Strain accumulation along an oblique plate boundary: the Reykjanes Peninsula, southwest Iceland

We use annual GPS observations on the Reykjanes Peninsula (RP) from 2000 to 2006 to generate maps of surface velocities and strain rates across the active plate boundary. We find that the surface deformation on the RP is consistent with oblique plate boundary motion on a regional scale, although considerable temporal and spatial strain rate variations are observed within the plate boundary zone. A small, but consistent increase in eastward velocity is observed at several stations on the southern part of the peninsula, compared to the 1993–1998 time period. The 2000–2006 velocities can be modelled by approximating the plate boundary as a series of vertical dislocations with left-lateral motion and opening. For the RP plate boundary we estimate left-lateral motion  18⁺⁴₋₃ mm yr⁻¹  and opening of  7⁺³₋₂ mm yr⁻¹  below a locking depth of  7⁺¹₋₂ km  . The resulting deep motion of  20⁺⁴₋₃ mm yr⁻¹  in the direction of  N(100⁺⁸₋₆)°E  agrees well with the predicted relative North America–Eurasia rate. We calculate the areal and shear strain rates using velocities from two periods: 1993–1998 and 2000–2006. The deep motion along the plate boundary results in left-lateral shear strain rates, which are perturbed by shallow deformation due to the 1994–1998 inflation and elevated seismicity in the Hengill–Hrómundartindur volcanic system, geothermal fluid extraction at the Svartsengi power plant, and possibly earthquake activity on the central part of the peninsula.     

Design and Long-Term Monitoring of Tokyo International Airport Extension Project Constructed on Super-Soft Ground

To meet the increasing demand for air transportation, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had carried out the offshore extension project at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport). The airport should be constructed to be perfectly level, but the ground conditions with very thick layers of super soft dredged soils and need for reclamation made the task very difficult. Because of large amount of consolidation settlement, ground improvement by combined vertical drain method was applied to decrease residual and differential settlement after opening of new airport. This paper is aimed to introduce the design concept and method of ground improvement for this project. In addition the result of ground improvement is keeping satisfactory performance for operating airport confirmed by long-term monitoring for airport facilities.     

System dynamic modeling to assess the effect of subsurface drain spacing and depth on minimizing the environmental impacts

The excessive loss of soil nitrogen through drainage losses causes different environmental problems. The depth and spacing drain of drains play an important role in the quality and quantity of discharged drainage into the environment. In this paper, a simple but comprehensive model using system dynamic approach for water cycle and nitrogen dynamics was used to simulate the effect of drain depth and spacing on nitrate and ammonium losses in a sugarcane agro-industrial company. Twenty-four scenarios were modeled including the combination of four different drain depths and six drain spacing to compare the effect of drain depth and spacing on the nitrogen uptake by plant, denitrification, net mineralization, the amount of ammonium losses through runoff, nitrate and ammonium losses through drainage water, the sum of excessive water, the stress day index and the relative yield. The results indicated that optimal drainage system density is obtained in the depth of 1.1 m and spacing of 80 m, in a way that the total drainage losses would be reduced up to an acceptable level. The optimum designing of the drainage systems according to environmental criteria can control nitrogen pollution load at farm level and can therefore have appropriate results both in terms of economic and environmental considerations.     

Rainfall uncertainty in the Mediterranean: definitions of the daily rainfall threshold (DRT) and the rainy season length (RSL)

