Interactive Visualization to Advance Earthquake Simulation

The geological sciences are challenged to manage and interpret increasing volumes of data as observations and simulations increase in size and complexity. For example, simulations of earthquake-related processes typically generate complex, time-varying data sets in two or more dimensions. To facilitate interpretation and analysis of these data sets, evaluate the underlying models, and to drive future calculations, we have developed methods of interactive visualization with a special focus on using immersive virtual reality (VR) environments to interact with models of Earth’s surface and interior. Virtual mapping tools allow virtual “field studies” in inaccessible regions. Interactive tools allow us to manipulate shapes in order to construct models of geological features for geodynamic models, while feature extraction tools support quantitative measurement of structures that emerge from numerical simulation or field observations, thereby enabling us to improve our interpretation of the dynamical processes that drive earthquakes. VR has traditionally been used primarily as a presentation tool, albeit with active navigation through data. Reaping the full intellectual benefits of immersive VR as a tool for scientific analysis requires building on the method’s strengths, that is, using both 3D perception and interaction with observed or simulated data. This approach also takes advantage of the specialized skills of geological scientists who are trained to interpret, the often limited, geological and geophysical data available from field observations.     

On the Characteristics of Heavy Multiple-Day Snowfalls in the Eastern Alps

Based on the daily fresh-snowrecordings of a set of 81 stations of the AustrianHydrographic Service, covering a 19-year period,various aspects of extraordinarily long-lasting severesnowfalls are investigated. Starting from an exactdefinition of periods of Heavy Snowfall Events (HSE),some of the discussed items include the annual andseasonal frequencies of intense snowfall episodes, thelocation and migration paths of the storm centers andthe volume of snow dropped by the individual storms.Another part of the study, designed to visualize thebig variability of snow-related parameters over Alpineterrain, determines for all involved sites maximalobserved and theoretical extreme fresh-snowaccumulations for periods of variable length. Heavythree-day snowfall events are analyzed with specialregard of the resulting avalanche threat.     

Core formation in giant gaseous protoplanets

Sedimentation rates of silicate grains in gas giant protoplanets formed by disk instability are calculated for protoplanetary masses between 1 MSaturn to 10 MJupiter. Giant protoplanets with masses of 5 MJupiter or larger are found to be too hot for grain sedimentation to form a silicate core. Smaller protoplanets are cold enough to allow grain settling and core formation. Grain sedimentation and core formation occur in the low mass protoplanets because of their slow contraction rate and low internal temperature. It is predicted that massive giant planets will not have cores, while smaller planets will have small rocky cores whose masses depend on the planetary mass, the amount of solids within the body, and the disk environment. The protoplanets are found to be too hot to allow the existence of icy grains, and therefore the cores are predicted not to contain any ices. It is suggested that the atmospheres of low mass giant planets are depleted in refractory elements compared with the atmospheres of more massive planets. These predictions provide a test of the disk instability model of gas giant planet formation. The core masses of Jupiter and Saturn were found to be ∼0.25 M_⊕ and ∼0.5 M_⊕, respectively. The core masses of Jupiter and Saturn can be substantially larger if planetesimal accretion is included. The final core mass will depend on planetesimal size, the time at which planetesimals are formed, and the size distribution of the material added to the protoplanet. Jupiter's core mass can vary from 2 to 12 M_⊕. Saturn's core mass is found to be ∼8 M_⊕.     

A model of Saturn inferred from its measured gravitational field

We present an interior model of Saturn with an ice-rock core,a metallic region,an outer molecular envelope and a thin transition layer between the metallic and molecular regions.The shape of Saturn’s 1 bar surface is irregular and determined fully self-consistently by the required equilibrium condition.While the ice-rock core is assumed to have a uniform density,three different equations of state are adopted for the metallic,molecular and transition regions.The Saturnian model is constrained by its known mass,its known equatorial and polar radii,and its known zonal gravitational coefficients,J_(2n),n=1,2,3.The model produces an ice-rock core with equatorial radius 0.203 R_S,where R_S is the equatorial radius of Saturn at the 1-bar pressure surface;the core densityρ_c=10388.1 kgm~(3)corresponding to 13.06 Earth masses;and an analytical expression describing the Saturnian irregular shape of the 1-bar pressure level.The model also predicts the values of the higher-order gravitational coefficients,J_8,J_10 and J_12,for the hydrostatic Saturn and suggests that Saturn’s convective dynamo operates in the metallic region approximately defined by 0.2 R_Sre0.7 R_S,where r_e denotes the equatorial radial distance from the Saturnian center of figure.     

