Stratigraphic evidence for an Early Aptian sea-level fluctuation: the Graua Limestone of south-eastern Ethiopia

The occurrence of a thin band of marine limestone (Graua Limestone) within a thick succession of fluviatile sandstones in south-eastern Ethiopia is direct evidence of flooding of part of the East African craton (Horn of Africa). According to the presence of abundant orbitolinid foraminifers (Palorbitolina lenticularis Blumenbach andPraeorbitolina cormyi Schroeder), the age of the Graua Limestone can be referred to the Early Aptian. Stratigraphy and palaeogeographic reconstructions for the Early Cretaceous in the surrounding regions (Kenya, Somalia, Yemen, Socotra, Oman, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Libya) show that the Early Aptian transgression was of regional extent. Our data seem to confirm that this transgression was of relatively short duration. This pulse cannot be related to tectono-eustatic mechanisms, which are too slow. A short-lived event should be invoked: either a regional tectonic pulse or the desiccation of the proto-South Atlantic.     

Displacements induced by the installation of diaphragm panels

The walls of a deep excavation in cohesionless soils below the water table have been supported by a reinforced concrete diaphragm with T-shaped panels. To improve the safety against the risk of local collapse during the panel excavation, the soil surrounding the panels has been treated by deep mixing to a depth of 6?C10?m. The horizontal displacements, induced in the surrounding soil by the installation (deep mixing, slurry supported excavation, placing of the reinforcement cage, concrete casting and curing) of the diaphragm, have been measured by means of inclinometers. It is claimed that they can be a significant fraction of the total displacements induced by the excavation. A back analysis of the observed displacements shows that the deformation process is essentially elastic and can be satisfactorily modelled provided the values of the soil stiffness are properly selected.     

Experimental investigations and analysis on different pile load testing procedures

The paper presents experimental results of two Osterberg’s cell load tests (OLTs) and three conventional load tests (COLTs) in the same subsoil conditions on Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) piles carefully monitored during construction stages. The instrumentation along the pile shaft in all the tests allows interesting comparisons of both global behaviour and local load transfer. Significant differences in the stiffness of the soil-pile system with the different test procedures is outlined. The main differences between the two test procedures occur at the two opposite ends of the pile, as could have been expected, while the observed behaviour in the middle part of the tested piles is close for the two models. A relatively simple FEM model has been calibrated on the basis of the OLTs results. The same model is capable of accurately matching the experimental results of the COLTs, proving that the observed differences are not due to random factors. Furthermore, the same model has been used to simulate ideal load tests. Such a reliable simulation shows that both the experimental procedures are actually responsible for significant differences in the behaviour of the soil-pile system even in the simple case of a concentrated axial load. Large differences arise in terms of the stiffness of the system with the OLTs providing by far the stiffest response. Despite being intermediate between the OLT and the ILT, the COLTs provide a response of the pile-soil system, which is on the average about two times stiffer than the Ideal test, where the force applied on top of the pile does not depend on a tangible reaction system. Care should be thus taken when considering the results of such tests in the prediction of the settlement of a piled foundation. Correction factors should be applied to the experimentally observed behaviour.     

Re-assessment of foundation settlements for the Burj Khalifa, Dubai

This paper deals with the re-assessment of foundation settlements for the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai. The foundation system for the tower is a piled raft, founded on deep deposits of calcareous rocks. Two computer programs, Geotechnical Analysis of Raft with Piles (GARP) and Non-linear Analysis of Piled Rafts (NAPRA) have been used for the settlement analyses, and the paper outlines the procedure adopted to re-assess the foundation settlements based on a careful interpretation of load tests on trial piles in which the interaction effects of the pile test set-up are allowed for. The paper then examines the influence of a series of factors on the computed settlements. In order to obtain reasonable estimates of differential settlements within the system, it is found desirable to incorporate the effects of the superstructure stiffness which act to increase the stiffness of the overall foundation system. Values of average and differential settlements for the piled raft calculated with GARP and NAPRA were found to be in reasonable agreement with measured data on settlements taken near the end of construction of the tower.     