One of the major dilemmas in rainfall-regime research is regarding the representativity of rainfall amounts. The annual total (TOTAL) represents the summation of the contributions of all rainfall events. However, this parameter is obtained mainly by contributions of some major events, whereas, many others may contribute minute quantities of a negligible impact. A selected daily rainfall threshold (DRT) is used to filter these small events and to retain only the effective ones (for a wide range of activities), and enable focusing on them in order to better detect any important temporal changes in the rainfall regime. Two different procedures are applied to the data in order to filter out slight and/or sporadic rains: (a) definition of a DRT for each station which filters out the slight rains all year around regardless of their timing, and (b) definitions of the rainy season beginning date (RSBD) and the rainy season ending date (RSED), which filter out sporadic rain events at the beginning or the end of the rainy season, regardless of their amount. The current study presents the appropriate DRT and effective rainy season length (RSL) in 41 Mediterranean stations, and analyzes their influence on some other parameters. The main conclusions are: (1) the filtering process reduced considerably the number of rain-spells (NRS) and therefore the average intensities increased; (2) the filtering process reduced the average time that elapsed between the beginning of two consecutive rain-spells, and (3) the RSL within the study area has a clear spatial distribution, longer in the northern parts and shorter in the southern parts.     

Non-linear channel–shoal dynamics in long tidal embayments

The dynamics of finite-amplitude bed forms in a tidal channel is studied with the use of an idealized morphodynamic model. The latter is based on depth-averaged equations for the tidal flow over a sandy bottom. The model considers phenomena on spatial scales of the order of the tidal excursion length. Transport of sediment mainly takes place as suspended load. The reference state of this model is characterized by a spatially uniform M₂ tidal current over a fixed horizontal bed. The temporal evolution of deviations from this reference state is governed by amplitude equations: these are a set of non-linear equations that describe the temporal evolution of bed forms. These equations are used to obtain new morphodynamic equilibria which may be either static or time-periodic. Several of these bottom profiles show strong similarity with the tidal bars that are observed in natural estuaries. The dependence of the equilibrium solutions on the value of bottom friction and channel width is investigated systematically. For narrow channels (width small compared to the tidal excursion length) stable static equilibria exist if bottom friction is slightly larger than r_cr. For channel widths more comparable to the tidal excursion length, multiple stable steady states may exist for bottom friction parameter values below r_cr. Regardless of channel width, stable time-periodic equilibria seem to emerge as the bottom friction is increased.Responsible Editor: Jens Kappenberg     

Microbial release of potassium from K-bearing minerals by thermophilic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus

A strain of thermophilic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus was cultured with K-bearing minerals to determine if microbe-mineral interactions enhance the release of mineralic potassium. Experiments were carried out in two settings, one with the mineral grains and the fungal cells in direct contact, and the other employing a membrane (pore size 0.22 μm) to separate the two. Measurements over a period of 30 days showed that, irrespective of the experimental setup, the concentration of free K in the culture was drastically higher than those in any of the control experiments where no living organism was present. Moreover, the occurrence of mineral-cell physical contact enhanced potassium release by an additional factor of 3 to 4 in comparison to the separation experiments. For contact experiments, Electron Probe Microanalysis revealed the formation of mycelium-mineral aggregates, and Atomic Force Microscopy imaging further indicated the possible ingestion of mineral particles by the fungus cells. Contrasting to what was observed and expected in control experiments, the potassium solubilization rate showed a positive dependence upon pH when fungi and minerals were mixed directly, and exhibited no correlations with solution acidity if cell-rock contact was restrained. These results appear to suggest that A. fumigatus promoted potassium release by means of at least three likely routes, one through the complexation of soluble organic ligands, another appealing to the immobile biopolymers such as the insoluble components of secretion, and the third related to the mechanical forces in association with the direct physical contact between cells and mineral particles.     

不同温压条件下蛇纹岩和角闪岩中波速与衰减的各向异性

在实验室中研究了蛇纹岩和角闪岩样品在不同温压条件下的纵、横波速度和Q值．这两种岩样对应的主要组成矿物叶蛇纹石和普通角闪石都具有很强的晶格优选方位（LPO）．随着围压的增加,波速和Q值均增大,但是在相互正交的三个方向上（垂直或平行于层理面及线理方向）增大的速度并不相同,这与微裂隙的逐渐闭合密切相关．在600MPa的围压下升高温度直到600℃以上,由于微裂隙的热扩张受到约束,波速和Q值下降幅度很小．观测到的波速和Q值的各向异性具有不同的机理,波速各向异性主要与定向分布的微裂隙和主要矿物的LPO等构造因素有关;高围压下纵波Q值各向异性与速度各向异性正好相反,可能是由于形成层理面的定向排列的平板状矿物晶体沿不同方向边界之间接触程度不同造成的．     

