Satellite emission radio interferometric earth surveying series—GPS geodetic system

The satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS) offer an important new geodetic resource making possible a highly accurate portable radio geodetic system. A concept called SERIES (Satellite Emission Radio Interferometric Earth Surveying) makes use of GPS radio transmissions without any satellite modifications. By employing the technique of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) and its calibration methods, 0.5 to 3 cm three dimensional baseline accuracy can be achieved over distances of 2 to 200 km respectively, with only 2 hours of on-site data acquisition. The use of quasar referenced ARIES Mobile VLBI to establish a sparse fundamental control grid will provide a basis for making SERIES GPS measurements traceable to the time-invariant quasar directions. Using four SERIES stations deployed at previously established ARIES sites, allows the GPS satellite apparent positions to be determined. These apparent positions then serve as calibrations for other SERIES stations at unknown locations to determine their positions in a manner traceable to the quasars. Because this proposed radio interferometric configuration accomplishes its signal detection by cross-correlation, there is no dependence upon knowledge of the GPS transmitted waveforms which might be encrypted. Since GPS radio signal strengths are 10⁵ stronger than quasar signals, a great reduction in telecommunications sophistication is possible which will result in an order of magnitude less cost for a SERIES GPS station compared to a quasar based mobile VLBI system. The virtually all-weather capability of SERIES offers cost-effective geodetic monitoring with applications to crustal dynamics and earthquake research.     

Application of the numerical manifold method for stress wave propagation across rock masses

In this paper, the numerical manifold method (NMM) is extended to study wave propagation across rock masses. First, improvements to the system equations, contact treatment, and boundary conditions of the NMM are performed, where new system equations are derived based on the Newmark assumption of the space–time relationship, the edge‐to‐edge contact treatment is further developed for the NMM to handle stress wave propagation across discontinuities, and the viscous non‐reflection boundary condition is derived based on the energy minimisation principle. After the modification, numerical comparisons between the original and improved NMM are presented. The results show that the original system equations result in artificial numerical damping, which can be overcome by the Newmark system equations. Meanwhile, the original contact scheme suffers some calculation problems when modelling stress wave propagation across a discontinuity, which can be solved by the proposed edge‐to‐edge contact scheme. Subsequently, the influence of the mesh size and time step on the improved NMM for stress wave propagation is studied. Finally, 2D wave propagation is modelled, and the model's results are in good agreement with the analytical solution. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diatom‐based reconstruction of summer sea‐surface salinity in the South China Sea over the last 15 000 years

We present a new reconstruction of summer sea‐surface salinity (SSS) over the past 15 000 years based on a diatom record from piston core 17940, located on the northern slope of the South China Sea (SCS). The reconstructed diatom‐based summer SSS values for the modern period are in accord with instrumental observations of summer SSS in the area. Here, the modern summer SSS is primarily controlled by river runoff, in particular from the Pearl River. The reconstruction presented in this study shows that the summer SSS varied between 33.3 and 34.2 psu over the past 15 000 years. The long‐term summer SSS trend closely followed the trend of the orbitally controlled solar insolation at 20°N, suggesting that orbital forcing was the dominant driver of changes in summer SSS in this area. Comparisons to speleothem δ¹⁸O data and studies of surface hydrography in the region suggest that changes in solar insolation affected the summer SSS through changes in the East Asian Monsoon and sea‐level changes associated with the last deglaciation. Univariate spectral analyses indicate that centennial‐scale oscillatory variations in summer SSS were superimposed on the long‐term trend. During the deglacial period (c. 12 000–9000 cal. a BP), the dominant periodicity was centred around 230–250 years, whereas a ～350‐year oscillation dominated in the period 2200–4500 cal. a BP. The balance of evidence suggests that these centennial‐scale changes in summer SSS may have been driven by solar‐induced changes in the East Asian Monsoon, but further evidence is needed to firmly establish this relationship.     

