Active tectonism in the central Alps: contrasting stress regimes north and south of the Rhone Valley

An integrated interpretation of seismicity, fault plane solutions and deep seismic reflection data suggests that the NE–SW to NW–SE trending Rhone–Simplon fault zone and the gently S-dipping basal Penninic thrust separate fundamentally different stress regimes in the western Swiss Alps. North of the Rhone-Simplon fault zone, strike-slip earthquakes on steep-dipping faults within the Helvetic nappes are a consequence of regional NW–SE compression and NE–SW extension. To the south, vertical maximum stress and N–S extension are responsible for normal mechanism earthquakes that occur entirely within the Penninic nappes above the basal Penninic thrust. Such normal faulting likely results from extension associated with southward movements (collapse) of the Penninic nappes and/or continued uplift and relative northward displacements of the underlying Alpine massifs. Geological mapping and fission-track dating suggest that the two distinct stress regimes have controlled tectonism in the western Swiss Alps since at least the Neogene.     

Synthetic RapidEye data used for the detection of area-based spruce tree mortality induced by bark beetles

Tree mortality caused by outbreaks of the bark beetle Ips typographus (L.) plays an important role in the natural dynamics of Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) stands, which could cause far-reaching changes in the occurrence and duration of vegetation phenology. Field-based early detection of tree disturbances is hampered by logistic, terrain, and technical shortcomings, and by the inability to continuously monitor disturbances over large areas. Despite achievements in remote mapping of bark-beetle-induced tree mortalities, early warning has been mostly unsuccessful mainly because of the lack of spectral sensitivity and discrepancies in definitions of field- and image-based disturbance classes. Here we applied a method based on inter-annual phenology of Norway spruce stands derived from synthetic multispectral data to part of the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany. We fused temporally continuous Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and discrete RapidEye data using a flexible spatiotemporal data fusion method to achieve validated 8-day RapidEye-like composites of normalized difference vegetation index for 2011. We assumed that the dead trees delineated on 2012 aerial photographs were those in which bark beetle infestations were initiated in 2011. Samples were drawn with variable-sized buffering to represent the areas prone to infestations and their surroundings. We applied a conditional inference random forest to select the best image date among the entire 46 synthetic datasets to best discriminate between the core infestation patches and their surroundings from the subsequent year. Of the discrete time points identified, day 281 of the year represented the highest discrepancy between aerial image-based dead trees and their surroundings. Classification results were significantly correlated with beetle count data obtained using pheromone traps. Our method provided valuable information for management purposes and enabled wall-to-wall mapping of stands prone to infestation and its uncertainty. The results offer potential implications for rapid and cost-effective monitoring of bark beetle outbreaks using satellite data, which would be of great benefit for both management and research tasks.     

BaMn[CO3]2 – a previously unrecognized double carbonate in low-temperature environments: Structural,spectroscopic, and textural tools for future identification

Following a tentative evidence for the occurrence of low-temperature barium manganese(II) carbonates in brackish sediments of the Baltic Sea, a stoichiometric double carbonate, BaMn[CO₃]₂, was synthesized from aqueous solutions at ambient temperature for the first time. Here we report the results of a multi-method approach, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM–EDX) investigations, the chemical composition, and, in particular, the diagnostic powder X-ray diffraction pattern, as well as diagnostic parts of the FT infrared absorption and Raman spectra for future identification of this new carbonate in low-temperature environments, like brackish sediments.     

Sudbury Breccia (Canada): a product of the 1850 Ma Sudbury Event and host to footwall Cu–Ni–PGE deposits

The Sudbury Structure, formed by meteorite impact at 1850 Ma, consists of three major components: (1) the Sudbury Basin; (2) the Sudbury Igneous Complex, which surrounds the basin as an elliptical collar; and (3) breccia bodies in the footwall known as Sudbury Breccia. In general, the breccia consists of subrounded fragments set in a dark, fine-grained to aphanitic matrix. A comparison of the chemical composition of host rocks, clasts and matrices indicates that brecciation was essentially an in-situ process. Sudbury Breccia forms irregular-shaped bodies or dikes that range in size from mm to km scale. Contacts with the host rocks are commonly sharp. The aspect ratio of most clasts is approximately 2 with the long axes parallel to dike walls. The fractal dimension (Dr)=1.55. Although there appears to be some concentration of brecciation within concentric zones, small Sudbury Breccia bodies within and outside these zones have more or less random strikes and steep dips. Sudbury Breccia bodies near an embayment structure tend to be subparallel to the base of the Sudbury Igneous Complex. Sudbury Breccia occurs as much as 80 km from the outer margin of the Sudbury Igneous Complex. In an inner zone, 5 to 15 km wide, breccia comprises 5% of exposed bedrock with an increase in brecciation intensity in embayment structures. Sudbury Breccia may be classified into three types based on the nature of the matrix: clastic, pseudotachylite and microcrystalline. Clastic Sudbury Breccia, the dominant type in the Southern Province, is characterized by flow-surface structures. Possibly, a sudden rise in pore pressure caused explosive dilation and fragmentation, followed by fluidization and flowage into extension fractures. Pseudotachylite Sudbury Breccia, mainly confined to Archean rocks, apparently formed by comminution and frictional melting. Microcrystalline Sudbury Breccia formed as a result of the thermal metamorphism, of the North Range footwall, by the Sudbury Igneous Complex. This produced a zone, approximately 1.2 km wide, wherein the matrix of the breccia either recrystallized or, locally, melted. An overprint of regional metamorphism obliterated contact effects in the South Range footwall. The Ni–Cu–PGE magmatic sulphide deposits may be classified into four types based on structural setting: Sudbury Igneous Complex–footwall contact, footwall, offset, and sheared deposits. Sudbury Breccia is the main host for footwall deposits (e.g., McCreedy East, Victor, Lindsley). Sudbury Breccia locally hosts mineralization in radial (e.g., Parkin and Copper Cliff) and concentric (e.g., Frood–Stobie) offset dikes.     

