Saline groundwater and brines in crystalline rocks: the contributions of John Andrews and Jean-Charles Fontes to the solution of a hydrogeological and geochemical problem

Investigations into the suitability of crystalline rock for the long-term containment of high level nuclear waste were initiated in the early 1970s. A significant task was thereby to assess fluid movements to and from potential repositories. This paper focuses on the contributions of J.N. Andrews and J.-Ch. Fontes to this problem and presents some aspects of their work on fluids in crystalline rock environments.Waste repository studies saw major progress with the initiation of the Stripa project in 1977. Andrews joined this project during the first year and participated until its closure in the late 1980s. Fontes' involvement began during the second phase of the project, after the first ideas about the geochemistry and evolution of groundwater encountered in the Stripa granite had been developed. The problems associated with dating of such hydrogeological systems, their geochemical evolution and the question of origin of dissolved salts occupied both of them and their co-workers.Those privileged to participate in the long and lively discussions will remember these times as extremely fruitful. The results are documented in a multitude of international studies where the Stripa ideas were further developed and tested—not only in Sweden. Based on the data from Swedish and other environments with crystalline rock brines, Andrews, Fontes and others had recognised the need to develop at least one additional project designed to clarify major points of uncertainty regarding the age and evolution as well as the origin of saline fluids found in most crystalline rock environments. The untimely death of these two applied geochemists is the reason why these discussions have not (yet) been concluded.     

Volatile Organic Sulfur Compounds in a Meromictic Alpine Lake

The full spectrum of volatile sulfur compounds was detected in the water column of the permanently stratified meromictic Lake Cadagno. Besides hydrogen sulfide it included methanethiol, carbonyl sulfide, dimethyl sulfide, carbon disulfide, and dimethyl disulfide. Their distribution in the water column suggests that these compounds are of biogenic origin. Except for carbon disulfide which is present in all layers of Lake Cadagno, these volatile organic sulfur compounds are restricted to the anoxic part of the lake. For methanethiol, dimethyl sulfide, and carbon disulfide maximum concentrations were observed in the redox transition zone and in the sediment porewater. Carbon disulfide is the most abundant volatile organic sulfur compound with concentrations of up to 60 μmol L^–1. The concentrations of the methylated sulfides are in the nmolar range. Although their concentrations varied during the summer months, seasonal trends of the concentrations of volatile organic sulfur compounds did not follow a consistent pattern. The restriction of most sulfur species to the anoxic layers of the lake indicates that their production originates from anaerobic microbial degradation of biomass and not from its release from a specific precursor like dimethylsulfoniumpropionate as in marine environments.     

Seasonal heat storage in the ocean and heating of the atmosphere

Summary One method of computing the seasonal heat budget of the atmosphere involves the seasonal heat storage in the oceans. On the basis of bathythermograph data and ocean surface temperatures, the heat added to, or released by the ocean was computed month by month. The heat stored in the ocean was then compared withGabites' estimate of the heat added by radiation and by means of the latent heat of water vapor. From this comparison, the heating of the atmosphere was approximated. In middle latitudes, the net heating of the atmosphere is close to zero during most of the year, so that even the sign of the atmospheric heating is in doubt there. During most of the year, the atmosphere undergoes net heating in low latitudes, and net cooling in high latitudes. The excess is removed by motions of the atmosphere and the ocean.

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Zusammenfassung Eine Methode, das jahreszeitliche Wärmebudget der Atmosphäre zu berechnen, hat auch der Wärmespericherung in den Ozeanen Rechnung zu tragen. Auf Grund von Wasserthermographenwerten und Ozeanoberflächentemperaturen wurden die dem Ozean zugeführten oder von ihm abgegebenen Wärmemengen monatsweise berechnet. Die im Ozean gespeicherte Wärme wurde dann mit der vonGabites aufgestellten Schätzung der durch Strahlung und durch die latente Wärme des Wasserdampfs zugeführten Wärmeenge verglichen und von dieser Vergleichung wurde auf die Erwärmung der Atmosphäre geschlossen. In mittleren Breiten liegt der Erwärmungszuwachs der Atmosphäre während des Großteils des Jahres bei Null, so daß sogar das Vorzeichen der Erwärmung zweifelhaft ist. Während des Großteils des Jahres erfährt die Atmosphäre dagegen in niederen Breiten einen Wärmezuwachs, in hohen Breiten einen Überschuß an Abkühlung. Diese Überschüsse werden durch Bewegungsvorgänge in der Atmosphäre und im Ozean verfrachtet.

