Preliminary Rock-Slope-Susceptibility Assessment Using GIS and the SMR Classification

This paper aims to examine the impact of large-scale structuraladjustments (like the Greater Dhaka Flood Protection Project, GDFPP) on local living environment.It focuses the importance of environmental factors in flood hazard mitigation, and examines theenvironmental attitudes of the floodplain residents arising from the large-scale structural adjustments.Based on `perceived natural hazard research perspectives', this paper examines: (i) the reasons for persistentfloodplain occupation, and (ii) the importance of environmental factors in the choice, motivations and decision-makingof floodplain residents.This research used data collected from 300 households situated inthe eastern part of Dhaka. The face-to-face household survey data provided individuals' responses to a structuredquestionnaire on hazards and environment. Survey concerned urban floodplains, and looked fordata on housing, household characteristics, and residents' attitudes. Results of interview surveys wereused to: (i) explore the reasons of floodplain occupation, and (ii) residents' attitudes to tolerable levelof flood risk and willingness to accept environmental change resulting from the proposed structural embankments inthe eastern perimeter of Dhaka City, Bangladesh.Findings revealed that floodplain occupation (by theindividuals' decision-making) was a result of overall reaction to the Government's structuraladjustment policies that resulted from institutional, locational and socio-economic factors. The attitude survey results provided residents' perception to hazards and environment to be dependenton the socio-economic factors – but in a complex manner, many factors are interrelated.In addition to support for structural embankments, the study sample displayed a common concernand widespread environmental awareness. In terms of any `trade-off' between thebenefits (resources) from the embankments and costs (hazards) due to the detrimental impact on environment, the residents of Dhaka, despite some concern forsacrificing embankments for environment, tended to show a generalconsensus for embankments.     

Surface-water quality for the Salí River watershed in NW Argentina

Spatial and temporal variations of Na, Mg, Si, K, Ca, SO₄^2-, Cl^-, HCO₃^-, Ag, Al, As, Au, B, Ba, Be, Bi, Br, Ce, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Dy, Er, Eu, F, Fe, Ga, Ge, Gd, Hf, Hg, Ho, I, La, Li, Mn, Mo, Nb, Nd, Ni, P, Pb, Pr, Rb, Sb, Sm, Sn, Sr, Ta, Tb, Te, Th, Ti, Tl, U, V, W, Y, Yb, Zn, and Zr were monitored through 37 sampling stations to determine the main aspects influencing the surface-water quality in the Salí River watershed (Tucumán Province, NW Argentina). The influence of the regional geological setting on water chemistry allows to distinguish three sub-basins. The interaction with sedimentary rocks was found to be dominant in the northern and central-eastern sub-basin as well as in the southern sub-basin, whereas the metamorphic-granitic basement of the Pampean Ranges was noted in the central sub-basin. In addition, anthropogenic activities affect the spatial variation of K, P, Mn, Rb, and Pb as well as dissolved oxygen concentrations and Eh. Temporal water-quality variation is related to the spatial distribution of precipitation and to the seasonal character of the main local industries (sugar cane, alcohol, citrus), increasing P and K concentrations and decreasing dissolved oxygen concentration and Eh in winter. Cl^-, Na, SO₄^2-, Al, As, B, Fe, Mn, Se and U concentrations exceed the regulated drinking-water thresholds at several sampling stations.     

Is Prediction of Future Landslides Possible with a GIS?

This contribution explores a strategy for landslide hazard zonation inwhich layers of spatial data are used to represent typical settings inwhich given dynamic types of landslides are likely to occur. Theconcepts of assessment and prediction are defined to focus on therepresentation of future hazardous events and in particular on themyths that often provide obstacles in the application of quantitativemethods. The prediction rate curves for different applications describethe support provided by the different data layers in experiments inwhich the typical setting of hazardous events is approximated bystatistically integrating the spatial information.     

Predictive GIS-Based Model of Rockfall Activity in Mountain Cliffs

Rockfall susceptibility has been analysed in mountain cliffs of the Cantabrian Range, North Spain. The main aim of this analysis has been to build a predictive model of rockfall activity from a low number of environmental and geological variables. The rockfall activity has been quantified in a GIS. The cartographic information used shows the spatial distribution of all the recent talus screes as well as their associated source areas in the rock-slopes. The area relation At/Ar (recent talus scree polygon/source basins) in the rock slopes has been used as the rockfall activity indicator. This relation has been validated in 50 pilot rock-slopes and compared with the relation number of recent rock fragments/source basin, obtained from field work. The environmental factors causing rockfall depend on the rock slope situation, and these are: altitude and sun radiation on the rock cliff. The geological factors considered are: lithology, relative position of the main discontinuities with respect to the topographic surface and two morphologic parameters: the roughness and slope gradient. A logistic regression analysis has been applied to a population of 442 limestone and quartzite rock cliffs. The dependent variable is the rockfall activity indicator, which allows the definition of two classes of rock cliff units: low and high activity. The independent variables are altitude, sun radiation (equinox radiation, summer solstice radiation, winter solstice radiation), slope roughness, slope gradient,anisotropy and lithology. Results suggest that it is possible tobuild a valid cartographic predictive model for rockfall activity in mountain rock cliffs from a limited number of easily obtainable variables. The method is especially applicable in massive rock slopes or in regions with uniform rock mass characteristics.     

