Seismic risk assessment of interdependent critical infrastructure systems: The case of European gas and electricity networks

We study the seismic vulnerability of the interdependent European gas and electricity transmission networks from a topological point of view, whereby the electricity network depends on the gas network through gas‐fired power plants. First, we assessed the seismic response for each independent network; then we analyzed the increased vulnerability due to their interdependency. We implemented a probabilistic reliability model that encompasses the spatial distribution of both network structures and their seismic hazard exposure using a Geographic Information System. We characterized the network interdependency using the strength of coupling of the interconnections, together with the seismic response of the independent—gas—network. We calculated the network fragility curves of the independent and dependent networks in terms of various performance measures (connectivity loss, power loss, and impact on the population) and found that the gas network is more seismically vulnerable than the electricity network. The interdependency introduces an extra vulnerability to the electricity network response that decreases with the extensiveness of the networks' damage states. Damage was also evaluated at a local level in order to identify the most vulnerable parts of the network, where it was found that the potential for the highest power loss is located in southeast Europe. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effet du vieillissement des céramiques poreuses sur leur capacité à évaluer la concentration de pesticide en solution

The soil solution sampling by ceramic cups allows pesticide transfer monitoring in the soil during long times. The ageing of material involves a bias in the sampling results. In laboratory, the comparison of two types of ceramic suction cups, new and installed in situ during four years, shows a modification of the hydrodynamic properties and a possible evolution of the adsorption capacity of the matrix. The passage rate, as well qualitative as quantitative, is better for the old material. Recommendations about site management are finally exposed. To cite this article: N. Domange et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

A detailed magnetic study of the Reykjanes Ridge between 63°00′N and 63°40′N

Immediately southwest of Iceland, the Reykjanes Ridge consists of a series ofen échelon, elongate ridges superposed on an elevated, smooth plateau. We have interpreted a detailed magnetic study of the portion of the Reykjanes Ridge between 63°00N and 63°40N on the Icelandic insular shelf. Because the seafloor is very shallow in our survey area (100–500 m), the surface magnetic survey is equivalent to a high-sensitivity, nearbottom experiment using a deep-towed magnetometer. We have performed two-dimensional inversions of the magnetic data along profiles perpendicular to the volcanic ridges. The inversions, which yield the magnetization distribution responsible for the observed magnetic field, allow us to locate the zones of most recent volcanism and to measure spreading rates accurately. We estimate the average half spreading rate over the last 0.72 m.y. to have been 10 mm/yr within the survey area. The two-dimensional inversions allow us also to measure polarity transition widths, which provide an indirect measure of the width of the zone of crustal accretion. We find a mean transition width on the order of 4.5±1.6 km. The observed range of transition widths (2 to 8.4 km) and their mean value are characteristic of slow-spreading centers, where the locus of crustal accretion may be prone to lateral shifts depending on the availability of magmatic sources. These results suggest that, despite the unique volcanotectonic setting of the Reykjanes Ridge, the scale at which crustal accretion occurs along it may be similar to that at which it occurs along other slow-spreading centers. The polarity transition width measurements suggest a zone of crustal accretion 4–9 km wide. This value is consistent with the observed width of volcanic systems of the Reykjanes Peninsula. The magnetization amplitudes inferred from our inversions are in general agreement with NRM intensity values of dredge samples measured by De Boer (1975) and ourselves. Our thermomagnetic measurements do not support the hypothesis that the low amplitude of magnetic anomalies near Iceland is the result of a high oxidation state of the basalts. We suggest that the observed reduction in magnetic anomaly amplitude toward Iceland may be the result of an increase in the size of pillows and other igneous units.     

HP–UHP metamorphism as an indicator of slab dip variations in the Alpine arc

HP/UHP and LT metamorphic units that commonly occur in the inner parts of mountain belts result from the subduction of continental and oceanic material, most often exhumed prior to continental collision. The prograde pressure–temperature history of HP–UHP rocks strongly depends on the convergence rate and on the subduction zone geometry. The maximum pressure recorded provides a proxy for the depth of shearing off and stacking of HP metamorphic nappes. A 2-D thermal model of continental subduction at lithospheric scale is used to compute the length and pressure peak of detached HP metamorphic units as a function of the slab dip angle and the convergence rate. Model results are applied to the metamorphic nappe pile of the inner Alps. A mean convergence rate of 1 cm/year during the subduction of the Briançonnais terrane is indicated by the paleogeographic reconstructions between 46 and 38 Ma. On this basis, the available petrological data and lengths of metamorphic units are used to compute the variations of the slab dip angle. The slab dip angle is shown to increase, from the northeast to the southwest, along the Alpine arc with estimated values of 20° for Suretta, 30–45° for Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso, and 60° for Dora Maira. From Eocene to Oligocene times, the increase in slab dip angle is controlled by changes of buoyancy, due to the spatial configuration of the Valaisan trough and the incoming of crustal material within the subduction zone.     

The search for hot spots associated with the Cygnus X-3 relativistic jet

We report and shortly discuss here the observational work carried out in order to test the possibility that two previously detected radio sources, in the vicinity of the well known microquasar Cygnus X-3, could be hot spot tracers of interaction between its relativistic jet and the interstellar medium (ISM). The motivation behind this search is in part justified considering recent theoretical models of high energy γ-ray emission which strongly rely on the interaction sites of galactic relativistic jets with nearby ISM clouds. The results presented in this paper include an improved radio exploration of the several arc-minute field around Cygnus X-3 using the Very Large Array (VLA), as well as deep near infrared (NIR) imaging with the Calar Alto 3.5 m telescope. We anticipate here that our observations do not appear to support the initial hot spot hypothesis. Instead, the resulting images suggest that the two radio sources, originally believed to be hot spot candidates, are most likely background or foreground objects.     

