Ruthenium in komatiitic chromite

The distinction between Ru in solid solution and Ru-bearing inclusions is essential for the predictive modeling of platinum-group element (PGE) geochemistry in applications such as the lithogeochemical exploration for magmatic sulfide deposits in komatiites. This study investigates the role of chromite in the fractionation of Ru in ultramafic melts by analyzing chromite grains from sulfide-undersaturated komatiites and a komatiitic basalt from the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia. In situ analysis using laser ablation ICP-MS yields uniform Ru concentrations in chromites both within-grain and on a sample scale, with concentrations between 220 and 540 ppb. All other platinum-group elements are below the detection limit of the laser ablation ICP-MS analysis. Carius tube digestion isotope dilution ICP-MS analysis of chromite concentrates confirms the accuracy of the in-situ method. Time resolved laser ablation ICP-MS analyses have identified the presence of sub-micron Ir-bearing inclusions in some chromite grains from the komatiitic basalt. However, Ru-bearing inclusions have not been recognized in the analyzed chromites and this combined with the in situ data suggests that Ru exists in solid solution in the crystal lattice of chromite. These results show that chromite can control the fractionation and concentration of Ru in ultramafic systems.     

Clustering and forecasting of dissolved oxygen concentration on a river basin

The aim of this contribution is to combine statistical methodologies to geographically classify homogeneous groups of water quality monitoring sites based on similarities in the temporal dynamics of the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration, in order to obtain accurate forecasts of this quality variable. Our methodology intends to classify the water quality monitoring sites into spatial homogeneous groups, based on the DO concentration, which has been selected and considered relevant to characterize the water quality. We apply clustering techniques based on Kullback Information, measures that are obtained in the state space modelling process. For each homogeneous group of water quality monitoring sites we model the DO concentration using linear and state space models, which incorporate tendency and seasonality components in different ways. Both approaches are compared by the mean squared error (MSE) of forecasts.     

Do small marinas drive habitat specific impacts? A case study from Mediterranean Sea

Many human activities add new structures to the marine landscape. Despite the fact that human structures cause some inevitable impacts, surprisingly little information exists on the effects of marina on natural marine assemblages. The aim of this paper is to assess habitat-specific response of benthic sessile organisms of rocky shores in relation to the presence of a small marina. Sampling was carried out at three coastal habitats (midshore, lowshore and subtidal) by means of visual censuses adopting an after-control-impact (ACI) experimental design. It appears that the marina affects the structure and composition of benthic communities of both the midshore and the lowshore. Little effect was evident on shallow subtidal assemblage structure. The results of the present study clearly show habitat-specific responses of coastal benthic assemblages to the presence of infrastructure.     

Detrital geochronology of unroofing magmatic complexes and the slow erosion of Oligocene volcanoes in the Alps

Tectonic reconstructions and quantitative models of landscape evolution are increasingly based on detailed analysis of detrital systems. Since the definition of closure temperature in the 1960s, mineral ages of low-temperature geochronometers are traditionally interpreted as the result of cooling induced by erosion, whose rate is a simple, unique function of age patterns. Such an approach can lead to infer paradoxically high erosion rates that conflict with compelling geological evidence from sediment thickness in basins. This indicates that tectonic and landscape models that solely interpret mineral ages as due to cooling during exhumation may not be valid.Here we propose a new approach that takes into account the effects of both crystallization and exhumational cooling on geochronometers, from U–Pb on zircon to fission tracks on apatite. We first model the mechanical erosion of an unroofing magmatic complex and the resulting accumulation and burial of the eroded units in reverse order in the basin. Detrital mineral ages follow a regular pattern downsection. Some mineral ages, such as e.g. U–Pb ages of zircons, cluster around the “magmatic age”, i.e. the crystallization of the magma. Its value is constant along the stratigraphic column in the sedimentary basin; we refer to this behavior as “stationary age peak”. Some other mineral ages, such as e.g. apatite fission-track ages, are often younger than the magmatic age. When they vary smoothly with depth, they define a “moving age peak”, which is the only possible effect of undisturbed cooling during overburden removal, and can therefore be used to calculate an erosion rate.The predictions of our model were tested in detail on the extremely well-studied Bregaglia (Bergell) orogenic pluton in the Alps, and on the sedimentary succession derived from its erosion, the Gonfolite Group. The consistency between predicted and observed age patterns validates the model. Our results resolve a long-standing paradox in quantitative modelling of erosion–sedimentation, namely the scarcity of sediment during apparently fast erosion. Starved basins are the observational baseline, and modelling must be tuned to include a correct analysis of detrital mineral geochronology in order to reconcile perceived discrepancies between stratigraphical and geochronological information. In addition, our data demonstrate that volcanoes were active on top of the growing Oligocene Alps.This study illustrates rigorous criteria for detrital mineral geochronology that are applicable to any geological setting, including magmatic arcs and collision orogens, and provides fundamental interpretive keys to solve complex puzzles and apparent paradoxes in geological reconstructions.     