A system-level modelling perspective of the KwaZulu-Natal Bight ecosystem,eastern South Africa

The KwaZulu-Natal Bight comprises the only sizeable shelf region on the eastern coast of South Africa, and is influenced by both the Agulhas Current on its seaward side and rivers and estuaries on its landward side. Established knowledge of the effect of the Agulhas Current includes the influence on nutrient concentrations in the bight of a semi-permanent upwelling cell at its northern border (St Lucia) and, to a much lesser extent, of a semi-permanent eddy feature at its southern extremity. Current modelling efforts, however, point to a very important role of land-derived nutrients, which supplement the productivity of food webs of the bight. This connectivity of the bight to its adjacent ecosystems has various implications. First, its productivity has traditionally been viewed via phytoplankton growth, whereas ecosystem modelling efforts point to a very high reliance on imported detritus (mainly land-derived) in order to sustain especially the rich benthic food web. The benthos in the bight dominates the food web, and is in marked contrast to the upwelling system of the west coast of South Africa (Atlantic Ocean) where water-column productivity dominates. Second, the importance of the connectivity of the Thukela Bank prawn-trawling ground to estuarine nursery areas, which has been modelled quantitatively, highlights the significance of this particular ecosystem connectivity for fisheries and also for the Thukela Bank food web. Heterogeneity across the bight is apparent for nutrient turnover rates (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus), CNP content and stoichiometry, whereas nitrogen is a limiting nutrient across the entire bight. The food web near the Thukela River is richer in nutrient content and more active (higher turnover rates) compared to the northern and southern parts of the bight. This environmental heterogeneity was also apparent from the CNP content and stoichiometry of the various species and species groups in the bight. Requirements to take the hydrodynamic, biogeochemical and first ecosystem modelling efforts towards a meaningful predictive capability are discussed. The importance of adopting a system-level view of the bight and its connected systems for realistic exploration of global change scenarios is highlighted.     

Decadal Climatic Anomalies in the Northern Adriatic Sea Inferred from a New Oceanographic Data Set

Abstract. In 1997, Artegiani et al. depicted for the first time the seasonal climatology of the Adriatic Sea; they used the ATOS data set, formed by 5540 oceanographic stations sampled over this continental basin from 1911 to 1980. Lately, two Italian institutes working on the Adriatic Sea for long time, IBM and IRPEM, merged their recent data sets for the northernmost part of the basin. This yielded 3600 new oceanographic stations, concentrated in an area where 809 ATOS stations were located. The new data were quality checked, and then a seasonal climatology was drawn up as a first analysis step. The new climatology differed significantly from the ATOS results; this could be explained, at least partially, by the climatic changes that have occurred on this area. For example, air temperature increased significantly over northern Italy starting from 1988. Variations of the observed air temperature and Po River runoff qualitatively agree with sea surface temperature and salinity variations. A preliminary computation of heat fluxes based on ECMWF reanalysis confirms an increased heat flux to the Northern Adriatic Sea starting from 1988.     

Macrofauna Associated With Sponge Species of Different Morphology

Abstract. The macrofaunas associated with the three morphologically different North Aegean Sea sponge species Agelas oroides, Aplysina aerophoba , and Axinella cannabina were compared. The faunal abundance was not related to sponge surface area for any of the three species. Each sponge species supported a significantly different number of individuals per unit canal volume; A. aerophoba supported the most, A. oroides the least. A. aerophoba supported the highest species richness, A. cannabina the lowest. Canal volume was a good predictor of associated faunal abundance and species richness for two of the three sponge species. Faunal abundance was also directly related to sponge mean canal diameter. The species composition of associated fauna was similar on A. aerophoba and A. oroides and significantly different on A. cannabina .     

