Application of array-based waveform cross-correlation techniques to aftershock sequences: the 2003 Lefkada Island,Greece, case

Cross-correlation analysis was applied to events in the 2003 Lefkada Island, Greece, sequence in order to identify clusters of seismicity within the extensive aftershock sequence along a fault zone of approximately 100 km length. Data from the small-aperture TRISAR array, covering the first 2 days of aftershock activity, were used. Array-based waveform correlation has a great advantage over single channel correlation analysis in that the validity of waveform matches with relatively low correlation coefficients can be examined by checking the alignment of correlation traces on the different channels. The length of the fault zone leads inevitably to a great diversity in the waveforms, although a small number of clusters of very similar events emerge from the TRISAR data. Events which the correlation analysis had placed within the same cluster were listed in the ISC Bulletin with separations of up to tens of kilometres. This made it necessary to check the validity of the TRISAR clusters by applying the same procedure independently to the three-component stations of the National Seismographic Network of the National Observatory of Athens, located at local to regional distances from the aftershock area. Results suggest that array-based waveform correlation provides a robust tool both for identifying event clusters within large aftershock areas and for identifying situations in which bulletin event location estimates need re-evaluation.     

Dehydration melting of tonalites. Part II. Composition of melts and solids

 Dehydration melting of tonalitic compositions (phlogopite or biotite-plagioclase-quartz assemblages) is investigated within a temperature range of 700–1000°C and pressure range of 2–15 kbar. The solid reaction products in the case of the phlogopite-plagioclase(An₄₅)-quartz starting material are enstatite, clinopyroxene and potassium feldspar, with amphiboles occurring occasionally. At 12 kbar, zoisite is observed below 800°C, and garnet at 900°C. The reaction products of dehydration melting of the biotite (Ann₅₀)-plagioclase (An₄₅)-quartz assemblage are melt, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, amphibole and potassium feldspar. At pressures > 8 kbar and temperatures below 800°C, epidote is also formed. Almandine-rich garnet appears above 10 kbar at temperatures ≥ 750°C. The composition of melts is granitic to granodioritic, hence showing the importance of dehydration melting of tonalites for the formation of granitic melts and granulitic restites at pressure-temperature conditions within the continental crust. The melt compositions plot close to the cotectic line dividing the liquidus surfaces between quartz and potassium feldspar in the haplogranite system at 5 kbar and a _{H 2O} = 1. The composition of the melts changes with the composition of the starting material, temperature and pressure. With increasing temperature, the melt becomes enriched in Al₂O₃ and FeO+MgO. Potash in the melt is highest just when biotite disappears. The amount of CaO decreases up to 900°C at 5 kbar whereas at higher temperatures it increases as amphibole, clinopyroxene and more An-component dissolve in the melt. The Na₂O content of the melt increases slightly with increase in temperature. The composition of the melt at temperatures > 900°C approaches that of the starting assemblage. The melt fraction varies with composition and proportion of hydrous phases in the starting composition as well as temperature and pressure. With increasing modal biotite from 20 to 30 wt%, the melt proportion increases from 19.8 to 22.3 vol.% (850°C and 5 kbar). With increasing temperature from 800 to 950°C (at 5 kbar), the increase in melt fraction is from 11 to 25.8 vol.%. The effect of pressure on the melt fraction is observed to be relatively small and the melt proportion in the same assemblage decreases at 850°C from 19.8 vol.% at 5 kbar to 15.3 vol.% at 15 kbar. Selected experiments were reversed at 2 and 5 kbar to demonstrate that near equilibrium compositions were obtained in runs of longer duration. Received: 27 December 1995 / Accepted: 7 May 1996     

ICEARRAY: the first small-aperture, strong-motion array in Iceland

A small-aperture, strong-motion array, the ICEARRAY, has been deployed in South Iceland, a region with a history of destructive earthquakes, some exceeding magnitude 7. The array’s purpose is: (1) monitoring future significant events in the region, (2) quantifying spatial variability of strong-motion over short distances and (3) shedding light on earthquake source processes. The number of array stations and their arrangement were based on an optimisation of the shape of the corresponding array transfer function (ATF). The optimal ICEARRAY configuration comprises 14 stations, has an aperture of ~1.9 km and a minimum interelement distance of ~50 m and possesses a near-azimuthally independent ATF with a sharp main lobe, negligible sidelobes and a wavenumber range of 1.5–24 rad/km. Accordingly, the ICEARRAY has the intended capabilities of capturing seismic waves in the frequency range of 1–20 Hz, which is of main interest to earthquake engineering and engineering seismology applications.     

