Ground freezing monitoring techniques

Ground-freezing is used in mining and civil engineering to make water-bearing strata temporarily impermeable and to increase their compressive and shear strength by transforming joint water and interstitial water into ice. Freezing of rock or soil layers is achieved by means of an array of cased boreholes, through which a cold liquid is circulated in order to remove heat energy, comparable to cooling coils.

Frost expansion from the boreholes into the ground is monitored, for a better and more economic control of the freezing process. For this purpose, instruments for the determination of borehole deviation, for measurement of the temperature field and for an assessment of the degree of freezing with ultrasonic waves, have proved useful. These three techniques are described based on results obtained from field measurements.     

Seasonal variation in the biogeochemical cycling of seston in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan

This study describes the biogeochemical cycling of seston in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. Seston was characterized by carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotopic abundances. Fluorescence, temperature, light transmittance, and concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen were also determined. PCBs were analyzed from surface (10 m) seston and ΣPCB was calculated by summing all of the congeners quantified in each sample. The vertical and seasonal trends in the δ¹³C values of seston exhibited a broad range from −30.7 to −23.9‰. Low δ¹³C values that occur concurrently with a peak in fluorescence below the thermocline reflect uptake of ¹³C depleted respiratory CO₂ and/or the accumulation of ¹³C depleted lipids by phytoplankton. High δ¹³C values late in the season likely result from a reduction in photosynthetic fractionation associated with a decrease in the CO₂ pool. Seasonal δ¹⁵N values of seston were high in the spring and declined through August. The δ¹⁵N values of seston reflect a balance between fractionation during assimilation of NH₄⁺ or NO₃⁻ and degradative processes. The seston ΣPCB and fluorescence were both high in the spring and subsequently declined, suggesting that the concentrations of PCBs in seston were associated with labile material derived from primary productivity. The strong seasonal trends in the organic geochemical characteristics of seston and concentrations of PCBs emphasize the complex nature of particle cycling in aquatic environments.     

Strain partitioning in a pluton during emplacement in transpressional regime: the example of the Néouvielle granite (Pyrenees)

This microstructural and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility study of the internal structures of the Hercynian Néouvielle granite pluton (100 km²) provides new data indicating that the pluton was emplaced during the main Hercynian tectonic event recognized in the Pyrenees. It also provides new data about the later Alpine deformation localized along narrow mylonitic bands. These bands acted as reverse faults and have not rotated the Hercynian structures that define the main part of the pluton. The pluton is composed of two structural domains: the northern half of the pluton displays a beak shape in map view, with subhorizontal E-W trending lineations of magmatic origin; the southern half is semi-circular and displays rather steeply northward plunging lineations corresponding to magmatic and high temperature (HT) solid-state microstructures. These features are associated with magma deformation during emplacement. Magma deformation corresponds, in the northern half of the pluton, to an E-W strike-slip deformation recognized in the enveloping pelitic metasediments of Carboniferous age and, in the southern half of the pluton, to southward overthrusting recognized in the enveloping quartzites of Devonian age. Juxtaposition in a single granite body of transcurrent and compressive domains is viewed as a strain partitioning in the magma. This strain partitioning is linked to both the transpressive character of the main regional deformation event and the rheological contrast between the pelitic country rocks and quartzose country rocks.     

Unique Marine Olenekian-Anisian Boundary Section from South Primorye, Russian Far East

INTRODUCTION LateOlenekianandAnisianmarinedepositsin SouthPrimoryewerefirststudiedbyD.L.Ivanov,thechiefofageologicalteammakingreconnaissance workfortheconstructionofthetrans Siberianrail road.HecollectedEarlyandMiddleTriassicam monoidsonRussianIsland.Arep…     

Bank failure and erosion on the Ohio river

River bank erosion has benn the focus of recent concern surrounding construction and operation of navigation dams along the Ohio River. Such factors as navigation pool levels, pool fluctuations, and towboat traffic have been alleged to be the cause of severe erosion of Ohio River banks. In this paper available information on Ohio River bank erosion is examined from an historical perspective and from the perspective of recent comprehensive investigations. Historical illustrations, photographs, and published reports indicate a history of significant bank erosion for more than 150 years on the Ohio River. Results of field bank condition reconnaissance studies suggest that construction of navigation dams on the Ohio River has not significantly accelerated or intensified bank erosion. Analysis of erosional mechanisms indicates that bank failure and erosion on the Ohio River are complex and episodic phenomena; however, the principal erosional mechanisms appear to be bank material removal by current tractive forces during flood events and internal erosion of bank materials by bank discharge following floods. It is concluded that waves generated by tow and recreational vessels have little impact on bank stability, but land use changes may affect slope stability and bank erosion.     

