A hybrid artificial neural network-numerical model for ground water problems

Numerical models constitute the most advanced physical-based methods for modeling complex ground water systems. Spatial and/or temporal variability of aquifer parameters, boundary conditions, and initial conditions (for transient simulations) can be assigned across the numerical model domain. While this constitutes a powerful modeling advantage, it also presents the formidable challenge of overcoming parameter uncertainty, which, to date, has not been satisfactorily resolved, inevitably producing model prediction errors. In previous research, artificial neural networks (ANNs), developed with more accessible field data, have achieved excellent predictive accuracy over discrete stress periods at site-specific field locations in complex ground water systems. In an effort to combine the relative advantages of numerical models and ANNs, a new modeling paradigm is presented. The ANN models generate accurate predictions for a limited number of field locations. Appending them to a numerical model produces an overdetermined system of equations, which can be solved using a variety of mathematical techniques, potentially yielding more accurate numerical predictions. Mathematical theory and a simple two-dimensional example are presented to overview relevant mathematical and modeling issues. Two of the three methods for solving the overdetermined system achieved an overall improvement in numerical model accuracy for various levels of synthetic ANN errors using relatively few constrained head values (i.e., cells), which, while demonstrating promise, requires further research. This hybrid approach is not limited to ANN technology; it can be used with other approaches for improving numerical model predictions, such as regression or support vector machines (SVMs).     

Contributors to chromium isotope variation of meteorites

We report the results of a comprehensive, high precision survey of the Cr isotopic compositions of primitive chondrites, along with some differentiated meteorites. To ensure complete dissolution of our samples, they were first fused with lithium borate-tetraborate at 1050-1000 °C. Relative to the NIST Cr standard SRM 3112a, carbonaceous chondrites exhibit excesses in ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr from 0.4 to 1.6ε (1ε = 1 part in 10,000), and ordinary chondrites display a common ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr deficit of ∼0.4ε. Analyses of acid-digestion residues of chondrites show that carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites share a common ⁵⁴Cr-enriched carrier, which is characterized by a large excess in ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr (up to 200ε) associated with a very small deficit in ⁵³Cr/⁵²Cr (<2ε). We did not find ⁵⁴Cr anomalies in either bulk enstatite chondrites or in leachates of their acid-digestion residues. This either requires that the enstatite chondrite parent bodies did not incorporate the ⁵⁴Cr anomaly carrier phase during their accretion, or the phase was destroyed by parent body metamorphism. Chromium in the terrestrial rocks and lunar samples analyzed here show no deviation from the NIST SRM 3112a Cr standard. The eucrite and Martian meteorites studied exhibit small deficits in ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr. The ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr variations among different meteorite classes suggest that there was a spatial and/or temporal heterogeneity in the distribution of a ⁵⁴Cr-rich component in the inner Solar System.We confirm the correlated excesses in ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr and ⁵³Cr/⁵²Cr for bulk carbonaceous chondrites, but the new data yield a steeper slope (∼6.6) than that reported in Shukolyukov and Lugmair (2006). The correlated excesses may affect the use of the Mn-Cr chronometer in carbonaceous chondrites. We could not confirm the bulk carbonaceous chondrite Mn-Cr isochron reported by Shukolyukov and Lugmair (2006) and Moynier et al. (2007), mostly because we find much smaller total variations in ε⁵³Cr (∼0.2). All bulk chondrites have small ε⁵³Cr excesses (up to 0.3) relative to the Earth, most likely reflecting the sub-chondritic Mn/Cr ratio of the Earth. The ε⁵³Cr variations in chondrites do seem to grossly correlate with Mn/Cr and yield an initial Solar System ⁵³Mn/⁵⁵Mn value of 5.4(±2.4) × 10⁻⁶, corresponding to an absolute age of 4566.4 (±2.2) Ma.Nuclear interactions with cosmic rays result in coupled excesses in ε⁵⁴Cr and ε⁵³Cr with a ∼4:1 ratio in phases with high Fe/Cr. These are most dramatically demonstrated in the iron meteorite Carbo, showing excesses in ε⁵⁴Cr of up to 140ε. These new results show that the Mn-Cr chronometer should be used with caution in samples/minerals with high Fe/Cr and long cosmic ray exposure ages.     

Biological influences on modern sulfates: Textures and composition of gypsum deposits from Guerrero Negro,Baja California Sur,Mexico

Gypsum (CaSO₄·2H₂O) deposits from a range of sedimentary environments at Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico were investigated for microscale texture and composition in order to differentiate features formed under substantial microbial influence from those for which microbial effects were relatively minor or absent. Gypsum deposits were classified according to their sedimentary environment, textures, crystal habit, brine composition and other geochemical factors. The environments studied included subaqueous sediments in anchialine pools and in solar salterns, as well as subsurface sediments of mudflats and saltpans. Gypsum that developed in the apparent absence of biofilms included crystals precipitated in the water column and subsedimentary discs that precipitated from phreatic brines. Subsedimentary gypsum developed in sabkha environments exhibited a sinuous microtexture and poikilitically enclosed detrital particles. Water column precipitates had euhedral prismatic habits and extensive penetrative twinning. Gypsum deposits influenced by biofilms included bottom nucleated crusts and gypsolites developing in anchialine pools and saltern ponds. Gypsum precipitating within benthic biofilms, and in biofilms within subaerial sediment surfaces provided compelling evidence of biological influences on crystal textures and habits. This evidence included irregular, high relief surface textures, accessory minerals (S°, Ca-carbonate, Sr/Ca-sulfate and Mg-hydroxide) and distinctive crystal habits such as equant forms and crystals having distorted prism faces.     

