Multiple Well-Shutdown Tests and Site-Scale Flow Simulation in Fractured Rocks

A new method was developed for conducting aquifer tests in fractured-rock flow systems that have a pump-and-treat (P&T) operation for containing and removing groundwater contaminants. The method involves temporary shutdown of individual pumps in wells of the P&T system. Conducting aquifer tests in this manner has several advantages, including (1) no additional contaminated water is withdrawn, and (2) hydraulic containment of contaminants remains largely intact because pumping continues at most wells. The well-shutdown test method was applied at the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC), West Trenton, New Jersey, where a P&T operation is designed to contain and remove trichloroethene and its daughter products in the dipping fractured sedimentary rocks underlying the site. The detailed site-scale subsurface geologic stratigraphy, a three-dimensional MODFLOW model, and inverse methods in UCODE_2005 were used to analyze the shutdown tests. In the model, a deterministic method was used for representing the highly heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity distribution and simulations were conducted using an equivalent porous media method. This approach was very successful for simulating the shutdown tests, contrary to a common perception that flow in fractured rocks must be simulated using a stochastic or discrete fracture representation of heterogeneity. Use of inverse methods to simultaneously calibrate the model to the multiple shutdown tests was integral to the effectiveness of the approach.     

Estimation of grain size variability with micro X-ray fluorescence in laminated lacustrine sediments,Cape Bounty,Canadian High Arctic

Finely laminated sediment cores from two Arctic lakes were investigated using the Itrax™ Core Scanner that provides micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) measurements with a spatial resolution of 100 μm. We compared these chemical measurements with standard geochemical methods using, at the macroscopic scale, inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and, at the microscopic scale, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). We also investigated the relationship between the chemical profiles and the grain size of sediments at macro-scale using laser particle-size analysis, and at microscopic scale, using thin section image analysis techniques. Results show a link between grain size and the relative abundance of several elements. Silicon and zirconium are associated with very coarse silt and sand deposits, K and Fe with clay-rich layers, and Ti with silty facies. Four sedimentary facies are characterised based on sedimentary structure and texture, and interpreted in terms of known seasonal hydroclimatic processes. We show that is possible to identify these sedimentary facies using μ-XRF element abundance or ratio variations. The K/Ti ratio is the best marker of the upper varve boundary, and it might be used for varve identification and counting of Cape Bounty sediments in future. More generally, this study demonstrates new applications for paleohydrological reconstructions from laminated sediments.     

ERORUN-STAFOR: A collaborative observatory for the multidisciplinary study of the critical zone processes in a tropical volcanic watershed including a Tropical Montane Cloud Forest

