Flow of ultra-hot orogens: A view from the Precambrian, clues for the Phanerozoic

This contribution emphasizes first-order structural and metamorphic characters of Precambrian accretionary orogens to understand the kinematics and thermomechanical state of the continental lithosphere in convergent settings involving massive juvenile magmatism. We define a new class of orogens, called ultra-hot orogens (UHO), in which the weakest type of lithosphere on Earth is deformed. UHO are characterized by (1) distributed shortening and orogen-scale flow combining vertical and horizontal longitudinal advection, under long-lasting convergence, (2) homogeneous thickening by combined downward movements of supracrustal units and three-dimensional mass redistribution in the viscous lower crust, and (3) steady-state, negligible topography and relief leveled by syn-shortening erosion and near-field sedimentation. The flow analysis of UHO provides clues to understanding crustal kinematics beneath high plateaus and suggests that the seismic reflectivity pattern of hot orogens is an image of the layering produced by lateral flow of the lower crust and associated syn-kinematic plutonism.In between the UHO and the modern cold orogens (CO), developed by shortening of lithosphere bearing a stiff upper mantle, two classes of orogens are defined. Hot orogens (HO, representative of Cordilleran and wide mature collisional belts) share flow pattern characteristics with UHO, but involve a less intense magmatic activity and develop high topographies driving their collapse. Mixed-hot orogens (MHO, representative of magmatic arcs and Proterozoic collisional belts) are orogens made of UHO-type juvenile crust and display CO-like structure and kinematics. This classification points to the fundamental link between the presence of a stiff lithospheric mantle and strain localization along major thrusts in convergent settings. A high Moho temperature (> 900 °C), implying thinning of the lithospheric mantle, enhances three-dimensional flow of the lithosphere in response to convergence. Overall, this classification of orogens emphasizes the space and time variability of uppermost mantle temperature in controlling plate interactions and continental growth.     

Proposal for selection of control,preventive and rehabilitation measures based on degradation land level and geoindicators in the fortaleza metropolitan region,State of Ceará, Brazil

Preventive, controlling, rehabilitative and corrective measures to improve the environmental quality of the hydrographic basins of the Fortaleza metropolitan region in the state of Ceará (Brazil) are presented based on geological and geotechnical data, land degradation rates and sources, and other geoindicators. The region is affected by coastal and stream erosion, gravitational mass movement, dunes, silting, and water pollution, sanitary landfills in inappropriate sites, decommissioned and abandoned aggregate mining, and swamp areas. Geoindicators were used to classify each of the 12 hydrographic basins as possessing low (4), intermediate (3), or high (5) degradation levels. A group of 59 environmental management measures related to ecological, bioengineering, mechanical, policy and administrative, agricultural and clean-up methods was selected. From this general group a set of 31 measures was chosen considering goals, efficacy for specific environmental problems, suitability for large or small areas, behavior under different annual climatic conditions, environmental problems of the region, geological and geotechnical limitations and degradation level of the basins. A set of the more suitable geoindicators was selected for monitoring efficiency of the measures for each basin.     

Unstructured-mesh modeling of the Congo river-to-sea continuum

With the second largest outflow in the world and one of the widest hydrological basins, the Congo River is of a major importance both locally and globally. However, relatively few studies have been conducted on its hydrology, as compared to other great rivers such as the Amazon, Nile, Yangtze, or Mississippi. The goal of this study is therefore to help fill this gap and provide the first high-resolution simulation of the Congo river-estuary-coastal sea continuum. To this end, we are using a discontinuous-Galerkin finite element marine model that solves the two-dimensional depth-averaged shallow water equations on an unstructured mesh. To ensure a smooth transition from river to coastal sea, we have considered a model that encompasses both hydrological and coastal ocean processes. An important difficulty in setting up this model was to find data to parameterize and validate it, as it is a rather remote and understudied area. Therefore, an important effort in this study has been to establish a methodology to take advantage of all the data sources available including nautical charts that had to be digitalized. The model surface elevation has then been validated with respect to an altimetric database. Model results suggest the existence of gyres in the vicinity of the river mouth that have never been documented before. The effect of those gyres on the Congo River dynamics has been further investigated by simulating the transport of Lagrangian particles and computing the water age.     