Heat capacity, entropy, and magnetic properties of jarosite-group compounds

Jarosite phases are common minerals in acidic, sulfate-rich environments. Here, we report heat capacities (C _p) and standard entropies (S°) for a number of jarosite samples. Most samples are close to the nominal composition AFe₃(SO₄)₂(OH)₆, where A = K, Na, Rb, and NH₄. One of the samples has a significant number of defects on the Fe sites and is called the defect jarosite; others are referred to as A-jarosite. The samples, their compositions, and the entropies at T = 298.15 K are:

Climatic Trends and Temporal Patterns of Phytoplankton Composition, Abundance, and Succession in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, USA

This paper describes the results of 10 years of water quality monitoring in the Indian River Lagoon Florida, with special emphasis on the relationships between trends in climatic conditions and the distribution, composition, and abundance of the phytoplankton community. The Indian River Lagoon, which spans 220 km of Florida’s east coast, is a region of particular concern because of the rapid rate of human development throughout the region and the hydrologically restricted character of the lagoon, which heightens the potential for algal bloom. Water sampling was carried out on a monthly to twice-monthly basis at six sites located in the northern and central lagoon. The 10-year study included both extended periods of below and above average rainfall. A number of ecologically distinct regions exist within the lagoon, which differ considerably in water exchange properties and watershed inputs. The northern lagoon is characterized by longer water residence times, lower phosphorus concentrations, higher nitrogen concentrations, and more stable salinity conditions than the central lagoon. Mean phytoplankton biovolumes were substantially higher at the sites in the northern lagoon than at the sites in the central lagoon, and algal blooms were more common and intense in the former region. Inter-annual patterns of phytoplankton biovolume were also different in the northern and central lagoon. In the northern lagoon, phytoplankton biovolumes were lowest during the drought period, from the autumn of 1998 to the spring of 2001. By contrast, algal bloom events in the central lagoon were not only less frequent but were not tied to periods of high rainfall. The most widespread and common bloom formers were the potentially toxic dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense var. bahamense and two centric diatoms, Dactyliosolen fragilissimus and Cerataulina pelagica. Many of the biovolume peaks observed over the study period were attributable to these three species. The results of time series modeling of phytoplankton dynamics further highlighted the disparities between the two regions of the lagoon in terms of the suite of parameters that best predict the observed trends in the biomass of phytoplankton. Overall, the outcome of this initial modeling effort in the Indian River Lagoon suggests that time series approaches can help define the factors that influence phytoplankton dynamics.     

Scenarios on future land changes in the West African Sahel

In an attempt to anticipate possible futures of drylands of West Africa in the face of rapid socio-economic and environmental changes, we developed four scenarios based on recent survey data, the literature and our knowledge of the region. The four scenarios are inspired by those developed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: (1) ‘downward spiral’ characterized by rapid climate change, expansion of agriculture and chaotic urban growth; (2) ‘integrated economy’ with integrated land management, food production for local markets and rural–urban exchanges; (3) ‘open doors’ characterized by large-scale out-migrations, land grabbing by foreign companies and development aid and (4) ‘climate change mitigation’ with an increase in biofuel crops, land management for carbon capture and development of off-farm activities. We conclude that the Sahel region is most likely moving away from being a highly climate-dependent region based on agriculture towards a more open and diversified economy. West African countries have to find a balance between the new opportunities and risks created by economic globalization.     

Trophic ecology of Pomatoschistus microps within an intertidal bay (Roscoff,France), investigated through gut content and stable isotope analyses

The diet of Pomatoschistus microps has been studied using both gut content and stable isotope analyses. In the Roscoff Aber Bay (Brittany, France), this fish is commonly found on sandy muddy intertidal flats. Gut content analyses were also interpreted using trophic indices. Owing to the large diversity of prey consumed, these indices emphasised the opportunistic feeding behaviour of P. microps. Here, this species fed mainly on endofauna with meiofauna being of high relative importance. The main biotic components of its trophic habitat, characterized by δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N, provided evidence of a major trophic pathway based on drift Enteromorpha sp. Trophic positions estimated by both diet analyses and isotopic analyses led to similar results. In this bay, P. microps is a first‐order predator with a low degree of omnivory. Despite a preferential consumption of the amphipod Corophium arenarium, we assumed that this goby behaves as a generalist feeding on a uniform variety of endofauna taxa.     

Coupling multipoint flux mixed finite element methodswith continuous Galerkin methods for poroelasticity

We study the numerical approximation on irregular domains with general grids of the system of poroelasticity, which describes fluid flow in deformable porous media. The flow equation is discretized by a multipoint flux mixed finite element method and the displacements are approximated by a continuous Galerkin finite element method. First-order convergence in space and time is established in appropriate norms for the pressure, velocity, and displacement. Numerical results are presented that illustrate the behavior of the method.