The application of GPR and ERI in combination with exposure logging and retrodeformation analysis to characterize sinkholes and reconstruct their impact on fluvial sedimentation

This work illustrates the practicality of investigating sinkholes integrating data gathered by ground penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) and trenching or direct logging of the subsidence‐affected sediments in combination with retrodeformation analysis. This mutidisciplinary approach has been tested in a large paleosinkhole developed during the deposition of a Quaternary terrace on salt‐bearing evaporites. The subsidence structure, exposed in an artificial excavation, is located next to Puilatos, a village that was abandoned in the 1970s due to severe subsidence damage. Detailed logging of the exposure revealed that the subsidence structure corresponds to an asymmetric sagging and collapse paleosinkhole with no clear evidence of recent activity. The sedimentological and structural relationships together with the retrodeformation analysis indicate that synsedimentary subsidence controlled channel location, the development of a palustrine environment and local changes in the channel pattern. GPR profiles were acquired using an array of systems with different antenna frequencies, including some recently developed shielded antennas with improved vertical resolution and penetration depth. Although radargrams imaged the faulted sagging structure and provided valuable data on fault throw, they did not satisfactorily image the complex architecture of the fluvial deposit. ERI showed lower resolution but higher penetration depth when compared to GPR, roughly capturing the subsidence structure and yielding information on the thickness of the high‐resistivity alluvium and the nature of the underlying low‐resistivity karstic residue developed on top of the halite‐bearing evaporitic bedrock. Data comparison allows the assessment of the advantages and limitations of these complementary techniques, highly useful for site‐specific sinkhole risk management. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of lateral transport on organic proxies in the Southern Ocean

Lateral transport of fine-grained organic carbon particles can complicate the interpretation of paleoclimate records based on organic proxies. Here we investigated the effect of lateral transport on newly developed temperature and soil organic matter proxies, TEX₈₆ and BIT index, respectively, in core MD88-769 recovered from the South East Indian Ridge. Our results show that TEX₈₆ and BIT records in comparison to diatom and foraminifera records were representative for more local climate changes while alkenones and n-alkanes originated from distant areas by oceanic and atmospheric transport, respectively. This suggests that TEX₈₆ and BIT paleoclimate records are primarily influenced by local conditions and less subjected to long-distance lateral transport than other organic proxies in the Southern Ocean.     

Modelling of segment structures: Boudins, bone-boudins, mullions and related single- and multiphase deformation features

Finite element modelling has been used to simulate the development of segment structures, deformed layer segments separated by veins, such as boudins, mullions, and bone-boudins. A parameter sensitivity analysis is used to compare the influence of the nature of the flow, the relative viscosities of veins in necks and the host rock, and the initial geometry of the layer segments. Parameter fields have been determined for the relative viscosity of veins and layers, and the kinematic vorticity number of flow. Reworked segment structures can have several shapes such as bone-, bulging, shortened bone-boudins and their asymmetric equivalents such as domino- and shearband-boudin geometry. The model for asymmetric reworked segment structures is applied to such features from the Lower Ugab Metaturbidites in NW Namibia. The model suggests that these structures form where the neck veins are stronger than the boudinaged layer, with a significant simple shear component of the bulk flow. The quartz filled necks in the Lower Ugab are therefore stronger than the quartz-rich wall rock in greenschist facies where the progressive deformation occurred. Bone-boudins are usually interpreted to form in transpressional flow, but simulations of the rotation of tension gashes show that they can also form in simple shear or slightly transtensional shear flow.     

Impact of digenean parasite infection on metallothionein synthesis by the cockle (Cerastoderma edule): a multivariate field monitoring

Metallothioneins (MT) are proteins that play an important role in metabolism of essential metals and detoxification of trace metals from living organisms. Their synthesis is induced by metal pollution but can also be exacerbated by other factors such as reproduction processes. In this context, we monitored MT concentrations in a cockle Cerastoderma edule (marine bivalve) population and highlighted the effect of a castrating digenean parasite, Labratrema minimus. In spent cockles, MT levels were low (ca. 5 nmol sites g(-1), fresh weight) but slightly higher in parasitized individuals. During gametogenesis, MT synthesis increased in all cockles, but concentrations were lower in parasitized individuals (18 against 27 nmol sites g(-1), fw in unparasitized cockles) in relation with gonad damage by parasites. Therefore, it is suggested that parasite infection in cockles can modulate MT synthesis that could consequently interfere with the response of these protective proteins in case of metal contamination.     