Midlittoral Soft Substratum Macrofaunal Assemblages in the North Aegean Sea

Abstract. The soft substratum macrobenthic assemblages of the midlittoral zone, along the atidal shores of the upper Thermaikos (polluted) and Strymonikos (unpolluted) Gulfs in the North Aegean Sea, arc qualitatively and quantitatively described. The composition of each of the seven assemblages found (four in Thermaikos and three in Strymonikos Gulf) is statistically tested and discussed in relation to abiotic factors. One of the four Thermaikos Gulf assemblages is located on a silt to fine sand substrate in brackish waters and is characterized by the dominance of the polychactc Hedisie diversicolor and the amphipod Corophium orientate. The other three assemblages arc located on coarse substrates and characterized by the very high dominance of the bivalve Donacillu corneu and the polychactc Ophelia bicornis (both of which are exclusive inhabitants of the midlittoral zone); the First is additionally characterized by the very high dominance of the polychactc Nerine cirratulus , both the second and the third by the dominance of turbellarians due to the pollution of the Gulf (stations located near sewage discharge, high organic carbon, low oxygen). In Strymonikos Gulf, one of the three assemblages is dominated by H. diversicolor and C. orientate; it is similar to the corresponding assemblage found in Thermaikos Gulf, although located on a relatively coarSér sediment. The second is dominated by D. cornea and O. bicornis and is also similar to that of Thermaikos Gulf. The third assemblage does not have a corresponding one in Thermaikos Gulf, is located on a substrate consisting of granules to pebbles, arid is characterized by the high dominance of the amphipods Allorchestes aquilinus and Echinogammarus olivii and the isopod Sphaeroma Sérratum. The corresponding assemblages of the two gulfs are compared. The results of the data analysis are discussed and compared with the literature.     

UU CNC and VZ PSC,contact systems before the common envelope phase?

We have analyzed the existing photoelectric light curves of twoK-type binary systems: UU Cnc, with a period of about 100 days, and VZ Psc, with a period of about 6 hours. Both show a large overcontact (38% for UU Cnc, 56% for VZ Psc) and a large temperature difference between components (T1500 K and 1100 K, respectively). In the case of VZ Psc, the variability is due only to the non-spherical shape, i.e., no eclipse occurs, but the determination of the photometric solution is made possible by the existence of a spectroscopic mass ratio. We find that UU Cnc is now probably undergoing Case C mass transfer in a dynamical time-scale, with the mass ratio reversal having already occurred; the system is in contact, and is likely to evolve to a 100% filling factor, that is the so-called pre-common envelope phase, a unique case never observed before. The situation for VZ Psc is more uncertain, but a similar, although not identical, possibility exists.Associated with the Istituto Nazionale Fisica Nucleare, Italy.On leave from N. Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.     

Near-infrared light curve of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 during Deep Impact

On UT 2005 July 4 we observed Comet 9P/Tempel 1 during its encounter with the Deep Impact flyby spacecraft and impactor. Using the SpeX near-infrared spectrograph mounted on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility, we obtained 0.8-to-2.5 μm flux-calibrated spectral light curves of the comet for 12 min before and 14 min after impact. Our cadence was just 1.1 s. The light curve shows constant flux before the impact and an overall brightening trend after the impact, but not at a constant rate. Within a 0.8-arcsec-radius circular aperture, the comet rapidly-brightened by 0.63 mag at 1.2 μm in the first minute. Thereafter, brightening was more modest, averaging about 0.091 mag/min at 1.2 μm, although apparently not quite constant. In addition we see a bluing in the spectrum over the post-impact period of about 0.07 mag in J-H and 0.35 mag in J-K. The majority of this bluing happened in the first minute, and the dust only marginally blued after that, in stark contrast to the continued brightening. The photometric behavior in the light curve is due to a combination of crater formation effects, expansion of the ejecta cloud, and evolution of liberated dust grains. The bluing is likely due to an icy component on those grains, and the icy grains would have had to have a devolatilization timescale longer than 14 min (unless they were shielded by the optical depth of the cloud). The bluing could also have been caused by the decrease in the “typical” size of the dust grains after impact. Ejecta dominated by submicron grains, as inferred from other observations, would have stronger scattering at shorter wavelengths than the much larger grains observed before impact.