An Unusual Texture: Skeletal Sphalerite in Pyrite from Dajing Tin-polymetallic Deposit, China

Abstract. Skeletal sphalerite with stellar, cruciform and snowflake-like (or cauliflower-like) shapes included in pyrite is widely found in the Dajing tin-polymetallic deposit. It occurs only in chalcopyrite-pyrite mineralization stage. The compositions of all sphalerites in the chalcopyrite-pyrite stage are characterized by high Cu content (3.9 - 7.0 wt% with a mean of 5.4 wt%), while the skeletal crystal sphalerite has higher zinc and cadmium contents, and lower copper and iron contents, compared with other sphalerites of the same stage. The skeletal crystal sphalerite in pyrite is possibly generated by exsolution.     

Architecture of fault zones determined from outcrop, cores, 3-D seismic tomography and geostatistical modeling: example from the Albalá Granitic Pluton, SW Iberian Variscan Massif

The 3-D seismic tomographic data are used together with field, core and well log structural information to determine the detailed 3-D architecture of fault zones in a granitic massif of volume 500×575×168 m at Mina Ratones area in the Albalá Granitic Pluton. To facilitate the integration of the different data, geostatistical simulation algorithms are applied to interpolate the relatively sparse structural (hard) control data conditioned to abundant but indirect 3-D (soft) seismic tomographic data. To effectively integrate geologic and tomographic data, 3-D migration of the velocity model from the time domain into the depth domain was essential. The resulting 3-D model constitutes an image of the fault zone architecture within the granitic massif that honours hard and soft data and provides an evaluation of the spatial variability of structural heterogeneities based on the computation of 3-D experimental variograms of Fracture Index (fault intensity) data. This probabilistic quantitative 3-D model of spatially heterogeneous fault zones is suitable for subsequent fluid flow simulations. The modeled image of the 3-D fault distribution is consistent with the fault architecture in the Mina Ratones area, which basically consists of two families of subvertical structures with NNE–SSW and ENE–WSW trends that displaces the surfaces of low-angle faults (North Fault) and follows their seismically detected staircase geometry. These brittle structures cut two subvertical dykes (27 and 27′ Dykes) with a NNE–SSW to N–S trend. The faults present high FI (FI>12) adjacent bands of irregular geometry in detail that intersect in space delimiting rhombohedral blocks of relatively less fractured granite (FI<6). Both structural domains likely correspond with the protolith and the damaged zone/fault core in the widely accepted model for fault zone architecture. Therefore, the construction of 3-D grids of the FI in granitic areas affected by brittle tectonics permits the quantitative structural characterization of the rock massif.     

Tree growth response to the 1913 eruption of Volcán de Fuego de Colima, Mexico

The impact of volcanic eruptions on forest ecosystems can be investigated using dendrochronological records. While long-range effects are usually mediated by decreased air temperatures, resulting in frost rings or reduced maximum latewood density, local effects include abrupt suppression of radial growth, occasionally followed by greater than normal growth rates. Annual rings in Mexican mountain pine (Pinus hartwegii Lindl.) on Nevado de Colima, at the western end of the Mexican Neovolcanic Belt, indicate extremely low growth in 1913 and 1914, following the January 1913 Plinian eruption of Volcán de Fuego, 7.7 km to the south. That event, which is listed among the largest explosive eruptions since A.D. 1500, produced ashflow deposits up to 40 m thick and blanketed our study area on Nevado de Colima with a tephra fallout 15–30 cm deep. Radial growth reduction in 1913–14 was ≥30% in 73% of the sampled trees. We geostatistically investigated the ecological impact of the eruption by mapping the decrease in xylem increment and found no evidence of a spatial structure in growth reduction. Little information has been available to date on forest species as biological archives of past environments in the North American tropics, yet this historical case study suggests that treeline tropical sites hold valuable records of prehistoric phenomena, including volcanic eruptions.     

Validation of Landslide Susceptibility Maps; Examples and Applications from a Case Study in Northern Spain

A procedure for validating landslide susceptibility maps wasapplied in a study area in northern Spain and the results obtained compared. Validationwas used to carry out sensitivity analysis for individual variables and combinationsof variables. The validity of different map-making methods was tested, as well as theutility of different types of Favourability Functions. The results obtained show thatvalidation is essential to determine the predictive value of susceptibility maps. Italso helps to better select the most suitable function and significant variables, thus improving the efficiency of the mapping process. Validation based on a temporal strategy makes it possible to derive hazard maps from susceptibility maps.     