Formation of caldera periphery faults: an experimental study

Changing stresses in multi-stage caldera volcanoes were simulated in scaled analogue experiments aiming to reconstruct the mechanism(s) associated with caldera formation and the corresponding zones of structural weakness. We evaluate characteristic structures resulting from doming (chamber inflation), evacuation collapse (chamber deflation) and cyclic resurgence (inflation and deflation), and we analyse the consequential fault patterns and their statistical relationship to morphology and geometry. Doming results in radial fractures and subordinate concentric reverse faults which propagate divergently from the chamber upwards with increasing dilation. The structural dome so produced is characterised bysteepening in the periphery, whereas the broadening apex subsides. Pure evacuation causes the chamber roof to collapse along adjacent bell-shaped reverse faults. The distribution of concentric faults is influenced by the initial edifice morphology; steep and irregular initial flanks result in a tilted or chaotic caldera floor. The third set of experiments focused on the structural interaction of cyclic inflation and subsequent moderate deflation. Following doming, caldera subsidence produces concentric faults that characteristically crosscut radial cracks of the dome. The flanks of the edifice relax, resulting in discontinuous circumferential faults that outline a structural network of radial and concentric faults; the latter form locally uplifted and tiltedwedges (half-grabens) that grade into horst-and-graben structures. This superimposed fault pattern also extends inside the caldera. We suggest that major pressure deviations in magma chamber(s) are reflected in the fault arrangement dissecting the volcanoflanks and may be used as a first-order indication of the processes and mechanisms involved in caldera formation.     

Morphotectonic evolution of the New Caledonia ridge (Pacific Southwest) from post-obduction tectonosedimentary record

The tectonostratigraphic and geomorphic study of two post-obduction fluvial sedimentary systems on mainland New Caledonia and imaged offshore on seismic reflection lines provides a new perspective on the post-orogenic evolution of the New Caledonia ridge. Relations between sedimentary sequence boundaries, erosion surfaces and faults, both on land and on offshore seismic reflection profiles indicate that an episode of extensional tectonics initiated in the Early Neogene led to the disruption and collapse of the island landsurface previously shaped during a Latest Oligocene phase of planation. Microtectonic analysis further suggests early slip on the normal faults was associated with ridge-normal extension. A later set of faults accompanied ridge-parallel to ridge-oblique extension that is interpreted to result from a shift toward a transtensional regime driven by the initiation of east-verging subduction of the Australian plate beneath the Pacific plate starting at least in the late Mid-Miocene.     

The effective stiffness of modern unreinforced masonry walls

Code design of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings is based on elastic analysis, which requires as input parameter the effective stiffness of URM walls. Eurocode estimates the effective stiffness as 50% of the gross sectional elastic stiffness, but comparisons with experimental results have shown that this may not yield accurate predictions. In this paper, 79 shear‐compression tests of modern URM walls of different masonry typologies from the literature are investigated. It shows that both the initial and the effective stiffness increase with increasing axial load ratio and that the effective‐to‐initial stiffness ratios are approximately 75% rather than the stipulated 50%. An empirical relationship that estimates the E‐modulus as a function of the axial load and the masonry compressive strength is proposed, yielding better estimates of the elastic modulus than the provision in Eurocode 6, which calculates the E‐modulus as a multiple of the compressive strength. For computing the ratio of the effective to initial stiffness, a mechanics‐based formulation is built on a recently developed analytical model for the force‐displacement response of URM walls. The model attributes the loss in stiffness to diagonal cracking and brick crushing, both of which are taken into account using mechanical considerations. The obtained results of the effective‐to‐initial stiffness ratio agree well with the test data. A sensitivity analysis using the validated model shows that the ratio of effective‐to‐initial stiffness is for most axial load ratios and wall geometries around 75%. Therefore, a modification of the fixed ratio of effective‐to‐initial stiffness from 50% to 75% is suggested.     

Low-temperature hydrothermal alteration of intra-caldera tuffs,Miocene Tejeda caldera,Gran Canaria,Canary Islands

The Miocene Tejeda caldera on Gran Canaria erupted ~ 20 rhyolite–trachyte ignimbrites (Mogán Group 14–13.3 Ma), followed by ~ 20 phonolitic lava flows and ignimbrites (Fataga Group 13–8.5 Ma). Upper-Mogán tuffs have been severely altered immediately within the caldera margin, whereas extra-caldera Mogán ignimbrites, and overlying Fataga units, are apparently unaltered. The altered intra-caldera samples contain minerals characteristic of secondary fluid–rock interaction (clays, zeolites, adularia), and relics of the primary mineral assemblage identified in unaltered ignimbrites (K-feldspar, plagioclase, pyroxene, amphibole, and groundmass quartz). Major and trace-element data indicate that Si, Na, K, Pb, Sr, and Rb, were strongly mobilized during fluid–rock interaction, whereas Ti, Zr, and Nb behaved in a more refractory manner, experiencing only minor mobilization. The δ¹⁸O values of the altered intra-caldera tuffs are significantly higher than in unaltered extra-caldera ignimbrites, consistent with an overall low-temperature alteration environment. Unaltered extra-caldera ignimbrites have δD values between − 110‰ and − 173‰, which may reflect Rayleigh-type magma degassing and/or post-depositional vapour release. The δD values of the altered intra-caldera tuffs range from − 52‰ to − 131‰, with ambient meteoric water at the alteration site estimated at ca. − 15‰. Interaction and equilibration of the intra-caldera tuffs with ambient meteoric water at low temperature can only account for whole-rock δD values of around − 45‰, given that ?D_clay–water is ca. − 30‰ at 100 °C, and decreases in magnitude at higher temperatures. All altered tuff samples have δD values that are substantially lower than − 45‰, indicating interaction with a meteoric water source with a δD value more negative than − 15‰, which may have been produced in low-temperature steam fumaroles. Supported by numerical modeling, our Gran Canaria data reflect the near-surface, epithermal part of a larger, fault-controlled hydrothermal system associated with the emplacement of the high-level Fataga magma chamber system. In this near-surface environment, fluid temperatures probably did not exceed 200–250 °C.     