Kinetics of crystallization: example of micro-crystallization in basalt lava

The kinetics of crystallization of basalt glass from Kilauea, Hawaii, was investigated to derive time and temperature dependence of growth rates, and to relate these results to crystallization characteristics that develop during in-place cooling of lava and isothermal re-heating in the lab. The choice of temperatures of re-heating was based on observations that pyroxene and Fe-Ti oxide production starts at about 850 °C and plagioclase above 920 °C. Crystallization parameters were determined by the crystal size distribution method (CSD), which allows one to derive growth (G) and nucleation (J) rates, if the residence time within the temperature interval of crystallization is known. For the in-place cooled lava, the residence time was determined from cooling rates that could be derived from literature data of temperature measurements in the upper 2 cm of lava lobes. Re-heating of basalt glass as a function of time shows a linear relationship between log G and log (time): % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+- % feaaeaart1ev0aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn % hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr % 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9 % vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x % fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabiabaaGcbaGaciiBaiaac+ % gacaGGNbGaam4raiabg2da9iabgkHiTiaadggaciGGSbGaai4Baiaa % cEgacaWG0bGaeyOeI0Iaam4AamaaBaaaleaacaaIXaaabeaaaaa!42ED! logG = - alogt - k₁\log G = - a\log t - k_1 . This observation was possible because the time scale of crystallization was similar to the observational time scale, a condition usually not given for cooling processes. The time dependence of G is shown to correspond to a decrease in G (and J) from the original surface-air interface to the interior of the lava: a change that occurs concomitant with an increase in crystal size and number density. Hence, it is the time dependence of G that explains the hitherto well-observed relationship with cooling rate along a temperature gradient in magmatic bodies. Moreover, the log-linear relationship between time and growth rate is suggested to describe heterogeneous nucleation and growth, which is independent of the process, i.e. cooling or metamorphism. Isothermal re-heating extinguishes the high growth rate signatures of cooling. Temperature dependence of growth rates, carried out at 24 h, shows minimum temperatures of 900-950 °C, which, because of the time dependence of growth, refers to the nucleation and crystallization maximum, and is in agreement with results from differential scanning calorimetry.     

Uranium removal from groundwater using hydroxyapatite

The present work shows that U can be effectively removed from groundwater using permeable reactive barriers with hydroxyapatite (HAP) as reactive material. The main factor influencing the removal processes is the composition of the groundwater, namely the concentration of Ca and carbonate. Sorption of U onto the HAP surface seems to be the dominant removal process with the possibility of remobilisation. Newly formed U-phosphate minerals were detected by ESEM/EDX and XRD in samples with high U content indicating either a dissolution-precipitation mechanism or sorption onto the apatite surface followed by alteration of the structure. The formed U-phosphate minerals are stable under common groundwater conditions and can be remobilised only at high pH-values and high carbonate concentrations.     

Quantification of strain rate in the Western Alps using geodesy: comparisons with seismotectonics

The contrasted seismotectonic regime of the Western Alps is characterized by radial extension in the high chain, combined with local compressive areas at the foothill of the belt, and everywhere occurrence of transcurrent tectonics. Here, we compare this seismotectonic regime to a large-scale compilation of GPS measurements in the Western Alpine realm. Our analysis is based on the raw GPS database, which give the measured velocity field with respect to the so called “stable Europe”, and an interpolated velocity field, in order to smooth the database on a more regular mesh. Both strain rate and rotational components of the deformation are investigated. The strain rate field shows patch-like structure, with extensional areas located in the core and to the North of the belt and compressional areas located in its periphery. Although the GPS deformation fields (both raw and interpolated) are more spatially variable than the seismotectonic field, a good qualitative correlation is established with the seismotectonic regionalization of the deformation. The rotation rate fields (both raw and interpolated) present counterclockwise rotations in the innermost part of the belt and a surprising continuous zone of clockwise rotations following the arc-shape geometry of the Western Alps along their external border. We interpret this new result in term of a counterclockwise rotation of the Apulia plate with respect to the stable Europe. This tectonic scheme may induce clockwise rotations of crustal block along the large strike-slip fault system, which runs in the outer part of the belt, from the Rhône-Simplon fault to the Belledonne fault and Southeastward, to the High-Durance and Argentera fault.     

On weighted total least-squares adjustment for linear regression

The weighted total least-squares solution (WTLSS) is presented for an errors-in-variables model with fairly general variance–covariance matrices. In particular, the observations can be heteroscedastic and correlated, but the variance–covariance matrix of the dependent variables needs to have a certain block structure. An algorithm for the computation of the WTLSS is presented and applied to a straight-line fit problem where the data have been observed with different precision, and to a multiple regression problem from recently published climate change research.     

Best invariant covariance component estimators and its application to the generalize multivariate adjustment of heterogeneous deformation observations

Repeated measurements, like relevelling or periodically observed control networks, e.g., may be adjusted within the Simple Multivariate Gauss-Markov Model if the coefficient matrices are identical at each epoch and if the observations are homogeneous yielding proportional variance-covariance matrices between each two (not necessarily different) epochs. However, when processing data concerning recent crustal movements both conditions are violated, in general, such that the usual approach becomes inapplicable. Therefore, a procedure is proposed for this case which makes a joint adjustment possible within the Generalized Multivariate Regression Model of Heterogeneous Observations and which further coincides with the standard multivariate analysis in the special case.