High-Frequency Rayleigh-Wave Method

High-frequency (≥2 Hz) Rayleigh-wave data acquired with a multichannei recording sys-tem have been utilized to determine shear (S)-wave velocities in near-surface geophysics since the early 1980s. This overview article discusses the main research results of high-frequency surface-wave tech-niques achieved by research groups at the Kansas Geological Survey and China University of Geosciences in the last 15 years. The multichannel analysis of surface wave (MASW) method is a nou-iuvasive acoustic approach to estimate near-surface S-wave velocity. The differences between MASW results and direct borehole measurements are approximately 15% or less and random. Studies show that simultaneous inversion with higher modes and the fundamental mode can increase model resolution and an investigation depth. The other important seismic property, quality factor (Q), can also be estimated with the MASW method by inverting attenuation coefficients of Rayleigh waves. An inverted model (S-wave velocity or Q) obtained using a damped least-squares method can be assessed by an optimal damping vector in a vicinity of the inverted model determined by an objective function, which is the trace of a weighted sum of model-resolution and model-covariance matrices. Current developments include modeling high-frequency Rayleigh-waves in near-surface media, which builds a foundation for shallow seismic or Rayleigh-wave inversion in the time-offset domain; imaging dispersive energy with high resolution in the frequency-velocity domain and possibly with data in an arbitrary acquisition geometry, which opens a door for 3D surface-wave techniques; and successfully separating surface-wave modes, which provides a valuable tool to perform S-wave velocity profiling with high-horizontal resolution.     

Ontogenetic Habitat Shifts of the Atlantic Tomcod (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Microgadus tomcod</Emphasis>) Across an Estuarine Transition Zone

Tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) in the St. Lawrence estuarine transition zone (ETZ) undergo an ontogenetic habitat shift. Older age classes, characterised by a male-dominated sex ratio, disperse downstream over the summer months to occupy the colder more saline waters of the estuary. Significant differences in length and mass along the salinity gradient were observed in September with upstream fish of any given age class generally exhibiting greater growth. These differences were not seen in early summer. Benthic amphipod δ ³⁴S signatures were strongly correlated with salinity and served to demonstrate that tomcod δ ³⁴S signatures were not in isotopic equilibrium in the more saline waters of the ETZ. Seasonal distributional patterns, growth dynamics and isotopic disequilibrium all indicate that the observed habitat shift may occur on an annual basis, following winter aggregation in warmer, less saline waters. Tomcod located in the downstream parts of the ETZ, predominantly males, were significantly more sexually developed than upstream tomcod for a given age. On the other hand, greater growth early in life is insured by occupying warmer, upstream waters during the summer months.     

Monte Carlo simulation of mixing in Ca3Fe2Ge3O12–Ca4Ge4O12 garnets and implications for the thermodynamic stability of pyrope–majorite solid solution

Static lattice energy calculations, based on empirical pair potentials, were performed for a large set of structures differing in the arrangement of octahedral cations within the garnet 2 × 2 × 2 supercell. The compositions of these structures varied between Ca₃Fe₂Ge₃O₁₂ and Ca₄Ge₄O₁₂. The energies were cluster expanded using pair and quaternary terms. The derived ordering constants were used to constrain Monte Carlo simulations of temperature-dependent mixing properties in the ranges of 1,073–3,673 K and 0–10 GPa. The free energies of mixing were calculated using the method of thermodynamic integration. The calculations predict a wide miscibility gap between Fe-rich (cubic) and Fe-pure (tetragonal) garnets consistent with recent experimental observations of Iezzi et al. (Phys Chem Miner 32:197–207, 2005). It is shown that the miscibility gap arises due to a very strong cation ordering at the Fe-pure composition, driven by the charge difference between Ca²⁺ and Ge⁴⁺ cations. The structural and thermodynamic analogies between Ca–Ge and Mg–Si systems suggest that a similar miscibility gap should exist between pyrope and Mg–Si-majorite.     