Trace metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in feathers of Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys attending the Patagonian Shelf

We investigated the concentrations of cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, nickel, lead and zinc among feather tissues in sexes of Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys killed in longliners off Argentina in 2005. We found no different metal concentration with sex for cadmium, copper, iron, lead and zinc in feathers of adult birds, though there were significant body-size differences between sexes. However, the concentrations of trace metals differed significantly among the type of feather within individual bird. The mean concentrations of copper, iron, and zinc in breast feathers of T.?melanophrys were lower than those reported for the species from Georgias del Sur/South Georgia, the southern Indian Ocean and for other seabirds' worldwide. While cadmium fall within the known range of concentrations for bird feathers lead were not. Our results may be indicating that level of pollution in Patagonia may not be as negligible as previously thought at least for some trace metals.     

Hydrogeological study of the intensely exploited aquifer of the Santa Croce leather-producing district, Tuscany (central Italy)

A hydrogeological study was undertaken to define the groundwater circulation in the Santa Croce area (Tuscany, central Italy) where the existing multilayered aquifer has long been intensively exploited. Investigations carried out on about 150 wells revealed the existence of a deep piezometric depression (to 20?m below sea level) which drains groundwater from the entire surrounding area. Samples from about 70 water points, collected twice in 2007, were analysed for major elements and stable isotope composition. Three major groups of waters, which mix in the study area, have been distinguished: (1) waters of the Ca?CMg?CHCO₃ type mainly flowing along the Arno River Plain; (2) waters of the Na?CK?CCl/Ca?CMg?CHCO₃?CSO_4, type with SO₄ content up to 275?mg/L, inflowing from the Pisane Hills; (3) relatively high-salinity waters mainly of the Na?CHCO₃ type which, with Cl concentrations up to 750?mg/L, likely arise from a normal fault located at the foot of the northern hills. The characteristics of the different components are greatly affected by significant modifying processes such as cation exchange and sulfate reduction. The achieved conceptual model suggests the southern hills as the main recharging area of the aquifer system from which water circulation, characterized by pathways of different length and depth, develops.     

Endogenous and nonimpact origin of the Arkenu circular structures (al‐Kufrah basin—SE Libya)

Abstract– The twin Arkenu circular structures (ACS), located in the al‐Kufrah basin in southeastern Libya, were previously considered as double impact craters (the “Arkenu craters”). The ACS consist of a NE (Arkenu 1) and a SW structure (Arkenu 2), with approximate diameters of about 10 km. They are characterized by two shallow depressions surrounded by concentric circular ridges and silica‐impregnated sedimentary dikes cut by local faults. Our field, petrographic, and textural observations exclude that the ACS have an impact origin. In fact, we did not observe any evidence of shock metamorphism, such as planar deformation features in the quartz grains of the collected samples, and the previously reported “shatter cones” are wind‐erosion features in sandstones (ventifacts). Conversely, the ACS should be regarded as a “paired” intrusion of porphyritic stocks of syenitic composition that inject the Nubia Formation and form a rather simple and eroded ring dike complex. Stock emplacement was followed by hydrothermal activity that involved the deposition of massive magnetite–hematite horizons (typical of iron oxide copper‐gold deposits). Their origin was nearly coeval with the development of silicified dikes in the surroundings. Plugs of tephritic‐phonolitic rocks and lamprophyres (monchiquites) inject the Nubian sandstone along conjugate fracture zones, trending NNW–SSE and NE–SW, that crosscut the structural axis of the basin.     

