Identification of buried sinkholes using refraction tomography at Ft. Campbell Army Airfield,Kentucky

Karst aquifers are highly susceptible to contamination, with numerous points of entry for contaminants through recharge features such as sinkholes, swallow holes and solutionally enlarged fractures. These recharge features may be filled or obscured at the surface, requiring the use of geophysical or remote sensing techniques for their identification. This study uses seismic refraction data collected at the Ft. Campbell Army Airfield (CAAF), Kentucky, USA, to test the hypothesis that refraction tomography is a useful tool for imaging bedrock depressions beneath thick overburden (greater than 20 m of unconsolidated sediment). Southeast of the main taxiway of CAAF seismic velocity tomograms imaged a bedrock low, possibly a closed depression, at a depth of 25 m that had been earlier identified through delay-time analysis of the same refraction data. Tomography suggests the bedrock low is about 250-m wide by 10-m deep at its widest point. High rates of contaminant vapor extraction over the western extension of this feature suggest a high concentration of contaminants above, and within, this filled bedrock low, the base of which may contain solutionally enlarged fractures (i.e. karst conduits) that could funnel these contaminants to the upper or lower bedrock aquifers. This study thus demonstrates the viability of seismic refraction tomography as a tool for identification of filled sinkholes and bedrock depressions in karst areas.     

Acigöl rhyolite field,central Anatolia (part II): geochemical and isotopic (Sr–Nd–Pb, δ<Superscript>18</Superscript>O) constraints on volcanism involving two high-silica rhyolite suites

The Acigöl rhyolite field erupted the most recent high-silica rhyolites within the Cappadocian Volcanic Province of central Anatolia, Turkey. It comprises two sequences of domes and pyroclastic rocks with eruption ages of ~150–200 ka (eastern group) and ~20–25 ka (western group). Compositionally, the eastern rhyolite group lavas are less evolved (SiO₂ = 74–76 wt%), whereas the western group has higher silica abundance (SiO₂ = ~77 wt%) with extremely depleted feldspar-compatible trace elements. Within each group, compositional variability is small and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.51257–0.51265) and Pb isotope compositions (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.87–18.88, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.65–15.67 and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 38.94–38.98) are homogeneous. The western group rhyolites have δ¹⁸O(zircon) overlapping mantle values (5.7 ± 0.2‰), whereas eastern group rhyolites are enriched in δ¹⁸O by ~0.5‰, consistent with a tendency to lower εNd values. By contrast, western group rhyolites have markedly more radiogenic ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7065–0.7091) compared to those of the eastern group (0.7059–0.7065). The presence of angular granitic xenoliths and a correlation between hydration (based on loss on ignition data) and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in the western lavas, however, indicates that Sr was added during the eruption or post-eruption alteration. Isotope constraints preclude the possibility that the rhyolite magmas formed by partial melting of any known regional crystalline basement rocks. Basalts and andesites erupted in the periphery of the Acigöl field are characterised by ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios between 0.7040 and 0.7053, ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0.51259–0.51300, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.85–18.87, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.646–15.655, ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 38.90–38.97. The isotopic and trace element data favour an origin of the rhyolites by mixing of basaltic/andesitic magmas with minor amounts of crustal melts and followed by extensive fractional crystallization.     

Geometry and accuracy of reflecting points in bistatic satellite altimetry

The analysis of the time and space distribution of specular (reflecting) points in bistatic altimetry between GPS and CHAMP satellites or SAC-C (taken as examples) is extended from Wagner and Klokočník (2003 J. Geod 77: 128–138). We demonstrate a significantly higher number and density of reflecting points in bistatic altimetry in comparison with traditional monostatic altimetry. After an outline of our older accuracy assessment for the vertical position of the reflecting point, we add a new independent derivation and compare both approaches. We account for orbit errors of both the transmitters (GPS) and receiver (CHAMP) satellites, and the measurement (delay) error. We found that the accuracy of the vertical position of the reflecting point decreases only slowly with increasing off-nadir angle and that the orbit errors must be accounted for if decimeter and better accuracy is required. In this paper, we do not study errors such as state of the ocean, technical parameters of the receiving system, and atmospheric corrections.     

