An archaeo-seismological study of the Nîmes Roman aqueduct,France: indirect evidence for an <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis> > 6 seismic event?

This paper presents a synthesis of a multidisciplinary study carried out along the Nîmes Roman aqueduct, located in the southeast part of France. The study was motivated by archaeologists attempting to explain the partial destructions of only one aerial bridge of the aqueduct (Pont de la Lône). Given its close proximity to the Nîmes seismically active fault, a possible seismic origin for the destructions was invoked. Seismologists and structural engineers thus carried out a variety of field and numerical investigations to test the seismic hypothesis. Supporting field evidence was found first along the aerial bridge section of the aqueduct: broken stalactites, arch warping, cracks and destruction of the bridge just above a breast wall shortly after its construction. Secondly, the underground part of the canal was analysed: irregularity in the thickness of calcite deposits of the canal walls, presence of numerous cracks, horizontal shift of the otherwise linear structure of the canal and presence of calcite twins in the deposits, found only where the canal crosses the Nîmes fault system. Numerical modelling and experimental results show that (1) only the Pont de la Lône would have suffered serious damage under seismic solicitation (assuming an M6 earthquake at 10 km distance). The second aerial bridge, the three levels arches Pont du Gard, an historical monument still standing today, would have suffered less damage, due to its very different fundamental frequency of around 0.4 Hz, far from the amplified seismic near-field spectrum; (2) the numerical models also show that a fall of the canal wall would require a higher magnitude event (M > 6); (3) the presence of calcite twinning requires a differential static stress of 4 MPa or greater, which can only be achieved very close to the fault rupture of a M > 6 earthquake; (4) finally, local surface rupturing of such a fault would also corroborate the hypothesis that the observed offset of the canal may be partly seismically induced. Although other possible origins for each individual evidence may not be excluded, the observed spatiotemporal concentration of architectural/geological anomalies together with the numerical results allow us to support a possible co-seismic origin for these disorders, indirectly attesting to the potential seismic activity (M > 6) of the nearby Nîmes fault. Furthermore, following the conclusions of archaeological studies, the disorders occurred between 250 and 350 year AD, thus providing timing for this possible seismic event, an essential parameter in seismic hazard analysis. These results validate the archaeo-seismological approach as a tool that may help improve the knowledge of major infrequent earthquakes in areas of moderate seismic activity.     

Spectral Simulation of Isotropic Gaussian Random Fields on a Sphere

A spectral algorithm is proposed to simulate an isotropic Gaussian random field on a sphere equipped with a geodesic metric. This algorithm supposes that the angular power spectrum of the covariance function is explicitly known. Direct analytic calculations are performed for exponential and linear covariance functions. In addition, three families of covariance functions are presented where the calculation of the angular power spectrum is simplified (shot-noise random fields, Yadrenko covariance functions and solutions of certain stochastic partial differential equations). Numerous illustrative examples are given.

     

Computation of large-scale parameters for dispersion in fissured porous medium using finite-volume method

In this work, we are interested in solute transport in fissured porous media. The medium is considered as a special case of a two-region system, and a two-equation model previously obtained from a volume averaging technique is used to derive large-scale dispersion coefficients. These coefficients are obtained as solutions of a set of closure problems and the main objective of this work is to present an efficient method to solve these closure problems. The method makes use of an unstructured grid and special techniques to take into account the fissure network. Results are compared with other existing methods on simple fissured media. Finally, the technique is applied to a complex structure.     

Temperature-dependence of ultraviolet absorption cross-sections of alternative chlorofluoroethanes

The absorption cross-sections of HCFC-123 (CF₃–CHCl₂), HCFC-141b (CH₃–CFCl₂) and HCFC-142b (CH₃–CF₂Cl) are measured between 170 and 250 nm for temperatures ranging from 295 to 210 K with uncertainties between 2 and 4%. They are compared with other available determinations. Temperature effects are discussed and parametrical formulae are proposed to compute the absorption cross-section for wavelengths and temperatures useful in atmospheric modelling calculations. Photodissociation coefficients are presented and their temperature-dependence is discussed.     

Comparative magma/xenolith relationships in some volcanic and plutonic rocks from the French Massif Central

A comparative study of xenoliths from lavas and granitic rocks of central France indicates that:

1. The evolution of the xenoliths is essentially the same in intermediate to acid lavas as in granites. The major factor in this evolution is the assimilation by the host magmas of the quartzofeldspathic components of the xenoliths, which then become Al, Fe, Mg-rich restites.
2. Liquid immiscibility between melted xenoliths and host magmas can only be postulated for acid xenoliths in alkali basalts.
3. The basic microgranular xenoliths in some granites do not show important compositional gaps with their host rocks, though they are regularly more basic. They can be considered as early segregations (cumulates).

     

Deccan flood basalts at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary?

Joint consideration of new paleomagnetic, paleontological and geochronological data from the Deccan continental flood basalts in India and critical discussion of earlier results lead us to suggest that volcanic activity may have lasted less than 1 Ma, thus possibly ranking as one of the largest volcanic catastrophes in the last 200 Ma. Available data are best satisfied if volcanism spanned the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, followed shortly afterwards by rifting of the Arabian Sea. These results point out the need for further work which may help in choosing between “external” and “internal” models of the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary events.     

A Non-Homogeneous Model for Kriging Dosimetric Data

Mathematical Geosciences - This paper deals with kriging-based interpolation of dosimetric data. Such data typically show some inhomogeneities that are difficult to take into account by means of...     

3D road marking reconstruction from street-level calibrated stereo pairs

This paper presents an automatic approach to road marking reconstruction using stereo pairs acquired by a mobile mapping system in a dense urban area. Two types of road markings were studied: zebra crossings (crosswalks) and dashed lines. These two types of road markings consist of strips having known shape and size. These geometric specifications are used to constrain the recognition of strips. In both cases (i.e. zebra crossings and dashed lines), the reconstruction method consists of three main steps. The first step extracts edge points from the left and right images of a stereo pair and computes 3D linked edges using a matching process. The second step comprises a filtering process that uses the known geometric specifications of road marking objects. The goal is to preserve linked edges that can plausibly belong to road markings and to filter others out. The final step uses the remaining linked edges to fit a theoretical model to the data. The method developed has been used for processing a large number of images. Road markings are successfully and precisely reconstructed in dense urban areas under real traffic conditions.