Mantle heat drives hydrothermal fluids responsible for carbonate-hosted base metal deposits: evidence from 3He/4He of ore fluids in the Irish Pb-Zn ore district

There is little consensus on whether carbonate-hosted base metal deposits, such as the world-class Irish Zn + Pb ore field, formed in collisional or extensional tectonic settings. Helium isotopes have been analysed in ore fluids trapped in sulphides samples from the major base metal deposits of the Irish Zn-Pb ore field in order to quantify the involvement of mantle-derived volatiles that require melting to be realised, as well as test prevailing models for the genesis of the ore fields. ³He/⁴He ratios range up to 0.2 R _a, indicating that a small but clear mantle helium contribution is present in the mineralising fluids trapped in galena and marcasite. Sulphides from ore deposits with the highest fluid inclusion temperatures (~200 °C) also have the highest ³He/⁴He (>0.15 R _a). Similar ³He/⁴He are recorded in fluids from modern continental regions that are undergoing active extension. By analogy, we consider that the hydrothermal fluids responsible for the carbonate-hosted Irish base metal mineralization circulated in thinned continental crust undergoing extension and demonstrate that enhanced mantle heat flow is ultimately responsible for driving fluid convection.     

Short Term and Short Range Seismicity Patterns in Different Seismic Areas of the World

The aim of this work is to quantitatively set up a simple hypothesis for occurrence of earthquakes conditioned by prior events, on the basis of a previously existing model and the use of recent instrumental observations. A simple procedure is presented in order to determine the conditional probability of pairs of events (foreshock-mainshock, mainshock-aftershock) with short time and space separation. The first event of a pair should not be an aftershock, i.e., it must not be related to a stronger previous event. The Italian earthquake catalog of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica (ING) (1975–1995, M 3.4), the earthquake catalog of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) (1983–1994, M 3.0) and that of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) (1982–1994, M 3.8) were analyzed. The number of observed pairs depends on several parameters: the size of the space-time quiescence volume defining nonaftershocks, the inter event time, the minimum magnitude of the two events, and the spatial dimension of the alarm volume after the first event. The Akaike information criterion has been adopted to assess the optimum set of space-time parameters used in the definition of the pairs, assuming that the occurrence rate of subsequent events may be modeled by two Poisson processes with different rates: the higher rate refers to the space-time volume defined by the alarms and the lower one simulates earthquakes that occur in the nonalarm space-time volume. On the basis of the tests carried out on the seismic catalog of Italy, the occurrence rate of M 3.8 earthquakes followed by a M 3.8 mainshock within 10 km and 10 days (validity) is 0.459. We have observed, for all three catalogs, that the occurrence rate density for the second event of a couple (mainshock or aftershock) of magnitude M₂ subsequent to a nonaftershock of magnitude M₁ in the time range T can be modeled by the following relationship: (T, M₂) = 10^{a + b(M1 - M2)} with b varying from 0.74 (Japan) to 1.09 (Greece). The decrease of the occurrence rate in time for a mainshock after a foreshock or for large aftershocks after a mainshock, for all three databases, obeys the Omori's law with p changing from 0.94 (Italy) to 2.0 (Greece).     

Revised marine reservoir offset (ΔR) values for molluscs and marine mammals from Arctic North America

Appropriate marine–terrestrial reservoir offset (ΔR) values are essential for accurate calibration of marine radiocarbon dates. However, ΔR values are only valid for the specific calibration curve that their calculation is based on. Here, we present revised ΔR values for the Marine20 calibration curve from Arctic North America, based on previously published ¹⁴C dates on pre-bomb live-collected marine molluscs (n = 124) and cetaceans (beluga whales; tooth dentine; n = 12), and bowhead whale–driftwood age comparisons from the same glacio-isostatically uplifted shorelines (n = 18). Molluscan-based ΔR are: Chukchi/Beaufort sea coasts, 265±116 ¹⁴C years; NW Canadian Arctic Archipelago, 188±91 ¹⁴C years; NE Baffin Island, 81±18 ¹⁴C years; SE Baffin Island, 14±58 ¹⁴C years; Hudson Strait, −73±64 ¹⁴C years; Ungava Bay, 0±86 ¹⁴C years; Foxe Basin, 175±89 ¹⁴C years; Hudson Bay, −21±72 ¹⁴C years; James Bay, 209±114 ¹⁴C years; West Greenland, −93±111 ¹⁴C years. Species-specific marine mammal ΔR terms are 107±59 ¹⁴C years for beluga and 24±58 ¹⁴C years for bowheads. Our revised ΔR values are applicable for as long as the same broad oceanographic conditions (circulation, ventilation) have persisted, i.e. through the Holocene. While molluscan values are applicable to other marine carbonate (e.g. foraminifera), cetacean ΔR are valid only for the species they were calculated for and should not be applied to other marine mammals. Importantly, the ΔR terms calculated here are only valid for Marine20 and should not be used with earlier or later calibration curves.     