Origin of magmatic sulfides in a Proterozoic island arc—an example from the Portneuf–Mauricie Domain,Grenville Province,Canada

The Portneuf–Mauricie Domain (PMD), located in the south-central part of the Grenville province, contains Mesoproterozoic Ni–Cu ± platinum-group element (PGE) prospects hosted in a variety of plutonic intrusions (layered, with simple structures, or zoned) and emplaced in a mature island arc setting. A two-stage model is envisaged to explain the formation of magmatic sulfides. An early loss of a small amount of sulfides in the conduits of primitive, hydrous mantle-derived melts under high fO₂, resulted in depletion of the magmas in chalcophile and precious metals (Cu/Pd ratios vary from initial mantle values up to 1.6 × 10⁶). Then, nearer the mineralized zones, the magmas interacted with sulfide-bearing country rocks, resulting in felsification of the magmas, assimilation of crustal sulfur (δ ³⁴S values up to +5.5‰), and the formation of an immiscible sulfide liquid. Liquid-sulfide formation was followed by variable interactions between the silicate and sulfide magmas, which were responsible for the enrichment of sulfides in Ni, Cu, and, locally, PGE. Indeed, low R factors are found for prospects hosted in intrusions with a simple internal structure and in layered intrusions whereas high R factors are found for prospects hosted in zoned intrusions. Finally, sulfide melt may have been partly incorporated into later pulses of magma and injected into shallow magma chambers to form the PMD prospects. The PMD prospects share common characteristics with other well-known deposits (Aguablanca, Vammala, Stormyrplunen, and deposits in Alaskan/Ural-type intrusions), attesting to the Ni, Cu, and PGE potential of deposits associated with subduction-zone settings.     

Depth of the base of the Jackson aquifer, based on geophysical exploration, southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA

 A geophysical survey was conducted to determine the depth of the base of the water-table aquifer in the southern part of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA. Audio-magnetotellurics (AMT) measurements at 77 sites in the study area yielded electrical-resistivity logs of the subsurface, and these were used to infer lithologic changes with depth. A 100–600 ohm-m geoelectric layer, designated the Jackson aquifer, was used to represent surficial saturated, unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age. The median depth of the base of the Jackson aquifer is estimated to be 200 ft (61 m), based on 62 sites that had sufficient resistivity data. AMT-measured values were kriged to predict the depth to the base of the aquifer throughout the southern part of Jackson Hole. Contour maps of the kriging predictions indicate that the depth of the base of the Jackson aquifer is shallow in the central part of the study area near the East and West Gros Ventre Buttes, deeper in the west near the Teton fault system, and shallow at the southern edge of Jackson Hole. Predicted, contoured depths range from 100 ft (30 m) in the south, near the confluences of Spring Creek and Flat Creek with the Snake River, to 700 ft (210 m) in the west, near the town of Wilson, Wyoming. Received, May 1997 · Revised, February 1998 · Accepted, April 1998     

Cretaceous deformation of the southern Central Andes: synorogenic growth strata in the Neuquén Group (35° 30′–37° S)

The Neuquén Group is an Upper Cretaceous continental sedimentary unit exhumed during the latest Miocene contractional phase occurred in the southern Central Andes, allowing a direct field observation and study of the depositional geometries. The identification of growth strata on these units surrounding the structures of the frontal parts of the Andes, sedimentological analyses and U–Pb dating of detrital components, allowed the definition of a synorogenic unit that coexisted with the uplift of the early Andean orogen since ca. 100 Ma, maximum age obtained in this work, compatible with previous assignments and constrained in the top by the deposition of the Malargüe Group, in the Maastrichtian (ca. 72 Ma). The definition of a wedge top area in this foreland basin system, where growth strata were described, permitted to identify a Late Cretaceous orogenic front and foredeep area, whose location and amplitude contrast with previous hypotheses. This wedge top area was mostly fed from the paleo‐Andes with small populations coming from sources in the cratonic area that are interpreted as a recycling in Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous sections, which contrasts with other analyses performed at the foredeep zone that have mixed sources. In particular, Permian sources are interpreted as coming directly from the cores of the basement structures, where Neopaleozoic sections are exposed, next to the synorogenic sedimentation, implying a strong incision in Late Cretaceous times with an exhumation structural level similar to the present. The maximum recognised advance for this Late Cretaceous deformation in the study area is approximately 500 km east of the Pacific trench, which constitutes an anomaly compared with neighbour segments where Late Cretaceous deformations were found considerably retracted. The geodynamic context of the sedimentation of this unit is interpreted as produced under the westward fast moving of South America, colliding with two consecutive mid‐ocean ridges during a period of important plate reorganisation. The subduction of young, anhydrous, buoyant lithosphere would have produced changes in the subduction geometry, reflected first by an arc waning/gap and subsequently by an arc migration that coexisted with synorogenic sedimentation. These magmatic and deformational processes would be the product of a shallow subduction regime, following previous proposals, which occurred in Late Cretaceous times, synchronous to the sedimentation of the Neuquén Group.