The 1.5-ka varved record of Lake Montcortès (southern Pyrenees,NE Spain)

The karstic Lake Montcortès sedimentary sequence spanning the last 1548 yr constitutes the first continuous, high-resolution, multi-proxy varved record in northern Spain. Sediments consist of biogenic varves composed of calcite, organic matter and detrital laminae and turbidite layers. Calcite layer thickness and internal sub-layering indicate changes in water temperature and seasonality whereas the frequency of detrital layers reflects rainfall variability. Higher temperatures occurred in Lake Montcortès in AD 555–738, 825–875, 1010–1322 and 1874–present. Lower temperatures and prolonged winter conditions were recorded in AD 1446–1598, 1663–1711 and 1759–1819. Extreme and multiple precipitation events dominated in AD 571–593, 848–922, 987–1086, 1168–1196, 1217–1249, 1444–1457, 1728–1741 and 1840–1875, indicating complex hydrological variability in NE Spain since AD 463. The sedimentary record of Lake Montcortès reveals a short-term relation between rainfall variability and the detrital influx, pronounced during extended periods of reduced anthropogenic influences. In pre-industrial times, during warm climate episodes, population and land use increased in the area. After the onset of the industrialization, the relationship between climate and human activities decoupled and population dynamics and landscape modifications were therefore mostly determined by socio‐economic factors.     

The densest meteorite collection area in hot deserts: The San Juan meteorite field (Atacama Desert,Chile)

Abstract– We describe the geological, morphological, and climatic setting of the San Juan meteorite collection area in the Central Depression of the Atacama Desert (Chile). Our recovery activities yielded 48 meteorites corresponding to a minimum of 36 different falls within a 3.88 km² area. The recovery density is in the range 9–12 falls km^?2 depending on pairing, making it the densest among meteorite collection areas in hot deserts. This high meteorite concentration is linked to the long‐standing hyperaridity of the area, the stability of the surface pebbles (> Ma), and very low erosion rates of surface pebbles (approximately 30 cm Ma^?1 maximum). The San Juan meteorite population is characterized by old terrestrial ages that range from zero to beyond 40 ka, and limited weathering compared with other dense collection areas in hot desert. Chemical weathering in San Juan is slow and mainly controlled by the initial porosity of meteorites. As in the Antarctic and other hot deserts, there is an overabundance of H chondrites and a shortage of LL chondrites compared with the modern falls population, suggesting a recent (< few ka) change in the composition of the meteorite flux to Earth.     

Last glacial maximum environments in northwestern Patagonia revealed by fossil small mammals

Comparisons of historical and modern assemblages of mammals can yield important insights into patterns and processes of environmental change. Here, we present the first analyses of small mammal assemblages present in northern Patagonia during the last glacial maximum (LGM). Using remains obtained from owl pellets excavated from an archeological cave site (Arroyo Corral I, levels VII–V, carbon dates of 22,400–21,530 cal yr BP), we generate estimates of the minimum number of individuals for all species detected; these estimates, in turn are used to determine relative species abundances. Comparisons of these data with similar analyses of small mammal remains obtained from a second archeological site (ACoII, levels IV–V, carbon dates of 10,010–9220 cal yr BP) as well as from modern owl pellets reveal pronounced changes in relative species abundance since the LGM. In particular, Euneomys chinchilloides and Ctenomys sociabilis – the predominant species during the LGM – declined markedly, suggesting a change from open, bare habitat punctuated by patches of wet meadows and shrubs to the more densely vegetated mosaic of ecotone habitats found in this region today. These data provide important new insights into the environmental changes that have occurred in northern Patagonia over the last 20,000 years.     

Evidence of gully formation by regional groundwater flow in the Gorgonum-Newton region (Mars)

The discovery of gullies on Mars suggests liquid water activity near the surface of the planet in recent times. Since liquid water is unstable under the present-day P-T martian conditions, the formation mechanisms of the gullies, and the source of the putative water, have been a matter of debate for the last years. To provide new insights into these matters, we have approached the problem studying the gullies in relation to their regional setting. A major point in our study relates to the geographic orientation of gullies, an aspect that has been previously regarded as a crucial matter in different models, and has profound implications regarding their origin. We present a comprehensive and detailed survey of the Gorgonum-Newton region, and a study of the Dao and Nirgal Vallis regions. The survey was carried out with the aid of 965 high-resolution MOC images (752 for Gorgonum-Newton, 102 for Nirgal Vallis and 111 for Dao Vallis regions), and MOLA-derived DEMs. We found that gullies display a clear regional pattern, geographically and topographically consistent with a decreasing regional slope. We interpret the results in terms of the existence of several groundwater flow systems operating at different scales, which ultimately may have led to gully formation by seepage at the slopes of craters and canyons. We suggest that aquifers discharging at gully systems may have recharged from the surface, in response to the melting of young partially eroded ice-rich deposits.     

Characterization of groundwater flow in the Bailin hazardous waste-disposal site (Huesca, Spain)

 A serious problem in Spain is presented, where the water and soil were contaminated by lindane produced by the chemical industry, at a time when environmental legislation was limited, and the hydrogeological characterization of the low permeability materials was insufficient. The waste-disposal sites where the lindane accumulated lacked suitable sealing and also had notable filtration. The non-existence of a safe waste-disposal site, and the economic and social problems of transporting lindane residues forced the alternative proposal of confining these residues in situ (Government of Aragón, 1995, 1996). Once the surface sealing was carried out, the problem centred on the site's underground confinement. The purpose of this publication is to present the particular hydrogeological behaviour of materials, which were initially considered impermeable because of the presence of very consolidated sandstone beddings and the vertical disposition of the strata, and so allowed the lindane to escape through the groundwater. In addition, this publication describes the procedures carried out in order to achieve effective underground confinement at the waste-disposal site. Received: 12 October 1999 · Accepted: 31 January 2000     

Computations of self-propulsion free to sink and trim and of motions in head waves of the KRISO Container Ship (KCS) model

Two computations of the KCS model with motions are presented. Self-propulsion in model scale free to sink and trim are studied with the rotating discretized propeller from the Hamburg Model Basin (HSVA) at Fr = 0.26. This case is particularly complex to simulate due to the close proximity of the propeller to the rudder. The second case involves pitch and heave in regular head waves. Computations were performed with CFDShip-Iowa version 4.5, a RANS/DES CFD code designed for ship hydrodynamics. The self-propulsion computations were carried out following the procedure described in Carrica et al. [1], in which a speed controller is used to find the propeller rotational speed that results in the specified ship velocity. The rate of revolutions n, sinkage, trim, thrust and torque coefficients K_T, K_Q and resistance coefficient CT_(SP) are thus obtained. Comparisons between CFD and EFD show that the rate of revolutions n, thrust and torque coefficients K_T and K_Q have higher prediction accuracies than sinkage and trim. For the simulation of pitch and heave in head waves, the geometry includes KCS hull and rudder under three conditions with two Froude numbers and three wave length and amplitude combinations. 0th and 1st harmonic amplitudes and 1st harmonic phase are computed for total resistance coefficient C_T, heave motion z and pitch angle θ. Comparisons between CFD and EFD show that pitch and heave are much better predicted than the resistance. In both cases comparisons with simulations by other authors presented at the G2010 CFD Workshop [2] using different CFD methodologies are included.