Kristallchemie natürlicher Telluride I: Verfeinerung der Kristallstruktur des Sylvanits,AuAgTe4

Zusammenfassung Mikrosondenanalysen und die Verfeinerung der Kristallstruktur zeigen, daß Sylvanit, AuAgTe₄, aus Baia de Arie (=Offenbánya), Rumänien, eine stöchiometrische Zusammensetzung und eine geordnete Kristallstruktur besitzt (a=8,95(1) Å,b=4,478(5) Å,c=14,62(2) Å; =145,35(5)°;Z=2; RaumgruppeP2/c–C _2h ⁴ ). Das Au-Atom ist von sechs Te-Atomen in einer für die Oxidationszahl III charakteristischen [4+2]-Koordination umgeben. Um das Ag-Atom (Oxidationszahl I) sind ebenfalls sechs Te-Atome, jedoch in einer [2+2+2]-Koordination, angeordnet. Über gemeinsame Kanten bauen AuTe₆- und AgTe₆-Polyeder Schichten parallel (100) auf. Diese Schichten werden über Te₂-Hanteln (Te–Te=2,82 Å) zu einem Gerüst verknüpft.

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Crystal chemistry of natural tellurides. I: Refinement of the crystal structure of sylvanite, AuAgTe₄

Summary Electron microprobe analyses and the refinement of the crystal structure indicate, that sylvanite, AuAgTe₄, from Baia de Arie (=Offenbánya), Romania, has a stoichiometric composition and an ordered crystal structure (a=8.95(1) Å,b=4.478(5) Å,c=14.62(2) Å; =145.35(5)°;Z=2; space groupP2/c–C _2h ⁴ ). The Au atom is surrounded by six Te atoms in a [4+2] coordination as characteristic for oxidation state III. Around the Ag atom (oxidation state I) are also six Te atoms, but arranged in a [2+2+2] coordination. Via common edges the AuTe₆ and AgTe₆ polyhedra build up sheets parallel to (100). These sheets are combined to a network of Te₂ dumbbells (Te–Te=2.82 Å).

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Mit 2 Abbildungen     

Mapping groundwater conditions in different geological environments in the northern area of UAE using 2D earth resistivity imaging survey

A water resources database was developed and used to characterize the geological and hydrogeological settings of groundwater aquifers in the northern part of the United Arab Emirates. An intensive 2D Earth Resistivity Imaging (ERI) survey was conducted in selected areas to assess the available groundwater resources and delineate the salt-water intrusion. Drilling information of the existing monitoring wells as well as their records of water table elevations and groundwater salinity were used to measure the horizontal and vertical variations in lithology, degree of saturation, and groundwater salinity and thus to improve the interpretation of ERI data. The results of the chemical analyses of water samples collected from the wells along with the 2D ERI survey profiles were used to obtain an empirical relationship between the inferred earth resistivity and the amount of total dissolved solids. This relationship was used along with the true resistivity sections resulting from the inversion of 2D ERI data to identify and map three zones of water-bearing formation (fresh, brackish, and salt-water zones) in the coastal areas. The results indicated that the depth to the fresh-brackish interface exceeded 50 m at the upstream of the wadies and was in the order of 10 m or less in the vicinity of shoreline. Because of the high resistivity contrast between dry and water saturated fractured rocks; this method was very successful in detecting water-filled fractures and cavities in the carbonate aquifer. The application of this method was unsuccessful in clayey aquifers as it was not possible to isolate lenses of gravel and/or saturated with saline or brackish water from the surrounding clayey materials.