Stable boundary layers: observations,models and variability part II: Data analysis and averaging effects

As argued in Part I (Derbyshire, 1995), variability is a key issue in stable boundary layers, and differences in variability between observations and idealized models may imply sytematic biases. Here we discuss how data analysis can be geared to allow for variability and thus consistency with models. Instrumental errors, smoothing methods and vertical discretization are considered. We then show how statistical averaging broadly improves the agreement of heterogeneous results in Part I with the Brost-Wyngaard closure. Recommendations are made for the information needed to analyze apparent differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous stable boundary layers.Part of UK Meteorological Office Atmospheric Processes Research Division     

Low-resolution spectra of the Io plasma torus 2 days after the Ulysses encounter

Low-resolution spectra of the Io plasma torus have been obtained on 10 and 11 February 1992 (2 days after the Ulysses encounter) using the 2 m telescope of the Bulgarian National Observatory. The spectra show the forbidden line emissions of S⁺ (λλ 6716, 6731 Å) and S²⁺ (λ 6312 Å). Measured intensities are compared with a Voyager-type model. The intensity distribution of [SII] is found to deviate from the model predictions which indicates a change in the torus at the Ulysses encounter when compared with the Voyager epoch. A corotating structure was observed, both in [SII] and [SIII], at λ_III = 170°, showing that the torus was not azimuthally symmetric. The λ 6716/λ 6731 and λ 6731/ λ 6312 line ratios indicate a higher electron density at the time of the Ulysses observations. Additionally, the shift of the torus caused by the dawn-dusk electric field could be observed. Peak intensities in [SII] were found at 5.66 ± 0.02 R_J on the West ansa and 5.91 ± 0.04 R_J on the East.     

Integrated petrographic,mineralogical, and geochemical study of the upper Kaimur Group of rocks,Son Valley,India: Implications for provenance,source area weathering and tectonic setting

The upper Kaimur Group (UKG) of the Vindhyan Supergroup in central India, primarily consists of three rock types-Dhandraul sandstone, Scarp sandstone and Bijaigarh shale. The present study aims to reconstruct the parent rock assemblages, their tectonic provenance, mineralogy, weathering intensity, hydraulic sorting and depositional tectonic setting. Samples from the UKG rocks representing the Dhandraul sandstone, Scarp sandstone and Bijaigarh shale were studied using a combination of petrographic, mineralogical, and geochemical techniques. Texturally, medium to coarse grained UKG sandstones are mature and moderate to well sorted. Deficiency of feldspars in these sandstones indicates that the rocks are extensively recycled from distant sources. Their average modal composition for Scarp (avg. Qt₉₉ F₀.₂L_0.8) and Dhandraul (avg. Qt₉₉ F_0.1L_0.8) sandstones, classifies them as quartz arenite to sub-litharenite types, which is consistent with geochemical study. Major element concentrations revealed that sandstones have high SiO₂, K₂O < Na₂O, and low Fe₂O₃, which are supported by the modal data. On the other hand, sandstone samples are enriched in most trace elements such as Ce, Sr, V, Sc and Zr and depleted in U and Th. The CIA values (43.17–76.48) of the UKG rocks indicate low to moderate weathering, either of the original source or during transport before deposition, which may have related to low-relief and humid climatic conditions in the source area. Further, petrographic and geochemical interpretations indicate that they are derived from craton interior to quartzose recycled sedimentary rocks and deposited in a passive continental margin. Therefore, granitic and low grade metamorphic rocks of Mahakoshal Group and Chotanagpur granite-gneiss, situated on the southern and south-eastern side of the Vindhyan basin are suggested as possible provenance for the UKG rocks.