The multiple chronological techniques applied to the Lake Suigetsu SG06 sediment core,central Japan

The varved sediment of Lake Suigetsu (central Japan) provides a valuable opportunity to obtain high‐resolution, multi‐proxy palaeoenvironmental data across the last glacial/interglacial cycle. In order to maximize the potential of this archive, a well‐constrained chronology is required. This paper outlines the multiple geochronological techniques being applied – namely varve counting, radiocarbon dating, tephrochronology (including argon–argon dating) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) – and the approaches by which these techniques are being integrated to form a single, coherent, robust chronology. Importantly, we also describe here the linkage of the floating Lake Suigetsu (SG06) varve chronology and the absolute (IntCal09 tree‐ring) time scale, as derived using radiocarbon data from the uppermost (non‐varved) portion of the core. This tie‐point, defined as a distinct (flood) marker horizon in SG06 (event layer B‐07–08 at 1397.4 cm composite depth), is thus derived to be 11 255 to 11 222 IntCal09 cal. years BP (68.2% probability range).     

Oil prices and energy technology innovation: An empirical analysis

To achieve environmental sustainability and reduce their vulnerability to oil shocks, countries can develop new energy technologies. Technological advances reduce the cost of structural changes in the energy economy, and thus also increase the political feasibility of such changes. But what explains international variation in the form and quality of energy technology innovation? We build on previous theories and offer an integrated account: increasing oil prices reinforce existing sectoral innovation systems, both politically and economically, thus allowing public policymakers and private entrepreneurs to profitably invest in new energy technologies. We test this theoretical argument against data on public R&D expenditures and patents in the domain of renewable energy technology for industrialized countries from 1989 to 2007. We find strong support for the interactive hypothesis. Thus, we contribute to literatures on (i) domestic responses to international shocks, (ii) environmental sustainability and energy security, and (iii) the political economy of technology innovation.     

Holocene peatland development and hydrological variability inferred from bog‐pine dendrochronology and peat stratigraphy – a case study from southern Sweden

Dendrochronological analysis was applied to subfossil remains of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) buried in a South Swedish peat deposit. In combination with peat stratigraphy, this approach was explored for its potential to provide information on the local hydrological and depositional history at the site, forming the basis for a regional palaeohydrological analysis. A 726‐year ring‐width chronology was developed and assigned an absolute age of 7233–6508 cal a BP (5284–4559 BC) through cross‐dating with German bog‐pine chronologies, whereas two short additional records of older ages were radiocarbon dated. Registration of growth positions of individual trees allowed assessment of the spatial dynamics of the pine population in response to hydrological changes and peatland ontogeny. Annually resolved growth variability patterns in the pine population reveal several establishment and degeneration phases, probably reflecting fluctuations in bog‐surface wetness. A major establishment phase at 7200–6900 cal a BP reflects the onset of a period of lowered groundwater level, also indicated by increased peat humification, and a development consistent with regional temperature and lake level reconstructions revealed from other proxies. This study demonstrates that subfossil bog‐pine populations may provide annually to decadally resolved reconstructions of local groundwater variability, which are highly relevant in a long‐term palaeoclimatic context. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling thermal deformation of VLBI antennas with a new temperature model