Tropical volcanic islands are biodiversity hotspots where the Critical Zone (CZ) still remains poorly studied. In such steep topographic environments associated with extreme climatic events (cyclones), deployment and maintenance of monitoring equipment is highly challenging. While a few Critical Zone Observatories (CZOS) are located in tropical volcanic regions, none of them includes a Tropical Montane Cloud Forest (TMCF) at the watershed scale. We present here the dataset of the first observatory from the French network of critical zone observatories (OZCAR) located in an insular tropical and volcanic context, integrating a ‘Tropical Montane Cloud Forest’: The ERORUN-STAFOR observatory. This collaborative observatory is located in the northern part of La Réunion island (Indian Ocean) within the 45.0 km² watershed of Rivière des Pluies (i.e., Rainfall river) which hosts the TMCF of Plaines des Fougères, one of the best preserved natural habitats in La Réunion Island. Since 2014, the ERORUN-STAFOR monitoring in collaboration with local partners collected a multidisciplinary dataset with a constant improvement of the instrumentation over time. At the watershed scale and in its vicinity, the ERORUN-STAFOR observatory includes 10 measurement stations covering the upstream, midstream and downstream part of the watershed. The stations record a total of 48 different variables through continuous (sensors) or periodic (sampling) monitoring. The dataset consists of continuous time series variables related to (i) meteorology, including precipitation, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, net radiation, atmospheric pressure, cloud water flux, irradiance, leaf wetness and soil temperature, (ii) hydrology, including water level and temperature, discharge and electrical conductivity (EC) of stream, (iii) hydrogeology, including (ground)water level, water temperature and EC in two piezometers and one horizontally drilled groundwater gallery completed by soil moisture measurements under the canopy. The dataset is completed by periodic time series variables related to (iv) hydrogeochemistry, including field parameters and water analysis results. The periodic sampling survey provides chemical and isotopic compositions of rainfall, groundwater, and stream water at different locations of this watershed. The ERORUN-STAFOR monitoring dataset extends from 2014 to 2022 with an acquisition frequency from 10 min to hourly for the sensor variables and from weekly to monthly frequency for the sampling. Despite the frequent maintenance of the monitoring sites, several data gaps exist due to the remote location of some sites and instrument destruction by cyclones. Preliminary results show that the Rivière des Pluies watershed is characterized by high annual precipitation (>3000 mm y⁻¹) and a fast hydrologic response to precipitation (≈2 h basin lag time). The long-term evolution of the deep groundwater recharge is mainly driven by the occurrence of cyclone events with a seasonal groundwater response. The water chemical results support existing hydrogeological conceptual models suggesting a deep infiltration of the upstream infiltrated rainfall. The TMCF of Plaine des Fougères shows a high water storage capacity (>2000% for the Bryophytes) that makes this one a significant input of water to groundwater recharge which still needs to be quantified. This observatory is a unique research site in an insular volcanic tropical environment offering three windows of observation for the study of critical zone processes through upstream-midstream-downstream measurements sites. This high-resolution dataset is valuable to assess the response of volcanic tropical watersheds and aquifers at both event and long-term scales (i.e., global change). It will also provide insights in the hydrogeological conceptual model of volcanic islands, including the significant role of the TMCFs in the recharge processes as well as the watershed hydrosedimentary responses to extreme climatic events and their respective evolution under changing climatic conditions. All data sets are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7983138 .     

Detection of temporal changes in the spatial distribution of cancer rates using local Moran’s I and geostatistically simulated spatial neutral models

This paper presents the first application of spatially correlated neutral models to the detection of changes in mortality rates across space and time using the local Morans I statistic. Sequential Gaussian simulation is used to generate realizations of the spatial distribution of mortality rates under increasingly stringent conditions: 1) reproduction of the sample histogram, 2) reproduction of the pattern of spatial autocorrelation modeled from the data, 3) incorporation of regional background obtained by geostatistical smoothing of observed mortality rates, and 4) incorporation of smooth regional background observed at a prior time interval. The simulated neutral models are then processed using two new spatio-temporal variants of the Morans I statistic, which allow one to identify significant changes in mortality rates above and beyond past spatial patterns. Last, the results are displayed using an original classification of clusters/outliers tailored to the space-time nature of the data. Using this new methodology the space-time distribution of cervix cancer mortality rates recorded over all US State Economic Areas (SEA) is explored for 9 time periods of 5 years each. Incorporation of spatial autocorrelation leads to fewer significant SEA units than obtained under the traditional assumption of spatial independence, confirming earlier claims that Type I errors may increase when tests using the assumption of independence are applied to spatially correlated data. Integration of regional background into the neutral models yields substantially different spatial clusters and outliers, highlighting local patterns which were blurred when local Morans I was applied under the null hypothesis of constant risk.This research was funded by grants R01 CA92669 and 1R43CA105819-01 from the National Cancer Institute and R43CA92807 under the Innovation in Biomedical Information Science and Technology Initiative at the National Institute of Health. The views stated in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NCI. The authors also thank three anonymous reviewers for their comments that helped improve the presentation of the methodology.     

