Tectonic significance of Late Neoproterozoic granites from the Tibesti massif in southern Libya inferred from Sr and Nd isotopes and U–Pb zircon data

The Neoproterozoic crust of the Tibesti massif was stabilized by magmatism that included subduction-generated batholithic suites and post-orogenic granite plutons. All of the magmatism occurred in a period of about 20 million years centered around 550 Ma, and nearly all of the granites have initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of about 0.706. The Wadi Yebigue pluton has U–Pb zircon ages of 563 Ma and 558 Ma on two different phases and ε_Nd at 550 Ma from −0.5 to −2.2. These isotopic data and the geologic history of the massif suggest that granites in the Tibesti massif developed during and shortly after closure of a short-lived ocean basin that developed by fragmentation of pre-existing continental crust of the Saharan region.     

Propagation of seasonal temperature signals into an aquifer upon bank infiltration

Infiltrating river water carries the temperature signal of the river into the adjacent aquifer. While the diurnal temperature fluctuations are strongly dampened, the seasonal fluctuations are much less attenuated and can be followed into the aquifer over longer distances. In one-dimensional model with uniform properties, this signal is propagated with a retarded velocity, and its amplitude decreases exponentially with distance. Therefore, time shifts in seasonal temperature signals between rivers and groundwater observation points may be used to estimate infiltration rates and near-river groundwater velocities. As demonstrated in this study, however, the interpretation is nonunique under realistic conditions. We analyze a synthetic test case of a two-dimensional cross section perpendicular to a losing stream, accounting for multi-dimensional flow due to a partially penetrating channel, convective-conductive heat transport within the aquifer, and heat exchange with the underlying aquitard and the land surface. We compare different conceptual simplifications of the domain in order to elaborate on the importance of different system elements. We find that temperature propagation within the shallow aquifer can be highly influenced by conduction through the unsaturated zone and into the underlying aquitard. In contrast, regional groundwater recharge has no major effect on the simulated results. In our setup, multi-dimensionality of the flow field is important only close to the river. We conclude that over-simplistic analytical models can introduce substantial errors if vertical heat exchange at the aquifer boundaries is not accounted for. This has to be considered when using seasonal temperature fluctuations as a natural tracer for bank infiltration.     

The nature and transport of the fine‐grained component of Swift Creek Landslide,Northwest Washington

Extreme sedimentation in Swift Creek, located in the Cascades foothills in NW Washington (48°55′N, 122°16′W), results from erosion of the oversteepened, unvegetated toe of a large (55 hectares) active landslide. Deposition of landslide‐derived sediment has necessitated costly mitigation projects in the channel including annual dredging and temporary sediment traps in an attempt to reduce the risk of flooding and damage to man‐made structures downstream. This study attempts to understand the process of sediment production along with the corresponding erosion rates of the sediment source to help with the development of mitigation plans and construction of optimal sediment reservoirs. The bedload and suspended sediment in the creek are a direct result of the weathering process of the serpentinitic bedrock underlying the landslide. The serpentinite does not weather to smectite clay, as previously thought. Instead, it weathers to asbestiform chrysotile with minor amounts of chlorite, illite and hydrotalcite, all of which occur in clay seeps on the unvegetated surface of the landslide. The chrysotile fibers average 2 µm in length and make up at least 50%, by volume, of the suspended load transported in Swift Creek. This study does not address the environmental or health implications of the asbestiform chrysotile transport or deposition. During the sampled time between February 2005 and February 2006, 127 discrete suspended sediment samples were collected and discharge was measured 66 times. The suspended sediment concentrations ranged from 0·02 g L^?1 to 41·6 g L^?1 and the discharge ranged from 0·0 m³ s^?1 to 0·5 m³ s^?1. A nonlinear functional model estimated the total suspended sediment flux from detailed precipitation records and discrete suspended sediment concentration and discharge measurements to be 910 t km^?2 yr^?1. When the suspended sediment flux is coupled with estimates of downstream deposition of coarse sediment, the estimated erosion rate for the entire Swift Creek landslide is 158 mm yr^?1. The majority of the material entering Swift Creek is presumed to originate on the unvegetated toe of the landslide, for which the erosion rate is thus approximately 1 m yr^?1. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and morphometry of drainage network in volcanic terrain, Central Anatolia, Turkey