A roadmap for a dedicated Earth Science Grid platform

Due to its intensive data processing and highly distributed organization, the multidisciplinary Earth Science applications community is uniquely positioned for the uptake and exploitation of Grid technologies. Currently Enabling Grids for E-sciencE, and other large Grid infrastructures are already deployed and capable of operational services. So far however, the adoption and exploitation of Grid technology throughout the Earth Science community has been slower than expected. The Dissemination and Exploitation of GRids in Earth sciencE project, proposed by the European Commission to assist and accelerate this process in a number of different ways, had between its main goals the creation of a roadmap towards Earth Science Grid platform. This paper presents the resulting roadmap.     

Interpretation of transient electromagnetic soundings over three-dimensional structures for the central-loop configuration

Summary. An assessment is made of the bias of fitting constrained layered-earth models to transient electromagnetic data obtained over 3-D structures. In this assessment we use the central-loop configuration and show that accurate estimates of the depth of burial of 3-D structures can be obtained with layered-earth model fitting. However, layered-earth interpretations are not reliable for estimating depth extents and resistivities of 3-D structures. When layered earths are used for interpretation, it is advantageous in some cases to use data based on the magnetic field instead of the voltage. A magnetic-field definition of apparent resistivity, in contrast to a definition based on the voltage, eliminates apparent-resistivity overshoots and undershoots in the data. A resistivity undershoot in the data can produce an extraneous and misleading layer in an interpretation of a 3-D resistive structure. Due to 3-D effects, apparent-resistivity soundings (magnetic field and voltage) may rise so steeply at late times that it may not be possible to fit a sounding to a reasonable layered-earth model. Truncating such a sounding, over a buried conductor, allows for a reasonable layered-earth fit and an accurate estimate of the depth to the conductor. However, the resistivity of the conductor is overestimated.
Measurements of the horizontal field in the central-loop configuration can map 3-D structures, provided the sensor is located accurately at the centre of the transmitting loop. Horizontal-field calculations show that the transients peak on the flanks of a 3-D structure, but are depressed over the structure's centre. Weak transient responses flanked by two large transient responses, which are opposite in sign, locate the structure. The sign reversal is caused by a corresponding reversal in the currents that are channelled through or deflected away from conductive or resistive structures, respectively.     

Rivers turned to rock: Late Quaternary alluvial induration influencing the behaviour and morphology of an anabranching river in the Australian monsoon tropics

Late Quaternary alluvial induration has greatly influenced contemporary channel morphology on the anabranching Gilbert River in the monsoon tropics of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Gilbert, one of a number of rivers in this region, has contributed to an extensive system of coalescing low-gradient and partly indurated riverine plains. Extensive channel sands were deposited by enhanced flow conditions during marine oxygen isotope (OI) Stage 5. Subsequent flow declined, probably associated with increased aridity, however, enhanced runoff recurred again in OI Stages 4–3 (65–50 ka). Aridity then capped these plains with 4–7 m of mud. A widespread network of sandy distributary channels was incised into this muddy surface from sometime after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the mid Holocene during a fluvial episode more active than the present but less so than those of OI Stages 5 and 3. This network is still partly active but with channel avulsion and abandonment now occurring largely proximal to the main Gilbert flow path.A tropical climate and reactive catchment lithology have enhanced chemical weathering and lithification of alluvium along the river resulting in the formation of small rapids, waterfalls and inset gorges, features characteristic more of bedrock than alluvial systems. Thermoluminescence (TL) and comparative optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of the sediments are presented along with U/Th ages of pedogenic calcrete and Fe/Mn oxyhydroxide/ oxide accumulations. They show that calcrete precipitated during the Late Quaternary at times similar to those that favoured ferricrete formation, possibly because of an alternating wet–dry climate. Intense chemical alteration of the alluvium leading to induration appears to have prevailed for much of the Late Quaternary but, probably due to exceptional dryness, not during the LGM. The result has been restricted channel migration and a reduced capacity for the channel to adjust and accommodate sudden changes in bedload. Consequent avulsions have caused local stream powers to increase by an order of magnitude, inducing knickpoint erosion, local incision and the sudden influx of additional bedload that has triggered further avulsions. The Gilbert River, while less energetic than its Pleistocene ancestors, is clearly an avulsive system, and emphasizes the importance in some tropical rivers of alluvial induration for reinforcing the banks, generating nickpoints, reworking sediment and thereby developing and maintaining an indurated and anabranching river style.     

