Model‐based attenuation for scattered dispersive waves

Coherent noise in land seismic data primarily consists in source‐generated surface‐wave modes. The component that is traditionally considered most relevant is the so‐called ground roll, consisting in surface‐wave modes propagating directly from sources to receivers. In many geological situations, near?surface heterogeneities and discontinuities, as well as topography irregularities, diffract the surface waves and generate secondary events, which can heavily contaminate records. The diffracted and converted surface waves are often called scattered noise and can be a severe problem particularly in areas with shallow or outcropping hard lithological formations. Conventional noise attenuation techniques are not effective with scattering: they can usually address the tails but not the apices of the scattered events. Large source and receiver arrays can attenuate scattering but only in exchange for a compromise to signal fidelity and resolution. We present a model?based technique for the scattering attenuation, based on the estimation of surface‐wave properties and on the prediction of surface waves with a complex path involving diffractions. The properties are estimated first, to produce surface?consistent volumes of the propagation properties. Then, for all gathers to filter, we integrate the contributions of all possible diffractors, building a scattering model. The estimated scattered wavefield is then subtracted from the data. The method can work in different domains and copes with aliased surface waves. The benefits of the method are demonstrated with synthetic and real data.     

Dynamics of grains falling on a sloping granular medium: application to the evolution of a talus

Numerous field surveys have provided quantitative information on the characteristics of talus deposits. Much less has been done to quantify the basic dynamics processes of blocks involved in talus evolution. In this work, we perform a set of experiments at the reduced scale of some metres using an inclined board covered with a loose granular medium. The complexity of the processes forming a talus is simplified by studying the interaction of only two kinds of grain sizes at a time. Grains of one class size are dropped from a fixed height onto the board covered by a layer of grains of a different class size, and their final distribution is recorded. We find that when small grains fall on large grains, the granular abundance decreases rapidly as a function of the distance from the fall point, which is explained by the effect of multiple bouncing on the irregular surface. In contrast, large grains falling on a bed of smaller grains lose much more energy at impact. They may stop at once, or roll down slope, often reaching the whole board length; as a consequence, their abundance peaks in the fall zone and at the change of slope. Experiments also show that grains travel longer with increasing fall height and sloping angle. The results clarify in a physical manner one mechanism that might explain why large blocks are typically found in the distal part of a talus slope, while smaller blocks remain near the fall zone. Based on these and previous experiments, a schematic view of talus evolution is discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Holocene tsunami traces on the western and southern coastlines of the Peloponnesus (Greece)

Greece, in particular the western and southern parts close to the subduction zone of the Hellenic Trench, experiences strong earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis. Nevertheless, field evidence of tsunamis from the late Holocene is extremely rare. Our research along the coastlines of the western and southern Peloponnesus resulted in new findings of tsunami impacts in the form of clusters and ridges of large boulders and thick tsunamigenic sand layers encountered in vibracores. Many boulders contained attached marine organisms, which prove that they were transported from the foreshore environment against gravity by extreme wave events. The attached organisms, which have been dated by ¹⁴C-AMS, suggest that historical tsunami events of great energy occurred around 1300 cal AD. A wood fragment found at the base of tsunami deposits in a vibracore from Cape Punta was dated to ~ 250 cal AD.     

RANK-ORDER ANALYSIS FOR ROBUST MULTIRESPONSE,MULTIBLOCK COMPARISONS:EVALUATION OF HERBICIDE INTERACTIONS

Studies of interactions among bioactive compounds are often difficult to interpret unambiguously.A priori assumptions about the nature of such interactions can seriously distort analysis of the data.Byapplying a rank order analysis appropriate to the naturally ordinal scale of response to xenobiotic insult,several co-herbicides were successfully identified from among numerous candidates in an experimentinvolving multiple blocks,rates and species.Moreover,underlying herbicide interactions weresubstantiated and identified which were not apparent by more traditional parametric analysis.     

Experimental study of a 45-MHz array for radio astronomy

The University of Chile transit radiotelescope is a 528-dipole array operating at 45 MHz. We present a comparison of an experimental study of the antenna radiation pattern with the basic theoretical pattern in three dimensions. We concentrate in the meridian plane diagram since this is particularly difficult to measure for an array like ours. The comparison shows excellent agreement. We have measured several important antenna parameters like the effective area as a function of zenith distance, the orientation of the plane of the array and the pointing accuracy. We include a detailed treatment of these subjects since not much information related to low frequency arrays for radio astronomy can be found in the literature. We discuss the importance of knowing these parameters in the preparation of the 45-MHz Sky Survey under way at the University of Chile Radio Observatory.     

The signature of ENSO in the Northern Hemisphere midlatitude seasonal mean flow and high-frequency intraseasonal variability