Optimizing Ore–Waste Dig-Limits as Part of Operational Mine Planning Through Genetic Algorithms

Dig-limit optimization is an operational decision making problem that significantly affects the value of open-pit mining operations. Traditionally, dig-limits have been drawn by hand and can be defined as classifying practical ore and waste boundaries suiting equipment sizes in a bench. In this paper, an optimization approach based on a genetic algorithm (GA) was developed to approximate optimal dig-limits on a bench, given grade control data, equipment constraints, processing, and mining costs. A case study was conducted on a sample disseminated nickel bench, in a two destination and single ore-type deposit. The results from using the GA are compared to hand-drawn results. The study shows that GA-based approach can be effectively used for dig-limit optimization.     

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.     

Sedimentology and luminescence ages of Glacial Lake Humber deposits in the central Vale of York

The sedimentary sequence through the Hemingbrough Formation exposed at two sites in the central part of the Vale of York, south of the Escrick moraine ridge, is described and used to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental history of Glacial Lake Humber. Interbedded wave ripples and laminated silts and clays at both sites indicate that Lake Humber was characterised by fluctuating water levels, often no deeper than wave base. Optically stimulated luminescence ages of 21.0 ± 1.9, 21.9 ± 2.0, and 24.1 ± 2.2 kyr returned from two wave-rippled sandy beds within the glaciolacustrine sequence at Hemingbrough, c. 10 km south of the Escrick moraine ridge, provide the first direct chronological determination for the low-level phase of Lake Humber. As these beds are principally attributed to glacial meltwater emanating from the Vale of York ice lobe of the British Ice Sheet, when its margin was at or near the Escrick moraine ridge, this corroborates the interpretation that this ridge marks the LGM ice limit.     

Hydrothermal activity on the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Tectonically- and volcanically-controlled venting at 4–5°S

We report results from an investigation of the geologic processes controlling hydrothermal activity along the previously-unstudied southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (3–7°S). Our study employed the NOC (UK) deep-tow sidescan sonar instrument, TOBI, in concert with the WHOI (USA) autonomous underwater vehicle, ABE, to collect information concerning hydrothermal plume distributions in the water column co-registered with geologic investigations of the underlying seafloor. Two areas of high-temperature hydrothermal venting were identified. The first was situated in a non-transform discontinuity (NTD) between two adjacent second-order ridge-segments near 4°02′S, distant from any neovolcanic activity. This geologic setting is very similar to that of the ultramafic-hosted and tectonically-controlled Rainbow vent-site on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The second site was located at 4°48′S at the axial-summit centre of a second-order ridge-segment. There, high-temperature venting is hosted in an  18 km² area of young lava flows which in some cases are observed to have flowed over and engulfed pre-existing chemosynthetic vent-fauna. In both appearance and extent, these lava flows are directly reminiscent of those emplaced in Winter 2005−06 at the East Pacific Rise, 9°50′N and reference to global seismic catalogues reveals that a swarm of large (M 4.6−5.6) seismic events was centred on the 5°S segment over a  24 h period in late June 2002, perhaps indicating the precise timing of this volcanic eruptive episode. Temperature measurements at one of the vents found directly adjacent to the fresh lava flows at 5°S MAR (Turtle Pits) have subsequently revealed vent-fluids that are actively phase separating under conditions very close to the Critical Point for seawater, at  3000 m depth and 407 °C: the hottest vent-fluids yet reported from anywhere along the global ridge crest.     