Geochemistry and petrography of basalt grindstones from the Karak Plateau,central Jordan

Seventeen basalt grindstone fragments from central Jordan's Karak Plateau were studied. Most of these artifacts are vesicular or amygdaloidal with calcite as the dominant mineral filling the voids. The major minerals are olivine (with iddingsite rims), plagioclase, clinopyroxene, magnetite, and apatite. Glass is present in some samples. One basalt fragment is quite different in appearance and composition and may have come from flows closer to the Dead Sea. Grindstone fragment compositions plot in the tephrite‐basanite and basalt fields. A plot of the concentrations of niobium, zirconium, and yttrium reveal that the sample compositions plot in the “within‐plate alkali basalt” and “within‐plate tholeiite” fields. The acquisition of basalts for preparing such implements appears to have been random. Some may have been introduced through trade and migration. Archaeological and environmental studies on the Karak Plateau are urgently needed because Jordan's population growth and economic development are destroying many sites and their environmental contexts. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The presence of anomalous trace element levels in present day Jamaican soils and the geochemistry of Late-Miocene or Pliocene phosphorites

High levels of Cd and Zn in Jamaican soils observed in geochemical surveys are related to the presence of phosphorites of possible Late-Miocene or Pliocene age. The trace element and REE geochemistry of the phosphorites, together with SEM studies, indicate a guano origin for the phosphorites. No specific host minerals for Cd could be identified in the fossiliferous phosphorite which is characterized by uniquely high levels of Cd, Zn, Ag, Be, U and Y. However, in the soil Cd is present in lithiophorite and a complex history of pedological development is preserved in the aluminous–goethite present in the soil. The unique guano signature is preserved in the soil despite the fact that guanos themselves have either not been observed or have been destroyed by continuing karst and soil development. The phosphorite geochemical signature can be traced in the data of a 1988 island-wide soil geochemical survey, identifying areas where the Palaeo-environment that supported bird ‘rookeries’ existed in the Late-Miocene or Pliocene.     

Calcium isotope fractionation in coccoliths of cultured Calcidiscus leptoporus, Helicosphaera carteri, Syracosphaera pulchra and Umbilicosphaera foliosa

Four species of marine calcifying algae, the coccolithophores Calcidiscus leptoporus, Helicosphaera carteri, Syracosphaera pulchra and Umbilicosphaera foliosa were grown in laboratory cultures under temperatures varying between 14 and 23 °C, and one species, C. leptoporus, under varying [CO₃²⁻], ranging from 105 to 219 μmol/kg. Calcium isotope compositions of the coccoliths resemble in both absolute fractionation and temperature sensitivity previous calibrations of marine calcifying species e.g. Emiliania huxleyi (coccolithophores) and Orbulina universa (planktonic foraminifera) as well as inorganically precipitated CaCO₃, but also reveal small species specific differences. In contrast to inorganically precipitated calcite, but similar to E. huxleyi and O. universa, the carbonate ion concentration of the medium has no statistically significant influence on the Ca isotope fractionation of C. leptoporus coccoliths; however, combined data of E. huxleyi and C. leptoporus indicate that the observed trends might be related to changes of the calcite saturation state of the medium. Since coccoliths constitute a significant portion of the global oceanic CaCO₃ export production, the Ca isotope fractionation in these biogenic structures is important for defining the isotopic composition of the Ca sink of the ocean, one of the key parameters for modelling changes to the marine Ca budget over time. For the present ocean our results are in general agreement with the previously postulated and applied mean value of the oceanic Ca sink (Δ_sed) of about − 1.3‰, but the observed inter- and intra-species differences point to possible changes in Δ_sed through earth history, due to changing physico-chemical conditions of the ocean and shifts in floral and faunal assemblages.