ethiopian Rift Valley and the surrounding plateaus. Most of these faults are the result of Cenozoic - extensional reactivation of pre-existing basement structures. These faults interacted with each other at different geological times under different geodynamic conditions. The Cenozoic interaction under an extensional tectonic regime is the major cause of the actual volcano-tectonic landscape in Ethiopia. The Wonji Fault Belt (WFB), which comprises the N–S to NNE–SSW striking rift floor faults, displays peculiar propagation patterns mainly due to interaction with the other fault systems and the influence of underlying basement structures. The commonly observed patterns are: curvilinear oblique-slip faults forming lip-horsts, sinusoidal faults, intersecting faults and locally splaying faults at their ends. Fault-related open structures such as tail-cracks, releasing bends and extensional relay zones and fault intersections have served as principal eruption sites for monogenetic Plio-Quaternary volcanoes in the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER).