IR characteristics of hydrotalcite-like compounds

The infrared spectra of well characterized hydrotalcite-like compounds with M ²⁺/M ³⁺= 2/1 and M ²⁺/M ³⁺=3/1 chemical ratios indicate that octahedral cation ordering is only present for the 2/1 composition. For M ²⁺/M ³⁺ ratios greater than 2/1, the octahedral sheets are disordered although local cation order can be present through cation segregation. The order-disorder characteristics of these compounds can be explained by the total cation charge around any hydroxyl which cannot exceed seven units nor be lower than six. In addition, the infrared spectra suggest that the interlayer anions are symmetrically perturbed, the electrostatic interaction being greater for the 2/1 compositions.     

Temperature correction of electrical conductivity values

For a number of applications in geoscience, electrical conductivity of water is often used as a collective measure of the concentration of dissolved solids. A method for temperature correction of electrical conductivity data based on regression analysis of the actual temperature/conductivity relationship of a number of water samples from natural streams is presented. It is shown that the generally used formulae for temperature correction give corrected results that deviate considerably from the values determined by actual measurements. The error increases with decreasing water temperature and may result in data that deviate by as much as 20 per cent from the true values. The implications are thus especially important for measurements of solute loads and concentrations during periods of low stream water tetaperatures e.g. during snowmelt.     

Mitigation of the seismic motion near the edge of cliff-type topographies using anchors and piles

Concentration of damage of buildings near the edge of cliff-type topographies has been observed during a number of recent earthquakes and interpreted by numerical dynamic analyses that illustrate the amplification of the horizontal acceleration and the generation of parasitic vertical acceleration near the tip of slopes. The paper performs a detailed parametric numerical analysis to investigate the ability of mitigating this topographic effect using anchors and piles. A typical field case, the Aegion slope of Greece, is considered. Different input motions are applied. The results illustrated that anchors and piles can be effective in mitigating the topographic effect. The main issue is that if the part of the slope in which topographic amplification occurs is connected to that at larger depths, in which the acceleration is smaller, then the accelerations at the top of the slope have to become more uniform and smaller. For typical diameter and material properties of anchors/piles the effectiveness of the mitigation depends on the length, inclination, location and number of anchors/piles. An optimum configuration of anchors/piles mitigating the topographic effect is proposed.     

Rotifer abundance, biomass, and secondary production after the recovery of hydrologic connectivity between a river and two marginal lakes (São Paulo, Brazil)

Rotifera density, biomass, and secondary production on two marginal lakes of Paranapanema River were compared after the recovery of hydrologic connectivity with the river (São Paulo State, Brazil). Daily samplings were performed in limnetic zone of both lakes during the rainy season immediately after lateral inflow of water and, in the dry period, six months after hydrologic connectivity recovery. In order to identify the factors that affect rotifer population dynamics, lake water level, volume, depth, temperature, transparency, dissolved oxygen, pH, alkalinity, conductivity, suspended solids, nutrients, and chlorophyll-a were determined. Variations of water physical and chemical factors that affect rotifer population were related to the lake-river degree of connection and to water level rising after drought. The water lateral inflow from the river resulted in an increase in lake water volume, depth, and transparency and a decrease in water pH, alkalinity, and suspended solids. The lake with the wider river connection, more frequent biota exchange, and larger amount of particulate and dissolved materials was richer and more diverse, while rotifer density, biomass, and productivity were lower in both periods studied. Density, biomass, and secondary production were higher in the lake with the smaller river connection and the higher physical and chemical stability. Our results show that the connectivity affects the limnological stability, associated to seasonality. Stable conditions, caused by low connectivity in dry periods, were related with high density, biomass and secondary production. Conversely, instability conditions in rainy periods were associated to elevated richness and diversity values, caused by exchange biota due to higher connectivity.     

New Methods for Modeling Laterolog Resistivity Corrections

The paper presents methods for laterolog response modeling. In Coulomb’s charges method, Laplace’s equation is solved for the electric field distribution in rock medium with internal boundaries between different resistivity layers. There, the boundary problem is reduced to Fred-holm integral equation of the second kind. The second method uses a finite element array to model apparent resistivity from laterolog. The task is treated as DC problem and the Laplace equation is solved numerically. The presented methods were applied to borehole data covering a typical stratigraphie section of the Fore-Sudetic Monocline in southwestern Poland. Apparent resistivity was calculated using the Coulomb’s charges method and alternatively modeled using a finite element method which gave similar results. Then, a series of linear corrections for borehole, shoulder bed, and filtration effects for apparent resistivity obtained by the Coulomb’s charges method demonstrated the feasibility of calculating true resistivity of virgin and invaded zones. The proposed methods provide a flexible solution in modeling which can be adapted to other logs.