Magmatic history and geophysical signature of a post-collisional intrusive center emplaced near a crustal-scale shear zone: the Plechý granite pluton (Moldanubian batholith,Bohemian Massif)

The Plechy pluton, southwestern Bohemian Massif, represents a late-Variscan, complexly zoned intrusive center emplaced near the crustal-scale Pfahl shear zone; the pluton thus provides an opportunity to examine the interplay among successive emplacement of large magma batches, magmatic fabric acquisition, and the late-Variscan stress field associated with strike-slip shearing. The magmatic history of the pluton started with the emplacement of the porphyritic Plechy and Haidmühler granites. Based on gravity and structural data, we interpret that the Plechy and Haidmühler granites were emplaced as a deeply rooted, ∼NE–SW elongated body; its gross shape and internal fabric (steep ∼NE–SW magmatic foliation) may have been controlled by the late-Variscan stress field. The steep magmatic foliation changes into flat-lying foliation (particularly recorded by AMS) presumably as a result of divergent flow. Magnetic lineations correspond to a sub-horizontal ∼NE–SW finite stretch associated with the divergent flow. Subsequently, the Třístoličník granite, characterized by steep margin-parallel magmatic foliation, was emplaced as a crescent-shaped body in the central part of the pluton. The otherwise inward-younging intrusive sequence was completed by the emplacement of the outermost and the most evolved garnet-bearing granite (the Marginal granite) along the southeastern margin of the pluton. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Modelling magnetization processes in single-and multi-domain rock samples using the preisach diagram

Summary The paper presents the results of identifying a model of the Preisach type for haematite grains of the single-domain as well as multi-domain size. Due to the phenomenological conception of the model, the relations between the parameters of the model and actual parameters are very complex, however, impressive accuracy and stability of the modified model indicate the need to resume studies of this problem. The model parameters also confirm the adequate properties of the vibrating-sample magnetometr (VSM) used and developed in our laboratories.     

A Parametric Approach for Dealing with Compositional Rounded Zeros

In this work, a parametric approach for replacing data below the detection limit, also known as rounded zeros, in compositional data sets is proposed. Compositional rounded zeros correspond to small proportions of some whole that cannot be reliably detected by the analytical instruments under given operating conditions. This kind of zeros appear frequently in the data collection process in geosciences. They must be treated in an adequate way before some multivariate analysis can be applied. Our procedure results from a modification of the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm and is based on the additive log-ratio transformation. Its coherence with the nature of compositional data and with basic operations in the simplex sample space is checked. Using real data sets, we find that this approach improves other parametric and non-parametric techniques for compositional rounded zeros.     

Simulation of the Askervein flow. Part 2: Large-eddy simulations

Large-eddy simulations of the neutrally stratified flow over the Askervein Hill were performed, to improve the knowledge of the flow obtained from field measurements and numerical simulations with Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) methods. A Lagrangian dynamic subgrid model was used but, to avoid the underdissipative character near the ground, it was merged with a damped Smagorinsky model. Simulations of a flat boundary-layer flow with this subgrid model showed that the turbulent vertical motions and shear stress were better resolved using grids with a stream to spanwise aspect ratio Δx / Δy = 2 than with an aspect ratio Δx / Δy = 1. Regarding the flow over the Askervein Hill, it was found that large-eddy simulations provide an acceptable solution for the mean-velocity field and better predictions of the turbulent kinetic energy in the upstream side of the hill than the model. However, as with the model, grid convergence was not achieved in the lee side and the size of the zone with reversed flow increased with the grid refinement. Nevertheless, the existence of the intermittent separation predicted with unsteady RANS in part one of this work seems unquestionable, due to the deceleration of the flow. In our opinion, a better modelling of the decelerating boundary layer in the lee side is required to improve the results obtained using equilibrium assumptions and achieve grid convergence.