Giant submarine collapse of a carbonate platform at the Turonian–Coniacian transition: The Ayabacas Formation, southern Peru

The Ayabacas Formation of southern Peru is an impressive unit formed by the giant submarine collapse of the mid‐Cretaceous carbonate platform of the western Peru back‐arc basin (WPBAB), near the Turonian–Coniacian transition (～90–89 Ma). It extends along the southwestern edge of the Cordillera Oriental and throughout the Altiplano and Cordillera Occidental over >80 000 km² in map view, and represents a volume of displaced sediments of >10 000 km³. The collapse occurred down the basin slope, i.e. toward the SW. Six zones are characterised on the basis of deformational facies, and a seventh corresponds to the northeastern ‘stable’ area (Zone 0). Zones 1–3 display increasing fragmentation from NE to SW, and are composed of limestone rafts and sheets embedded in a matrix of mainly red, partly calcareous and locally sandy, mudstones to siltstones. In contrast, in Zones 4 and 5 the unit consists only of displaced and stacked limestone masses forming a ‘sedimentary thrust and fold system’, with sizes increasing to the southwest. In Zone 6, the upper part of the limestone succession consists of rafts and sheets stacked over the regularly bedded lower part. The triggering of this extremely large mass wasting clearly ensued from slope creation, oversteepening and seismicity produced by extensional tectonic activity, as demonstrated by the observation of synsedimentary normal faults and related thickness variations. Other factors, such as pore pressure increases or lithification contrasts probably facilitated sliding. The key role of tectonics is strengthened by the specific relationships between the basin and collapse histories and two major fault systems that cross the study area. The Ayabacas collapse occurred at a turning point in the Central Andean evolution. Before the event, the back‐arc basin had been essentially marine and deepened to the west, with little volcanic activity taking place at the arc. After the event, the back‐arc was occupied by continental to near‐continental environments, and was bounded to the southwest by a massive volcanic arc shedding debris and tuffs into the basin.     

Crustal structure beneath the Mount Cameroon region derived from recent gravity measurements

In this study, the recent update of the gravity database with new measurements has raised the opportunity of improving the knowledge of the crustal structure beneath the large volcanic system called Mount Cameroon, and its implication in the regional tectonics. The multi-scale wavelet analysis method was applied to highlight the geologic features of the area, and their depths were estimated using the logarithmic power spectrum method. The results reveal a complex crustal structure beneath Mount Cameroon with high variation in the lateral distribution of crustal densities. The upper and lower crusts are intruded by dense materials originating from the mantle with less lateral extension. The trends of Tiko and Ekona faults along the intrusion suggest tectonic activities as deep as 25 km. The difference in mantle composition or temperature between the East and the West of the studied area is clearly seen in detailed wavelet images and agrees with a mantle origin for the Cameroon Volcanic Line.     

Threshold of motion and settling velocities of mollusc shell debris: Influence of faunal composition

Bioclastic particles derived from mollusc shell debris can represent a significant fraction of sandy to gravelly sediments in temperate and cool‐water regions with high carbonate productivity. Their reworking and subsequent transport and deposition by waves and currents is highly dependent on the shape and density of the particles. In this study, the hydrodynamic behaviour of shell debris produced by eight mollusc species is investigated for several grain sizes in terms of settling velocity (measurements in a settling tube) and threshold of motion under unidirectional current (flume experiments using an acoustic profiler). Consistent interspecific differences in settling velocity and critical bed shear stress are found, related to differences in shell density, shell structure imaged by scanning electron microscopy and grain shape. Drag coefficients are proposed for each mollusc species, based on an interpolation of settling velocity data. Depending on the shell species, the critical bed shear stress values obtained for bioclastic particles fall within or slightly below empirical envelopes established for siliciclastic particles, despite very low settling velocity values. The results suggest that settling velocity, often used to describe the entrainment of sediment particles through the equivalent diameter, is not a suitable parameter to predict the initiation of motion of shell debris. The influence of the flat shape of bioclastic particles on the initiation of motion under oscillatory flows and during bedload and saltation transport is yet to be elucidated.     