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Résumé Une méthode visant à calcular le bilan thermique annuel de l'atmosphère doit tenir compte de la chaleur mise en réserve dans les mers. Des mesures de température de l'eau de mer en profondeur et en surface permettent d'établir les quantités de chaleur fournies mensuellement à la mer ou enlevée à celle-ci. La chaleur accumulée fut alors comparée à celle qu'estimeGabites en considérant la chaleur fournie par rayonnement et par la chaleur latente de la vapeur d'eau; on en a tiré une conclusion relative au réchauffement de l'atmosphère. Aux latitudes moyennes, l'accroissement de chaleur de cette dernière est voisine de zéro la plus grande partie de l'année, de sorte que même le signe est douteux. Aux latitudes basses par contre l'atmosphère reçoit de la chaleur pendant la plus grande partie de l'année; elle en perd aux latitudes élevées. Ces gains et ces pertes s'équilibrent in globo par les mouvements de l'air et de l'eau.

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With 4 Figures

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Presented at the 11th General Assembly, IUGG (IAM), Toronto, Septemer 1957.

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Dedicated to Dr.Anders K. Ångström on the occasion of his 70th birthday.     

Unravelling the moisture sources of the Alpine glaciers using tunnel valleys as constraints

A lack of archives has impeded reconstructions of moisture pathways for past glaciations in the European Alps. Here, we focus on the confluence area of two palaeoglaciers in the Swiss Plateau that were sourced on the northern (Aare glacier) and southern sides (Valais glacier) of the European Alps. We mapped tunnel valleys in the region using a drilling database, based on which we inferred the relative extent of each glacier c. 270 ka ago when the valleys were formed. We then compared this situation with that of the LGM. We found that, while the Valais glacier expanded farther into the foreland than the Aare glacier during the LGM, the opposite was the case c. 270 ka ago. We also found that LGM glaciers were non‐erosive in the distal foreland. These contrasts in extents and erosional efficiencies imply differences in moisture pathways between the LGM and the time when the tunnel valleys were formed.     

Contrasting sediment flux in Val Lumnezia (Graubünden, Eastern Swiss Alps), and implications for landscape development

This paper presents qualitative estimates of sediment discharge from opposite valley flanks in the S–N-oriented Val Lumnezia, eastern Swiss Alps, and relates inferred differences in sediment flux to the litho-tectonic architecture of bedrock. The valley flank on the western side hosts the deep-seated Lumnezia landslide where an area of ca. 30 km² has experienced slip rates of several centimetres per year, potentially resulting in high sediment discharge to the trunk stream (i.e. the Glogn River). High slip rates have resulted in topographic changes that are detectable on aerial photographs and measurable with geodetic tools. In contrast, a network of tributary channels dissects the valley flank on the eastern side. There, an area of approximately 18 km² corresponding to < 30% of the surface has experienced a change in the landscape mainly by rock avalanche and rock fall, and the magnitudes of changes are below the calibration limit of digital photogrammetry. We thus infer lower magnitudes of sediment discharge on the eastern tributaries than on the western valley side, where landsliding has been the predominant erosional process. These differences are interpreted to be controlled by the dip-slope situation of bedrock on the western side that favours down-slope slip of material. Morphometric investigations reveal that the western valley side is characterized by a low topographic roughness because this valley flank has not been dissected by a channel network. It appears that high sediment discharge of the Lumnezia landslide has inhibited the establishment of a stable channel network and has largely controlled the overall evolution of the landscape. This contrasts to the general notion that channelized processes exert the first-order control on landscape evolution and formation of relief and needs to be considered in future studies about landscape architecture, drainage network and sediment discharge.     

Ernst Weinschenk (1865–1921) a pioneer of microscopy and petrography in Munich (Southern Germany)

Ernst Weinschenk was an excellent teacher at the High School of Technology from 1897 till his death 1921, and at the university in Munich from 1900. His studies of the mineralogy of meteorites and the contact-metamorphic mineralization in the eastern and western Alps and southern Tyrol made him widely known early-on. He successfully determined many new minerals with the aid of the polarizing microscope and the use of mineral and thin rock sections. He attributed the genesis of the sulfidic ore deposit Silberberg at Bodenmais (northern Bavarian Forest) and the graphite deposits near Passau (Lower Bavaria) to the exhalative output of sulphur and carbon during the granite orogenesis (Weinschenk 1914).     

Computational validation of static and dynamic plate load testing

In this paper, the static load plate test and the dynamic load plate test by means of the light falling weight device are assessed utilizing numerical simulations. Simplified computational models of the tested subsoil and of the testing devices are developed, which capture the main effects of both the static and the dynamic load plate test. In extensive parametric studies, the impact of various subsoil conditions on the test results and several sources of error are evaluated and discussed. Computational test results of the static load plate test and of the dynamic load plate test are set in contrast to an effort to demonstrate the differences and the common features of the outcomes.