The regularizing Levenberg–Marquardt scheme for history matching of petroleum reservoirs

In this paper, we study on a history matching approach that consists of finding stable approximations to the problem of minimizing the weighted least-squares functional that penalizes the misfit between the reservoir model predictions G(u) and noisy observations y ^η . In other words, we are interested in computing an approximation to the minimizer of $\frac {1}{2}\vert \vert \Gamma ^{-1/2}(y^{\eta }-G(u))\vert \vert _{Y}^{2} $ where Γ is the measurements error covariance, Y is the observation space, and X is a set of admissible parameters. This is an ill-posed nonlinear inverse problem that we address by means of the regularizing Levenberg–Marquardt scheme developed by Hanke (Inverse Probl. 13:79–95, 1997; J. Integr. Equ. Appl. 22(2):259–283, 2010). Under certain conditions on G, the theory of Hanke (Inverse Probl. 13:79–95, 1997; J. Integr. Equ. Appl. 22(2):259–283, 2010) ensures the convergence of the scheme to stable approximations to the inverse problem. We propose an implementation of the regularizing Levenberg–Marquardt scheme that enforces prior knowledge on the geologic properties. In particular, the prior mean $\overline {u}$ is incorporated in the initial guess of the algorithm, and the prior error covariance C is enforced through the definition of the parameter space X. Our main goal is to numerically show that the proposed implementation of the regularizing Levenberg–Marquardt scheme of Hanke is a robust method capable of providing accurate estimates of the geologic properties for small noise measurements. In addition, we provide numerical evidence of the convergence and regularizing results predicted by the theory of Hanke (Inverse Probl. 13:79–95, 1997; J. Integr. Equ. Appl. 22(2):259–283, 2010) for a prototypical oil–water reservoir model. The performance for recovering the true permeability with the regularizing Levenberg–Marquardt scheme is compared to the typical approach of computing the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimator. In particular, we compare the proposed application of the regularizing Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) scheme against the standard LM approach of Li et al. (SPE J. 8(4):328–340, 2003) and Reynolds et al. (2008) for computing the MAP. Our numerical experiments suggest that the history matching approach based on iterative regularization is robust and could potentially be used to improve further on various methodologies already proposed as effective tools for history matching in petroleum reservoirs.     

Assessing the impact of large-scale dewatering on fault-controlled aquifer systems: a case study in the Acque Albule basin (Tivoli, central Italy)

The development of large-scale bedrock quarry operations often requires high-volume and long-term groundwater extraction to maintain a sustainable working environment. These dewatering activities often influence groundwater levels and flow patterns regionally. In the present study, the influence of the dewatering of the travertine quarry operations near the city of Tivoli, Italy, are quantitatively investigated through an integrated analysis of field data and numerical modeling. Lowering of regional groundwater levels in the vicinity of the quarry has led to destructive land subsidence and alterations to the flow system sustaining a hot-spring area. The study employs a finite element numerical model (FEFLOW) to evaluate and quantify the impact of the extensive dewatering on fault-controlled regional groundwater flow in the Acque Albule basin. By incorporating the physical field data and historical hydrologic information, the numerical model was calibrated against three groundwater scenarios, reproducing the effects of different exploitation activities, coupled with natural changes over the course of the quarry operation. The results indicate that groundwater withdrawals by the mining industry and by “Terme di Roma” spa resulted in the cessation of flow from the primary thermal spring and a drop in the phreatic level in the area consequently affected by land subsidence.