Modelling the Velocity Field in a Regular Grid in the Area of Poland on the Basis of the Velocities of European Permanent Stations

The paper presents the results of testing the various methods of permanent stations’ velocity residua interpolation in a regular grid, which constitutes a continuous model of the velocity field in the territory of Poland. Three packages of software were used in the research from the point of view of interpolation: GMT (The Generic Mapping Tools), Surfer and ArcGIS. The following methods were tested in the softwares: the Nearest Neighbor, Triangulation (TIN), Spline Interpolation, Surface, Inverse Distance to a Power, Minimum Curvature and Kriging. The presented research used the absolute velocities’ values expressed in the ITRF2005 reference frame and the intraplate velocities related to the NUVEL model of over 300 permanent reference stations of the EPN and ASG-EUPOS networks covering the area of Europe. Interpolation for the area of Poland was done using data from the whole area of Europe to make the results at the borders of the interpolation area reliable. As a result of this research, an optimum method of such data interpolation was developed. All the mentioned methods were tested for being local or global, for the possibility to compute errors of the interpolated values, for explicitness and fidelity of the interpolation functions or the smoothing mode. In the authors’ opinion, the best data interpolation method is Kriging with the linear semivariogram model run in the Surfer programme because it allows for the computation of errors in the interpolated values and it is a global method (it distorts the results in the least way). Alternately, it is acceptable to use the Minimum Curvature method. Empirical analysis of the interpolation results obtained by means of the two methods showed that the results are identical. The tests were conducted using the intraplate velocities of the European sites. Statistics in the form of computing the minimum, maximum and mean values of the interpolated North and East components of the velocity residuum were prepared for all the tested methods, and each of the resulting continuous velocity fields was visualized by means of the GMT programme. The interpolated components of the velocities and their residua are presented in the form of tables and bar diagrams.     

Simulating strong ground motion with the `k -2 ' kinematic source model: An application to the seismic hazard in the Erzincan basin, Turkey

We present a seismic hazard application of a kinematic broad-bandrupture model. This model is based on the k-square dislocation distribution concept (Herrero and Bernard, 1994).Synthetic seismograms are calculated in the far-field approximation with alayered velocity medium for the 13 March 1992 Erzincan earthquake.With a parametrization of the source constrained by other studies,the far-field contribution correctly fits the recorded strong ground motion, which presents a 0.5 to 2 Hz dominant frequency range.As the k-square model is particularly well adapted to synthetize realistic strong-motion at short distances from the fault,it is a reliable tool for calculating seismic hazard maps around active faults. We thus present a synthetic peak ground acceleration map associatedwith the 13 March 1992 activated fault, for a 60 km × 60 km regionaround the epicenter taking into account a smoothed velocity structure ofthe basin in agreement with the absence of significant site effects related to1D resonance deduced from the aftershock records study.This map is compared with several post seismic reports: macroseismicintensities, detailed distribution of damage, and soil cracking andliquefaction. Our model shows that the values of the peak acceleration andvelocity can explain the dominant spatial distributionof these effects, which concentrates in a narrow band along theactivated segment fault, and in particular at its southernextremity. These results enable us to present such maps forhypothetical future earthquake ruptures, located on the major visible orinferred active fault segments in and around the basin. The effects ofthese potential sources are analyzed in relation to the 1992 eventeffects in order to eliminate unknown site responses. We show that thesouthern part of the basin is particularly exposed because of thepresence of strike-slip faults,and that the western part of the basin would suffer a significantlyhigher strong motion levelthan during the 1992 event with the activation of moderate sizednormal faults evidenced on thesouthwestern edge of the basin.     

Textural and fluid inclusion constraints on the origin of the banded-iron-formation-hosted gold deposits at Maevatanana,central Madagascar