Aspects of landslide activity in the Mercantour Massif and the French Riviera, southeastern France

Landslides pose serious hazards in the Mercantour Massif and the French Riviera in southeastern France. The context for landslide development is a particularly favourable one, both in terms of the geomorphic and structural setting of this Alpine region, and of the climatic, hydrologic and seismic factors that trigger such failures. High mountain relief and steep slopes constitute a very favourable setting for failures affecting massive basement rocks and a very heterogeneous sedimentary cover whose resistance has been weakened by weathering, tectonic stresses, and cambering due to gravity. Among trigger factors, the important appears to be the precipitation regime. Rainfalls are commonly concentrated into short high-intensity downpours or into bursts of sustained falls over periods of several days, leading to soil saturation and lubrication of potential failure planes. Snowmelt also contributes to these lubrication processes. Earthquakes affecting this region are also a potentially important landslide trigger. However, while a lot of work has been done on the relationship between extreme climatic events and landslide activity, much less is known of the trigger effects of earthquakes.Both the background factors that promote landslide development and the factors that trigger such failures are discussed within a time frame of landslide development. Progressive changes in soil strength due to weathering, rock cambering and shattering processes lead to long-term reduction in resistance. Superimposed on these progressive changes are episodic triggerings related to rainfall and snowmelt episodes or earthquakes. Landslides may occur as shallow, low-volume “one-time” events or may be part of a progressive long-term failure. The former generally affect unconsolidated or clay-rich sedimentary rocks, especially on the coastal hillslopes of the French Riviera. A notable exception of a major, voluminous “one-time” event was the submarine landslide of the Var Delta in 1979. This landslide, like numerous other smaller subaerial landslides onland, was largely a result of human activities. This landslide occurred following extensive modification of the Var Delta and, notably, reclamation of the steep, fine-grained delta front. Deforestation, quarrying, urbanisation and road network developments are various ways in which human activity has destabilized the coastal hillslopes, favouring the development of numerous shallow landslides following each episode of heavy rainfall.Progressive landslides on the upper hillslopes of the Mercantour Massif have developed over long time spans (order of 10¹ to 10⁵ yrs) and have involved more complex interactions between lithological controls, slope characteristics and trigger factors. The Collelongue and Bois de Malbosc landslides have evolved into now stable failures buttressed by resistant migmatitic diorites or amphibolites. The more voluminous and well monitored Clapière landslide is a relatively simple rotational landslide of the toe-failure type. This active landslide poses a serious to inhabitants and infrastructure in the Tinée Valley. The importance of continued field monitoring, modelling and mapping of landslides and their hazards is emphasised.     

Photochemical activation of chlorine by iron-oxide aerosol

The photochemical activation of chlorine by dissolved iron in artificial sea-salt aerosol droplets and by highly dispersed iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) aerosol particles (mainly hematite, specific surface ~150 m² g^?1) exposed to gaseous HCl, was investigated in humidified air in a Teflon simulation chamber. Employing the radical-clock technique, we quantified the production of gaseous atomic chlorine (Cl) from the irradiated aerosol. When the salt aerosol contained Fe₂O₃ at pH 6, no significant Cl production was observed, even if the dissolution of iron was forced by “weathering” (repeatedly freezing and thawing for five times). Adjusting the pH in the stock suspension to 2.6, 2.2, and 1.9 and equilibrating for one week resulted in a quantifiable amount of dissolved iron (0.03, 0.2, and 0.6 mmol L^?1, respectively) and in gaseous Cl production rates of ~1.6, 6, and 8?×?10²¹ atoms cm^?2 h^?1, respectively. In a further series of experiments, the pure Fe₂O₃ aerosol was exposed to various levels of gaseous hydrogen chloride (HCl). The resulting Cl production rates ranged from 8?×?10²⁰ Cl atoms cm^?2 h^?1 (at ~4 ppb HCl) to 5?×?10²² Cl atoms cm^?2 h^?1 (at ~350 ppb HCl) and confirmed the uptake and conversion of HCl to atomic Cl (at HCl to Cl conversion yields of 2–5 %, depending on the relative humidity). The Fe₂O₃ experiments indicate that iron-induced Cl formation may be important for highly soluble combustion-aerosol particles in marine environments in the presence of gaseous HCl.