Rainfall spatial organization and areal reduction factors in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Spain)

The rainfall spatial organization in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Spain) has been studied from records of an urban rain gauge network in the period 1994–2009. Using statistical and regional analysis techniques, correlation between data recorded by the different rain gauges has been calculated, and the effective number of independent stations (n _eq) equivalent to the used network has been determined. It has been found out that for durations longer than 20 min, the areal rainfall return period observed for a storm registered by the network approximately decreases by a factor of 1/n _eq in relation to the current point rainfall intensity–duration–frequency relationships for the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Using objective analysis techniques, continuous precipitation fields have been generated on a regular grid with a spatial resolution of 300?×?300 m for the storms registered by the rain gauges from 1994 to 2009, for durations from 10 min to 24 h. The precipitation fields obtained have been useful to estimate the characteristic areal reduction factors in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. A direct relationship has been found between the areal reduction factor for all the area corresponding to the urban rainfall network of Barcelona and the effective number of n _eq for every duration considered.     

Forest parameter estimation in the Pol-InSAR context employing the multiplicative-additive speckle noise model

This paper addresses the problem of speckle noise on single baseline polarimetric SAR interferometry (Pol-InSAR) on the basis of the multiplicative-additive speckle noise model. Considering this speckle noise model, a novel filtering technique is defined and studied in terms of simulated and experimental Pol-InSAR data. As demonstrated, the use of the multiplicative-additive speckle noise model does not lead to a corruption of the useful information but to an improvement of its estimation. The performance of the algorithm is analyzed in terms of the physical parameters retrieved from the filtered data, that in this work correspond to the forest height and the ground phase. In case of experimental data, the retrieved forest height is compared and validated against Lidar ground truth measurements.     

Slingram EMI prospection: Are vertical orientated devices a suitable solution in archaeological and pedological prospection?

Electromagnetic induction (EMI) is one of the geophysical techniques widely used in soil studies, the slingram devices being held horizontally over the soil surface, i.e. with the coils located at the same height above the ground surface. Our study aims assessing the abilities of slingram devices when held vertically. 1D and 3D modelling have been achieved in order to compare the theoretical responses of vertical devices to the horizontal ones. Some comparative surveys were also undertaken in archaeological contexts to confirm the reliability of theoretical conclusions. Both approaches show that vertical slingram devices are suitable for survey and can constitute an alternative to the usual horizontal orientation. We give a table in Appendix A which contains the calibration coefficient allowing transforming of the values given by some of commercially available devices which would be advantageous to use in vertical orientation     

Thermodynamic properties of organic iodine compounds

A critical evaluation has been made of the thermodynamic properties reported in the literature for 43 organic iodine compounds in the solid, liquid, or ideal gas state. These compounds include aliphatic, cyclic and aromatic iodides, iodophenols, iodocarboxylic acids, and acetyl and benzoyl iodides. The evaluation has been made on the basis of carbon number systematics and group additivity relations, which also allowed to provide estimates of the thermodynamic properties of those compounds for which no experimental data were available. Standard molal thermodynamic properties at 25 °C and 1 bar and heat capacity coefficients are reported for 13 crystalline, 29 liquid, and 39 ideal gas organic iodine compounds, which can be used to calculate the corresponding properties as a function of temperature and pressure. Values derived for the standard molal Gibbs energy of formation at 25 °C and 1 bar of these crystalline, liquid, and ideal gas organic iodine compounds have subsequently been combined with either solubility measurements or gas/water partition coefficients to obtain values for the standard partial molal Gibbs energies of formation at 25 °C and 1 bar of 32 aqueous organic iodine compounds. The thermodynamic properties of organic iodine compounds calculated in the present study can be used together with those for aqueous inorganic iodine species to predict the organic/inorganic speciation of iodine in marine sediments and petroleum systems, or in the near- and far-field of nuclear waste repositories.     

Assessing the accuracy of sequential Gaussian simulation and cosimulation

Sequential Gaussian simulation is widespread in Earth Science applications to quantify the uncertainty about regionalized properties. Its practical implementation relies on the screen effect approximation in order to determine the successive conditional distributions by considering only the information available in the neighborhood of the target location. A methodology is presented to assess the accuracy of sequential Gaussian simulation, by calculating the theoretical moments (expectation and variance–covariance matrix) of the simulated random vector and comparing them with the moments of the underlying model. The methodology can be applied in both the conditional and non-conditional contexts, as well as for univariate or multivariate simulation. It is helpful to determine appropriate implementation parameters, in particular about the visiting sequence and the design of the moving neighborhood for selecting relevant conditioning information, prior to performing simulation.