Multi-criteria spatialization of soil organic carbon sequestration potential from agricultural intensification in Senegal

On the eve of the 15th climate negotiations conference in Copenhagen, the pressure to assess all climate mitigation options is mounting. In this study, a bio-physic model and a socio-economic model were designed and coupled to assess the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural intensification in Senegal. The biophysical model is a multiple linear regression, calibrated and tested on a dataset of long-term agricultural trials established in West Africa. The socio-economic model integrates both financial and environmental costs related to considered practice changes. Both models are spatially explicit and the resulting spatial patterns were computed and displayed over Senegal with a geographic information system. The national potential from large-scale intensification was assessed at 0.65–0.83 MtC. With regards to local-scaled intensification as local projects, the most profitable areas were identified in agricultural expansion regions (especially Casamance), while the areas that meet the current financial additionality criteria of the Clean Development Mechanism were located in the northern part of the Peanut Basin. Using the current relevant mode of carbon valuation (Certified Emission Reductions), environmental benefits are small compared to financial benefits. This picture is radically changed if “avoided deforestation”, a likely consequence of agricultural intensification, is accounted for as the greenhouse gases sink capacity of projects increases by an average of a hundred-fold over Senegal.     

Compliance of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in the first commitment period

This article provides an ex post analysis of the compliance of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol during the first commitment period (2008–2012) based on the final data for national GHG emissions and exchanges in carbon units that became available at the end of 2015. On the domestic level, among the 36 countries that fully participated in the Kyoto Protocol, only nine countries emitted higher levels of GHGs than committed and therefore had to resort to flexibility mechanisms. On the international level – i.e. after the use of flexibility mechanisms – all Annex B Parties are in compliance. Countries implemented different compliance strategies: purchasing carbon units abroad, stimulating the domestic use of carbon credits by the private sector and incentivizing domestic emission reductions through climate policies.

Overall, the countries party to the Protocol surpassed their aggregate commitment by an average 2.4 GtCO₂e yr^–1. Of the possible explanations for this overachievement, ‘hot-air’ was estimated at 2.2 GtCO₂e yr^–1, while accounting rules for land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) further removed 0.4 GtCO₂e yr^–1 from the net result excluding LULUCF. The hypothetical participation of the US and Canada would have reduced this overachievement by a net 1 GtCO₂e yr^–1. None of these factors – some of which may be deemed illegitimate – would therefore on its own have led to global non-compliance, even without use of the 0.3 GtCO₂e of annual emissions reductions generated by the Clean Development Mechanism. The impact of domestic policies and ‘carbon leakage’ – neither of which is quantitatively assessed here – should not be neglected either.

Policy relevance

Given the ongoing evolution of the international climate regime and the adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015, we believe that there is a need to evaluate the results of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. To our knowledge there has been no overarching quantitative ex post assessment of the Kyoto Protocol based on the final emissions data for 2008–2012, which became available in late 2015. This article attempts to fill this gap, focusing on the domestic and international compliance of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in the first commitment period.     

Erosion feature reclamation in urban areas: typical unsuccessful examples from Brazil

Erosion is responsible for environmental degradation in continental and coastal areas with varying degrees of intensity and spatial range. In continental areas, rills and gullies affect urban and non-urban areas and may occur isolated or in groups. In urban areas, many forms of degradation occur, ranging from relief modifications (with runoff and other hydrological changes) to channel and reservoir silting. Other forms of degradation include the destruction of infrastructure items, such as streets, power lines and pipelines. Many mechanical, structural, agricultural, ecological and bioengineering measures can be adopted to control and restore these areas, with various results. In many cases, the applied techniques are unsuccessful and worsen the environmental problems. To illustrate such cases in Brazil, this study examines the adoption of different techniques to restore gullies in the cities of São Pedro, Franca, São Carlos, Casa Branca and Cajuru, in the state of São Paulo. These areas are characterized by sandy geology in a variety of landscapes, and the erosion processes result from natural and anthropogenic conditions. Additionally, Brazil’s coastal area has been affected by erosion, as in Fortaleza (in the state of Ceará). This study demonstrates that the primary factor associated with erosion in coastal and continental urban areas is the lack of territorial planning that considers the geological, hydrological and geotechnical limitations. In some of the studied areas, positive results have been achieved. However, unsatisfactory results predominate primarily because appropriate geological, environmental and geotechnical studies were not performed before the interventions were selected and implemented.