Summary The impact of pronounced positive and negative sea surface temperature (STT) anomalies in the tropical Pacific associated with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon on the atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics during the boreal winter season is investigated. This includes both the impact on the seasonal mean flow and on the intraseasonal variability on synoptic time scales. Moreover, the interaction between the transient fluctuations on these times scales and the mean circulation is examined. Both data from an ensemble of five simulations with the ECHAM3 atmospheric general circulation model at a horizontal resolution of T42 each covering the period from 1979 through 1992 and operational analyses from ECMWF for the corresponding period are examined. In each of the simulations observed SSTs for the period of investigation are given as lower boundary forcing, but different atmospheric initial conditions are prescribed.The simulations with ECHAM3 reveal a distinct impact of the pronounced SST-anomalies in the tropical Pacific on the atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics during El Niño as well as during La Niña events. These changes in the atmospheric circulation, which are found to be highly significant in the Pacific/North American as well as in the Atlantic/European region, are consistent with the essential results obtained from the analyses. The pronounced SST-anomalies in the tropical Pacific lead to changes in the mean circulation, which are characterized by typical circulation patterns. These changes in the mean circulation are accompanied by marked variations of the activity of the transient fluctuations on synoptic time scales, that are changes in both the kinetic energy on these time scales and the atmospheric transports of momentum and heat accomplished by the short baroclinic waves. The synoptic disturbances, on the other hand, play also an important role in controlling the changes in the mean circulation associated with the ENSO phenomenon. They maintain these typical circulation patterns via barotropic, but counteract them via baroclinic processes.The hypothesis of an impact of the ENSO phenomenon in the Atlantic/European region can be supported. As the determining factor the intensification (reduction) of the Aleutian low and the simultaneous reduction (intensification) of the Icelandic low during El Niño and during La Niña events respectively, is identified. The changes in the intensity of the Aleutian low during the ENSO-events are accompanied by an alteration of the transport of momentum caused by the short baroclinic waves over the North American continent in such a way that the changes in the intensity of the Icelandic low during El Niño as well as during La Niña events are maintained.With 16 Figures     

Helium plasma: Pycnonuclear triple alpha reaction rates in stars

The plots of dimensionless parameters, for helium plasma are given, as they are of great importance for the study of physical conditions prevalent in stellar interiors consuming helium. The relevant temperature and density leading to weak and strong screening can be obtained from the plots to compute the effect of screening to enhance the thermonuclear reaction rates. To make a realistic approach, the pycnonuclear triple alpha reaction rates are found for the 7.66 (O⁺) MeV level for pair creation. The equation used here is suitable for white dwarfs satisfying 0<3/1. The rates are enhanced approximately 10⁴² times, which indicates that the mean life will be reduced by the same factor. The extent of the pycnonuclear regime is shown in diagram.     

A method for evaluating horizontal well pumping tests

Predicting the future performance of horizontal wells under varying pumping conditions requires estimates of basic aquifer parameters, notably transmissivity and storativity. For vertical wells, there are well-established methods for estimating these parameters, typically based on either the recovery from induced head changes in a well or from the head response in observation wells to pumping in a test well. Comparable aquifer parameter estimation methods for horizontal wells have not been presented in the ground water literature. Formation parameter estimation methods based on measurements of pressure in horizontal wells have been presented in the petroleum industry literature, but these methods have limited applicability for ground water evaluation and are based on pressure measurements in only the horizontal well borehole, rather than in observation wells. This paper presents a simple and versatile method by which pumping test procedures developed for vertical wells can be applied to horizontal well pumping tests. The method presented here uses the principle of superposition to represent the horizontal well as a series of partially penetrating vertical wells. This concept is used to estimate a distance from an observation well at which a vertical well that has the same total pumping rate as the horizontal well will produce the same drawdown as the horizontal well. This equivalent distance may then be associated with an observation well for use in pumping test algorithms and type curves developed for vertical wells. The method is shown to produce good results for confined aquifers and unconfined aquifers in the absence of delayed yield response. For unconfined aquifers, the presence of delayed yield response increases the method error.     

Correction of Single Log-Derived Temperatures in the Danish Central Graben,North Sea

An equation for correcting log-derived temperatures measured at well depths between 1200 and 5400 m has been derived by comparing log-derived temperatures from wells in the Danish Central Graben (North Sea) with DST temperatures, from the same wells, that are believed to represent true formation temperatures. Equations developed previously using data over different depth ranges from Malaysia and Mexico yield fair results when applied to the North Sea. However, a better fit to the Danish data was obtained using new equations that are similar to those published in the earlier studies. The correction method here is based principally on time since end of circulation (TSC), but it also includes a small dependence on depth. In this study the true subsurface temperature (T_true) (°C) is given by where the correction factor f = 3.07·TSC^(–0.09)/(0.47·Z^(0.175)), T_surf is the seafloor temperature in °C, T_meas is the measured log temperature in °C, TSC is in hours, and Z is the depth below seafloor in meters. When TSC is not known, maximum probable, minimum probable, and most likely values can be estimated from the observed trend of TSC with depth.An estimate of the uncertainty in the corrected temperature can be obtained from the equation where is the standard deviation of the error in the correction factor f. This approach can be modified to include the additional uncertainty associated with unspecified TSC.     

Improved thermodynamic calculations for concentrated mixed electrolyte systems including ion pairing (or the absence of it)

Knowledge of the activity coefficients of solutes under temperature and pressure ranges of interest is generally required for calculations of the physicochemical properties of aqueous multicomponent electrolyte solutions such as seawater. Whilst these activity coefficients are well characterized for the predominant salts individually, fewer data are available for minor components under a sufficiently wide range of conditions and there are significant interactions between some of the chemical species involved which can substantially alter the required activity coefficients in mixtures.For these reasons, accurate thermodynamic predictions for seawater and other multi-electrolyte solutions in moderate or high concentration are more difficult than is often supposed. In particular, progress in this area has been slowed by uncertainty regarding the nature and extent of ion pairing in concentrated strong electrolyte solutions, a problem that has been debated for decades. Zdanovskii's rule, described originally almost a century ago but widely neglected, provides a fundamentally sound method for calculating the properties of mixed electrolyte solutions. Modelling developments are described, which accord with various types of experiment, from our laboratory and from the chemical literature. It has become clear that, when treated in an appropriate way based on solvent activity, linear mixing behaviour of strong electrolyte solutions can be considered the norm. This is an inevitable consequence, first recognized by Guggenheim, of the cancellation of ion pairing and other interactions as, conceptually, one ion replaces another. Stronger solute–solute interactions, described by equilibrium constants, can then easily be coupled in a thermodynamically consistent manner.