The Maevatanana deposits consist of gold-bearing quartz–sulphide veins crosscutting banded iron formation (BIF) within a metamorphosed 2.5 Ga greenstone belt. The host rocks are dominated by a sequence of migmatites, gneisses, amphibolites, magnetite-rich quartzites and soapstones, intruded by large granitoid batholiths (e.g. the 0.8 Ga Beanana granodiorite). In the mineralised rocks, pyrite is the dominant sulphide, in addition to accessory chalcopyrite and galena. Outside the immediate ore zone, the BIF is dominated by quartz + magnetite ± hematite, accompanied by cummingtonite, albite and biotite. Gold occurs as globular grains (usually <500 μm) within quartz crystals close to the sulphides and as invisible inclusions within pyrite and chalcopyrite (up to 2,500 ppm Au content). Fluid inclusion textural and microthermometric studies indicate heterogeneous trapping of a low-salinity (∼3.6 wt.% eq. NaCl) aqueous fluid coexisting with a carbonic fluid. Evidence for fluid-phase immiscibility during ore formation includes variable L/V ratios in the inclusions and the fact that inclusions containing different phase proportions occur in the same area, growth zone, or plane. Laser Raman spectroscopy confirms that the vapour phase in these inclusions is dominated by CO₂ but shows that it may contain small amounts of CH₄ (<1 mol%), H₂S (<0.05 mol%) and traces of N₂. Fluid inclusion trapping conditions ranged from 220 to 380°C and averaged 250°C. Pressure was on the order of 1–2 kbar. The abundant CO₂ and low salinity of the inclusions suggest a metamorphic origin for the fluid. Likewise, the presence of H₂S in the fluid and pyritisation of the wall-rock indicate that gold was likely transported by sulphide complexing. Fluid immiscibility was probably triggered by the pressure released by fracturing of the quartzites during fault movements due to competence differences with the softer greenstones. Fracturing greatly enhanced fluid circulation through the BIF, allowing reaction of the sulphide-bearing fluids with the iron oxides. This caused pyrite deposition and concomitant Au precipitation, enhanced by fluid phase separation as H₂S partitioned preferentially into the carbonic phase.     

Variations in sediment yield over the advance and retreat of a calving glacier, Laguna San Rafael, North Patagonian Icefield

Bathymetric and sub-bottom acoustic data were collected in Laguna San Rafael, Chile, to determine sediment yields during the Little Ice Age advance and subsequent retreat of San Rafael Glacier. The sediment volumes and subaqueous landforms imaged are used to interpret the proglacial dynamics and estimate erosion rates from a temperate tidewater glacier over a complete advance-retreat cycle. Sediment yields from San Rafael Glacier averaged 2.7 × 10⁷ m³/a since the end of the Little Ice Age, circa AD 1898, corresponding to average basin-wide erosion rates of 23 ± 9 mm/a; the highest erosion rates, 68 ± 23 mm/a, occurred at the start of the retreat phase, and have since been steadily decreasing. Erosion rates were much lower during glacial advance, averaging at most 7 mm/a, than during retreat. Such large glacial sediment yields over two centuries of advance and retreat suggest that the contribution of sediments stored subglacially cannot account for much of the sediment being delivered to the terminus today. The detailed sub-bottom information of a proglacial lagoon yields important clues as to the timing of erosion, deposition and transfer of glacigenic sediments from orogens to the continental shelves, and the influence of glacier dynamics on this process.     

Electrical Resistance Heating of Clay Layers in Water‐Saturated Sand

Electrical resistance heating (ERH) experiments were performed in a two‐dimensional water‐saturated porous medium comprising an electrically conductive, low‐permeability clay lens embedded within a less electrically conductive, higher permeability silica sand. These were compared to experiments performed in homogeneous silica sand. All experiments were performed in the absence of a non‐aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) or dissolved volatile organic compound (VOC). Temperature monitoring showed preferential heating in the clay lens and higher overall heating rates throughout the test cell compared to the homogeneous case. Gas production was localized around the sand–clay interface due to high temperature and low capillary displacement pressure. Above the clay lens, unexpected temperature plateaus were observed, similar to those observed in previous experiments during NAPL–water co‐boiling. A conceptual model based on the consumption of thermal energy as latent heat of vaporization in the highly localized heating and gas production region adjacent to the clay lens is proposed to explain the temperature plateaus. Supporting data is drawn from images of the gas phase and electric current measurements. These results show that the use of co‐boiling plateaus as an indicator of NAPL–water co‐boiling could be misleading during applications of ERH at sites containing electrically conductive, low‐permeability clay lenses embedded within less electrically conductive, higher‐permeability sands.     

On the validity of the chapman-enskog description of the solar wind

The validity of the Chapman-Enskog method in the calculation of the heat conductivity of the solar wind is studied. The predictions of the Chapman-Enskog theory are compared with known results of rarefied gas kinetic theory. The results suggest that the use of the Chapman-Enskog theory to describe the transport processes in the solar wind is not strictly justified.