Characterisation of carbonate minerals from hyperspectral TIR scanning using features at 14 000 and 11 300 nm

Rapid characterisation of carbonate phases in hyperspectral reflectance spectra acquired from drill core material has important implications for mineral exploration and resource modelling. Major infrared active features of carbonates lie in the thermal region around 6500 nm, 11 300 nm and 14 000 nm, with the latter two features being most useful for differentiating mineral species. A scatter diagram of the wavelength of the 14 000 nm feature vs that of the 11 300 nm feature, powerfully differentiates carbonates. Although the wavelength of the 11 300 nm peak is easily measured, the 14 000 nm trough and peak are commonly weak and their wavelengths can confidently be used only after filtering the spectra, e.g. selecting only those with the trough and peak separated by 175–230 nm, typical of common carbonates. The method is demonstrated with drillhole 120R from the Rosebery polymetallic VHMS deposit in western Tasmania, which has been scanned with the HyLogger-3 system. A 14 000–11 300 plot shows a high degree of clustering of the drillhole 120R data close to the library spectra of calcite, dolomite, Fe-dolomite, ankerite, kutnohorite, rhodochrosite, Fe-rhodochrosite and siderite. The interpreted compositions of the carbonate spectral populations strongly correlate with the chemical populations of 144 analysed carbonates and provide a highly resolved spatial framework for interpreting carbonate alteration.     

Determining the spins of supermassive black holes in Active Galactic Nuclei based on spectropolarimetric observations

Strong constraints are obtained for the spins of supermassive black holes in a number of Active Galactic Nuclei. These estimates are based on spectropolarimetric data, obtained mainly on the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory, as well as data on the kinetic power of relativistic jets. The magnetic fields at the innermost stable Keplerian orbit in the accretion disk and at the event horizon of the supermassive black hole are estimated. These data are used to place strong constraints on the spins of supermassive black holes in Active Galactic Nuclei.     

Onshore record of Hudson River drainage to the continental shelf from the late Miocene through the late Wisconsinan deglaciation, USA: synthesis and revision

Stanford, S. D. 2009: Onshore record of Hudson River drainage to the continental shelf from the late Miocene through the late Wisconsinan deglaciation, USA: synthesis and revision. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00106.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Fluvial and glacial deposits in New Jersey, Long Island, and the Hudson valley provide a record of Hudson River drainage since the late Miocene. Late Miocene fluvial deposits record southerly flow across the emerged inner New Jersey shelf. In the late Miocene–early Pliocene this drainage incised, shifted southwesterly, and discharged to the shelf south of New Jersey. During late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene glaciation, discharge to the shelf in the New York City area was established. This drainage incised and stabilized in the Early and Middle Pleistocene and remained open during pre‐Wisconsinan (Oxygen Isotope Stage 6? (OIS‐6?)) and late Wisconsinan (OIS‐2) glacial advances. During late Wisconsinan retreat, moraine deposits dammed the valley at the Narrows to form Lake Albany. From 19 to 15.5 kyr BP (all dates in ¹⁴C yr), Hudson drainage was directed eastward into the Long Island Sound lowland. Drainage of Lake Wallkill into Lake Albany at 15.5 kyr BP breached the Narrows dam and initiated the unstable phase of Lake Albany, which was controlled by eroding spillways, first on the moraine dam, then on emerged lake‐bottom in the mid‐Hudson valley. Marine incursion between 12 and 11 kyr BP limited fluvial incision of the lake bottom, stabilizing the Quaker Springs, Coveville, and upper Fort Ann spillways. Lowering sea level between 11 and 10 kyr BP allowed incision from the upper to lower Fort Ann threshold. Sediment eroded by lake outflows between 15 and 10.5 kyr BP was trapped in the glacially deepened lower valley. Little inland sediment reached the shelf after 20 kyr BP.     

Pyrite—‘fool's gold’ or misunderstood mineral?

Pyrite (FeS₂) is the most abundant sulphide mineral in the Earth's crust, and with its characteristic shape and appearance, is easily one of the most recognizable. Yet, pyrite has a somewhat tarnished reputation with many considering it to be waste material and of little economic importance, never-mind interest. This assessment however, is misleading and a considerable volume of current research focuses upon the unique characteristics and formation of pyrite. Indeed, with its potential for revealing the very foundations of life, as well as maximizing the discovery and exploitation of society's future metallic resources, pyrite may be of much greater interest and benefit than many geologists realize.     

Response parameters for characterization of infiltration

Rainwater infiltration is of particular interest with respect to slope stability hazard management. The process of rainfall infiltration into unsaturated soil is complex due to the number of soil parameters involved and the random nature of moisture flux boundary conditions. In this paper, the effect of rainfall intensity on infiltration is investigated through the use of finite element seepage modeling for a 5 m high soil column subjected to various rainfall intensities. The numerical modeling study identified three response parameters that can be used to describe one-dimensional infiltration into an unsaturated soil. The response parameters are the depth of wetting front, the matric suction reduction depth, and the sectional infiltration rate. The practical application of the rainfall response parameters in slope stability analysis is illustrated.