A hybrid deterministic and stochastic approach for tsunami hazard assessment in Iquique,Chile

Natural Hazards - This paper presents an investigation of the collapse of a 325-year-old multi-tiered heritage temple during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal. The research comprises a...     

Morphological Variation of the Sea Silverside Odontesthes regia in Regions with Dissimilar Upwelling Intensity along the Humboldt Current System

Ocean Science Journal - We evaluated the influence of areas with dissimilar upwelling intensity along the Humboldt Current System on the morphological variation of the economically important sea...     

Interplay between geochemistry and magma dynamics during magma interaction: An example from the Sithonia Plutonic Complex (NE Greece)

Orogenic granitoids often display mineralogical and geochemical features suggesting that open-system magmatic processes played a key role in their evolution. This is testified by the presence of enclaves of more mafic magmas dispersed into the granitoid mass, the occurrence of strong disequilibrium textures in mineralogical phases, and/or extreme geochemical and isotopic variability.

In this contribution, intrusive rocks constituting the Sithonia Plutonic Complex (Northern Greece) are studied on the basis of mineral chemistry, whole-rock major, trace element geochemistry, and Sr and Nd isotopic composition. Sithonia rocks can be divided into a basic group bearing macroscopic (mafic enclaves), microscopic (disequilibrium textures), geochemical, and isotopic evidence of magma interaction, and an acid group in which most geochemical and isotopic features are consistent with a magma mixing process, but macroscopic and microscopic features are lacking.

A two-step Mixing plus Fractional Crystallization (MFC) process is considered responsible for the evolution of the basic group. The first step explains the chemical variation in the mafic enclave group: a basic magma, represented by the least evolved enclaves, interacted with an acid magma, represented by the most evolved granitoid rocks, to give the most evolved enclaves. The second step explains the geochemical variations of the remaining rocks of the basic group: most evolved enclaves interacted with the same acid magma to give the spectrum of rock compositions with intermediate geochemical signatures. A convection–diffusion process is envisaged to explain the geochemical and isotopic variability and the lack of macroscopic and petrographic evidence of magma interaction in the acid group.

The mafic magma is presumably the result of melting of a mantle, repeatedly metasomatized and enriched in LILE due to subduction events, whereas the acid magma is considered the product of partial melting of lower crustal rocks of intermediate to basaltic composition.

It is shown that Sithonia Plutonic Complex offers the opportunity to investigate in detail the complex interplay between geochemistry and magma dynamics during magma interaction processes between mantle and crustal derived magmas.     

Community structure and phenology of chironomids (Insecta: Chironomidae) in a Patagonian Andean stream

In this paper, we studied the assemblage of Chironomidae from headwaters of Ñireco stream by recording drifting pupal exuviae caught in the debris close to the shore. Samples were collected in three stations along 18 km of the stream every 2 weeks during spring–summer months and monthly during autumn–winter over a year. A total of 15949 exuviae were collected and 55 taxa were identified. The most abundant taxa were Cricotopus spp. with highest numbers of exuviae recorded in each station over the study period. Subfamily Orthocladiinae was the most abundant taxa, followed by Chironominae and Podonominae. The emergence period in the stream occurred between December 1998 and March 1999. Most of the dominant and frequent species were univoltine. The emergence peaks at each sampling station occurred at the highest temperature of the water recorded.     

The power spectrum of flux-limited X-ray galaxy cluster surveys

We compute the redshift space power spectrum of two X-ray cluster samples: the X-ray Brightest Abell Cluster Sample (XBACS) and the Brightest Cluster Sample (BCS) using the method developed by Feldman, Kaiser & Peacock. The power spectra derived for these samples are in agreement with determinations of other optical and X-ray cluster samples. For XBACS we find the largest power spectrum amplitude expected, given the high richness of this sample ( R ≥2) . In the range 0.05< k <0.4  h  Mpc⁻¹ the power spectrum shows a power-law behaviour P ( k )∝ k ⁿ with an index n ≃−1.2 . In a similar range, 0.04< k <0.3  h  Mpc⁻¹ , the BCS power spectrum has a smaller amplitude with index n ≃−1.0 . We do not find significant evidence for a peak at k ≃0.05  h  Mpc⁻¹ , suggesting that claims such of feature detections in some cluster samples could rely on artificial inhomogeneities of the data. We compare our results with power spectrum predictions derived by Moscardini et al. within current cosmological models (LCDM and OCDM). For XBACS we find that both models underestimate the amplitude of the power spectrum but for BCS there is reasonably good agreement at k ≳0.03  h  Mpc⁻¹ for both models.     

Landscape structure,groundwater dynamics,and soil water content influence soil respiration across riparian–hillslope transitions in the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest,Montana

Variability in soil respiration at various spatial and temporal scales has been the focus of much research over the last decade aimed to improve our understanding and parameterization of physical and environmental controls on this flux. However, few studies have assessed the control of landscape position and groundwater table dynamics on the spatiotemporal variability of soil respiration. We investigated growing season soil respiration in a ～393 ha subalpine watershed in Montana across eight riparian–hillslope transitions that differed in slope, upslope accumulated area (UAA), aspect, and groundwater table dynamics. We collected daily‐to‐weekly measurements of soil water content (SWC), soil temperature, soil CO₂ concentrations, surface CO₂ efflux, and groundwater table depth, as well as soil C and N concentrations at 32 locations from June to August 2005. Instantaneous soil surface CO₂ efflux was not significantly different within or among riparian and hillslope zones at monthly timescales. However, cumulative integration of CO₂ efflux during the 83‐day growing season showed that efflux in the wetter riparian zones was ～25% greater than in the adjacent drier hillslopes. Furthermore, greater cumulative growing season efflux occurred in areas with high UAA and gentle slopes, where groundwater tables were higher and more persistent. Our findings reveal the influence of landscape position and groundwater table dynamics on riparian versus hillslope soil CO₂ efflux and the importance of time integration for assessment of soil CO₂ dynamics, which is critical for landscape‐scale simulation and modelling of soil CO₂ efflux in complex landscapes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tree-ring reconstructed dry season rainfall in Guatemala

Climate Dynamics - Drought in Guatemala has negative consequences for agriculture and potable water supplies, particularly in regions of the country with highly seasonal rainfall. General...