Temperature variations at very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) sites cause thermal deformations of the VLBI antennas and corresponding displacements of the VLBI reference points. The thermal deformation effects typically contain seasonal and daily signatures. The amplitudes of the annual vertical motion of the antenna reference point can reach several millimeters, depending on the design of the antenna structure, on the material, and on the environmental effects such as global station position, station height and climatology effects. Simple methods to correct this effect use the difference of the environmental temperature with respect to a defined reference temperature, the antenna dimensions, the elevation of the antenna, the material of antenna structure. Applying these simple models for thermal deformation in the VLBI data analysis improves the baseline length repeatability by 3.5%. A comparison of these simple models with local thermal deformation measurements at the antennas in Onsala and Wettzell show that the local measurements and the modeled corrections agree well when the temperature of the antenna structure is used, but agree less good when the surrounding air temperatures are used. To overcome this problem we present a method to model temperature penetration into the antenna structures, that allows to model thermal deformation effects that agree with the observed vertical deformation of the Onsala and Wettzell radio telescopes with a root mean square deviation of 0.07 and 0.13 mm, respectively. Possible implementations in the VLBI analysis are presented, and the definition of an adequate reference temperature is discussed.     

An Eocene/Oligocene blueschist‐/greenschist facies P–T loop from the Cycladic Blueschist Unit on Naxos Island,Greece: Deformation‐related re‐equilibration vs. thermal relaxation

Geothermobarometric and geochronological work indicates a complete Eocene/early Oligocene blueschist/greenschist facies metamorphic cycle of the Cycladic Blueschist Unit on Naxos Island in the Aegean Sea region. Using the average pressure–temperature (P–T) method of thermocalc coupled with detailed textural work, we separate an early blueschist facies event at 576 ± 16 to 619 ± 32°C and 15.5 ± 0.5 to 16.3 ± 0.9 kbar from a subsequent greenschist facies overprint at 384 ± 30°C and 3.8 ± 1.1 kbar. Multi‐mineral Rb–Sr isochron dating yields crystallization ages for near peak‐pressure blueschist facies assemblages between 40.5 ± 1.0 and 38.3 ± 0.5 Ma. The greenschist facies overprint commonly did not result in complete resetting of age signatures. Maximum ages for the end of greenschist facies reworking, obtained from disequilibrium patterns, cluster near c. 32 Ma, with one sample showing rejuvenation at c. 27 Ma. We conclude that the high‐P rocks from south Naxos were exhumed to upper mid‐crustal levels in the late Eocene and early Oligocene at rates of 7.4 ± 4.6 km/Ma, completing a full blueschist‐/greenschist facies metamorphic cycle soon after subduction within c. 8 Ma. The greenschist facies overprint of the blueschist facies rocks from south Naxos resulted from rapid exhumation and associated deformation/fluid‐controlled metamorphic re‐equilibration, and is unrelated to the strong high‐T metamorphism associated with the Miocene formation of the Naxos migmatite dome. It follows that the Miocene thermal overprint had no impact on rock textures or Sr isotopic signatures, and that the rocks of south Naxos underwent three metamorphic events, one more than hitherto envisaged.     

Zur Erfassung und Statistik der kleinsten Niederschläge

Zusammenfassung H?ufigkeitsverteilungen nach logarithmischen Merkmalsskalen er?ffnen für die Niederschlagsstatistik das bisher nicht bekannte Gebiet kleinster Niederschlagsmengen unter 0.05 mm, dessen Erfassung nach Tropfenbildregistrierungen m?glich wird. Nahezu die H?lfte aller Einzelniederschl?ge fallen in diesen Bereich. Das H?ufigkeitsmaximum der Tages- und Terminsummen von einigen mm rückt bei den Einzelniederschl?gen in den Bereich von 0.03 bis 0.04 mm. Der Erfassung der kleinsten Niederschl?ge kommt neben einer praktischen (Pflanzenphysiologie, Sch?dlingsbiologie) auch eine theoretische Bedeutung zu.

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Summary The use of logarithmic scales in statistical precipitation research introduces in the unknown range of diminutive and minute amounts of precipitation less than 0.05 mm, the catch of which is possible by raindrop recordings. Nearly half of single rainfalls belongs to this class. Regarding to daily sums the maximum in frequency distribution amounts a range of some mm. In single rainfalls the maximal range shifts to 0.03–0.04 mm. The investigation of minute precipitation amounts is important with regard to practical and theoretical use.

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Dipl. Ing. Dr.Johannes Grunow, Meteorologisches ObservatoriumHohenpeissenberg (Oberbayern).