Strontium isotope evolution of Late Permian and Triassic seawater

The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values based on brachiopods and conodonts define a nearly continuous record for the Late Permian and Triassic intervals. Minor gaps in measurements exist only for the uppermost Brahmanian, lower part of the Upper Olenekian, and Middle Norian, and only sparse data are available for the Late Permian. These 219 measurements include 67 brachiopods and 114 conodont samples from the Tethyan realm as well as 37 brachiopods and one conodont sample from the mid-European Middle Triassic Muschelkalk Sea. The Late Permian/Lower Triassic interval is characterized by a steep 1.3 × 10⁻³ rise, from 0.7070 at the base of the Dzhulfian to 0.7082 in the late Olenekian, a rate of change comparable to that in the Cenozoic. In the mid-Triassic (Anisian and Ladinian), the isotope values fall to 0.7075, followed again by a rise to 0.7081 in the Middle/Late Norian. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values decline again in the Late Norian (Sevatian) and Rhaetian to 0.7076.The sharp rise in the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values during the Late Permian/Early Triassic was coincident with widespread clastic sedimentation. Because of the paucity of tectonic uplifts, the enhanced erosion may have been due to intermittent humid phases, during mainly an arid interval, coupled with the absence of a dense protective land plant cover following the mass extinction during the latest Permian. The apex of the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr curve at the Olenekian/Anisian boundary coincides with cessation of the large-scale clastic sedimentation and also marks the final recovery of land vegetation, as indicated by the renewed onset of coal formation in the Middle Triassic. The rising ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values from the Middle Carnian to the Late Norian coincide with the uplift and erosion of the Cimmeride-Indosinian orogens marking the closure of the Palaeotethys. The subsequent Rhaetian decline that continues into Jurassic (Pliensbachian/Toarcian boundary), on the other hand, coincides with the opening of the Vardar Ocean and its eastern continuation in the Izmir-Ankara Ophiolitic Belt.Samples from the Upper Muschelkalk are more radiogenic than the global trend. This may reflect separation of the basin from the open ocean. Due to strong meteoric influx from a large land mass in the north, the Germanic Basin became increasing brackish up section in the north and east, but because of the high evaporation rates, the salt content was not much reduced in the southern and central basin where a rich, but increasingly endemic, marine fauna survived.     

Tracing the flow of organic matter from primary producers to filter feeders in Ria Formosa lagoon, Southern Portugal

The flow of organic matter along the main navigation channel of Ria Formosa, Portugal, was assessed using determinations of suspended particulate matter (SPM), particulate organic matter (POM), and chlorophyll a (chla) concentrations in conjunction with stable isotope values of primary producers, particulate matter, and two filter feeders. SPM in the lagoon is dominated by inorganic particles comprising 80% of total weight with organic matter averaging about 20%. The algal component of the POM averaged about 5% with the remainder comprised of detritus. The δ¹³C values of primary producers ranged from ?9.1‰ in the intertidal seagrassZostera noltii to ?30.7‰ in the red seaweedBostrychia scorpioides revealing underlying differences in the mechanisms of carbon uptake. The δ¹³C value ofB. scorpioides, which develops entangled on the salt marsh speciesSpartina maritima, suggests that its main source of inorganic carbon is atmospheric CO₂. The δ¹³C values of the high marsh macrophyteSarcocornia perennis significantly increased with distance from the ocean while δ¹³C values ofZ. noltii decreased, probably because higher decomposition of organic matter at inner stations lowers the δ¹³CO₂ value in the water. The δ¹⁵N values of Ulvales, seagrasses, and marsh plants significantly increased from outer stations to inner stations. This increase may be due either to recycling of nitrogen (N) within the marsh (with loss of light N₂ or NH₄) or to inputs of isotopically heavy N from sewage. The δ¹⁵N values of particulate matter showed an opposite trend, which indicates higher microbial degradation of organic matter at the inner lagoon. The data demonstrate that the seston in the lagoon is a mixture of detritus from lagoon primary producers with a minor contribution of microalgae. The filter feeders are most likely assimilating a mixture of phytoplankton and microphytobenthos. Digestion of lagoon seston is selective. The δ¹⁵N values of both muscle and digestive gland of filter feeders showed the opposite gradient of particulate matter indicating that the depleted δ¹⁵N of SPM at inner stations was not assimilated or even ingested. Stable isotopes values did not differ between the filter-feeders—the musselMytilus galloprovincialis collected on buoys and the clamTapes decussatus collected in the sediment—suggesting a considerable mixture of benthic-pelagic organic matter throughout the water column. Assessment of the changes in isotopic decomposition of detritus as it decays is required to refine our understanding of organic matter transfers in detrital food webs.