FTIR Spectroscopy Data and Carbon Isotope Characteristics of the Ophiolite‐hosted Diamonds

We report new δ¹³C ‐values data and N‐content and N‐aggregation state values for microdiamonds recovered from peridotites and chromitites of the Luobusa ophiolite (Tibet) and chromitites of the Ray‐Iz ophiolite in the Polar Urals (Russia). All analyzed microdiamonds contain significant nitrogen contents (from 108 up to 589 ± 20% atomic ppm) with a consistently low aggregation state, show identical IR spectra dominated by strong absorption between 1130 cm^?1 and 1344 cm^?1, and hence characterize Type Ib diamond. Microdiamonds from the Luobusa peridotites have δ¹³C ‐PDB‐values ranging from ‐28.7‰ to ‐16.9‰, and N‐contents from 151 to 589 atomic ppm. The δ¹³C and N‐content values for diamonds from the Luobusa chromitites are ‐29‰ to ‐15.5‰ and 152 to 428 atomic ppm, respectively. Microdiamonds from the Ray‐Iz chromitites show values varying from ‐27.6 ‰ to ‐21.6 ‰ in δ¹³C and from 108 to 499 atomic ppm in N. The carbon isotopes values bear similar features with previously analyzed metamorphic diamonds from other worldwide localities, but the samples are characterized by lower N‐contents. In every respect, they are different from diamonds occurring in kimberlites and impact craters. Our samples also differ from the few synthetic diamonds; we also analyzed showing enhanced δ¹³C ‐variability and less advanced aggregation state than synthetic diamonds. Our newly obtained N‐aggregation state and N‐content data are consistent with diamond formation over a narrow and rather cold temperature range (i.e. <950°C), and in a short residence time (i.e. within several million years) at high temperatures in the deep mantle.     

Analytical Solution for Modeling Discharge into a Tunnel Drilled in a Heterogeneous Unconfined Aquifer

Predicting transient inflow rates into a tunnel is an important issue faced by hydrogeologists. Most existing analytical solutions overestimate the initial discharge due to the assumption that drilling was instantaneous over the entire tunnel length. In addition, they assume a homogeneous system. An alternative model was recently developed for tunnels intersecting heterogeneous formations, but its application was reduced to the case of confined flow to deep tunnels in weakly diffusive aquifers. In this paper, we adapt existing analytical solutions for drainage systems to the specific case of a tunnel progressively drilled in a highly diffusive heterogeneous unconfined aquifer. The case of a tunnel overlying an impervious layer is analytically solved by applying the superposition principle, while the case of a tunnel constructed some distance above an impervious layer is solved by discretizing the tunnel length into subsectors. Both models can simulate transient discharge into a tunnel drilled at various speeds through a heterogeneous unconfined aquifer, and allow the prediction of discharge rates in shallow tunnels located in highly diffusive aquifers. We successfully applied this approach to a tunnel in heterogeneous volcanic rock.     

Initial versus tangent stiffness‐based Rayleigh damping in inelastic time history seismic analyses

In the inelastic time history analyses of structures in seismic motion, part of the seismic energy that is imparted to the structure is absorbed by the inelastic structural model, and Rayleigh damping is commonly used in practice as an additional energy dissipation source. It has been acknowledged that Rayleigh damping models lack physical consistency and that, in turn, it must be carefully used to avoid encountering unintended consequences as the appearance of artificial damping. There are concerns raised by the mass proportional part of Rayleigh damping, but they are not considered in this paper. As far as the stiffness proportional part of Rayleigh damping is concerned, either the initial structural stiffness or the updated tangent stiffness can be used. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive comparison of these two types of Rayleigh damping models so that a practitioner (i) can objectively choose the type of Rayleigh damping model that best fits her/his needs and (ii) is provided with useful analytical tools to design Rayleigh damping model with good control on the damping ratios throughout inelastic analysis. To that end, a review of the literature dedicated to Rayleigh damping within these last two decades is first presented; then, practical tools to control the modal damping ratios throughout the time history analysis are developed; a simple example is finally used to illustrate the differences resulting from the use of either initial or tangent stiffness‐based Rayleigh damping model. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.