This paper presents the results of morphotectonic and morphometric research carried out in order to determine the neotectonic development of the volcanic mountains and a drainage network in SW Cappadocia. The study area extends among the Aksaray, Ni?de, and Nev?ehir Provinces. The study area comprises Hasanda?, Melendiz, Keçiboyduran, Göllüda? Mountains and the adjacent parts of these volcanic mountains.Data collected exclusively from 1:25,000 digitised topographic maps and 10 m-resolution DEMs were used to define parameters related to the longitudinal profile of streams. The study area was divided into 10 volcanic units. Longitudinal profiles of 20 streams and stream orders were analysed to determine a regional tectonic differentiation pattern in these units. The streams in the study area drain into four different tectonic depressions. These depressions are Aksaray plain controlled by the Tuz Gölü fault (TGF), Çiftlik plain controlled by the Keçiboyduran–Melendiz fault (KMF), Misli plain controlled by the Derinkuyu fault (DF), and Bor plain controlled by the Ni?de Fault Zone (NFZ). An analysis of morphometric parameters shows that the development of a drainage network is associated with faults and rock resistance. Occurrence of morphometric parameters with different values in units reveals that the volcanic mountains were not uplifted in the same period and were subjected to different morphologic processes. High total order number in the south of Hasanda? (unit 3) and Melendiz Mountains (unit 7) indicate that the uplift ratio of the southern part is much greater than that of the northern part. Moreover, development of the drainage network in the south is in a more advanced phase than in the north. Indeed, the drainage network in the north is in the youngest erosional phase of all parts of the study area. The increased stream length-gradient indices (SL), and stream gradients and an analysis of headward erosion show that the streams displaying the longest and highest reach of the erosional phase are all in the southern part of Keçiboyduran and Melendiz Mountains. The longitudinal profile (Lp) of the present thalweg of the streams is irregular. The irregular Lp are associated with four different causes. These are geological variations in resistance, tectonics, and volcanic topography and downcutting in response to stream incision. The beginning of the fluvial incision in the northern part is younger than in the south.     

Estimating time parameters of overland flow on impervious surfaces by the particle tracking method

Abstract

Travel time and time of concentration T_c are important time parameters in hydrological designs. Although T_c is the time for the runoff to travel to the outlet from the most remote part of the catchment, most researchers have used an indirect method such as hydrograph analysis to estimate T_c. A quasi two-dimensional diffusion wave model with particle tracking for overland flow was developed to determine the travel time, and validated for runoff discharges, velocities, and depths. Travel times for 85%, 95% and 100% of particles arrival at the outlet of impervious surfaces (i.e. T_t85, T_t95, and T_t100) were determined for 530 model runs. The correlations between these travel times and T_c estimated from hydrograph analysis showed a significant agreement between T_c and T_t85. All the travel times showed nonlinear relationships with the input variables (plot length, slope, roughness coefficient, and effective rainfall intensity) but showed linear relationships with each other.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor S. Grimaldi     

Removal of Volatile Organic Compounds in Vertical Flow Filters: Predictions from Reactive Transport Modeling

Vertical flow filters are containers filled with porous medium that are recharged from top and drained at the bottom, and are operated at partly saturated conditions. They have recently been suggested as treatment technology for groundwater containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Numerical reactive transport simulations were performed to investigate the relevance of different filter operation modes on biodegradation and/or volatilization of the contaminants and to evaluate the potential limitation of such remediation mean due to volatile emissions. On the basis of the data from a pilot‐scale vertical flow filter intermittently fed with domestic waste water, model predictions on the system’s performance for the treatment of contaminated groundwater were derived. These simulations considered the transport and aerobic degradation of ammonium and two VOCs, benzene and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). In addition, the advective‐diffusive gas‐phase transport of volatile compounds as well as oxygen was simulated. Model predictions addressed the influence of depth and frequency of the intermittent groundwater injection, degradation rate kinetics, and the composition of the filter material. Simulation results show that for unfavorable operation conditions significant VOC emissions have to be considered and that operation modes limiting VOC emissions may limit aerobic biodegradation. However, a suitable combination of injection depth and composition of the filter material does facilitate high biodegradation rates while only little VOC emissions take place. Using such optimized operation modes would allow using vertical flow filter systems as remediation technology suitable for groundwater contaminated with volatile compounds.     

Computationally efficient stochastic optimization using multiple realizations

The presented study is concerned with computationally efficient methods for solving stochastic optimization problems involving multiple equally probable realizations of uncertain parameters. A new and straightforward technique is introduced that is based on dynamically ordering the stack of realizations during the search procedure. The rationale is that a small number of critical realizations govern the output of a reliability-based objective function. By utilizing a problem, which is typical to designing a water supply well field, several variants of this “stack ordering” approach are tested. The results are statistically assessed, in terms of optimality and nominal reliability. This study demonstrates that the simple ordering of a given number of 500 realizations while applying an evolutionary search algorithm can save about half of the model runs without compromising the optimization procedure. More advanced variants of stack ordering can, if properly configured, save up to more than 97% of the computational effort that would be required if the entire number of realizations were considered. The findings herein are promising for similar problems of water management and reliability-based design in general, and particularly for non-convex problems that require heuristic search techniques.     

Integrated geothermal modeling on different scales in the Northeast German basin

Geothermal modeling is an important part of large-scale basin studies. Based on a new 3D structural model of the Northeast German basin, the present day regional geothermal field is modeled. Range and regional trend of the modeled temperature values are in agreement with the published data. Due to the high spatial resolution, the calculated temperature distribution provides additional information with respect to areas where no measured data is available. The results are used as input and boundary parameters for small-scale models of geothermal energy production. In general, in many regions not enough data is available to define all necessary physical or chemical parameters for modeling. In this context, data obtained from the large-scale model help to constrain unknown parameters. Subsequently, the small-scale model is used to simulate various production schemes focusing on enhanced predictions with respect to the possible lifetime of such installations. The simulation results also show the need for elaborated models if reliable predictions of the temperature evolution are required.