Towards high‐resolution 3D marine seismic surveying using Boomer sources

The use of Boomer sources for 3D seismic imaging of shallow marine structures was investigated in a feasibility study. Boomers show sufficient stability to be used in multichannel seismic surveys. The acquisition of a high-frequency, densely sampled seismic data volume was successfully performed in the Baltic Sea. A Pleistocene fluvial channel system and shallow gas accumulations were revealed beneath the unconsolidated sediments which constitute the sea-floor in the southern Kiel Bay.     

The El Salvador earthquakes of January and February 2001: context, characteristics and implications for seismic risk

The small Central American republic of El Salvador has experienced, on average, one destructive earthquake per decade during the last hundred years. The latest events occurred on 13 January and 13 February 2001, with magnitudes M_w 7.7 and 6.6, respectively. The two events, which were of different tectonic origin, follow the patterns of the seismicity of the region although neither event has a known precedent in the earthquake catalogue in terms of size and location. The earthquakes caused damage to thousands of traditionally built houses and triggered hundreds of landslides, which were the main causes of fatalities. The earthquakes have clearly demonstrated trends of increasing seismic risk in El Salvador due to rapid population expansion in areas of high shaking and landslide hazard, exacerbated by deforestation and uncontrolled urbanisation. The institutional mechanisms required for the control of land use and building practice are very weak and present a major obstacle to risk mitigation.     

Relationships between tissue concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons (polychlorinated biphenyls and chlorinated pesticides) and antioxidative responses of marine mussels, Perna viridis

Marine mussels, Perna viridis, were transplanted from a reference site to various polluted sites around Hong Kong. After 30 d of exposure, antioxidative responses in the gills and hepatopancreas and tissue concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons [polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated pesticides (CPs)] were determined for individual mussels. Glutathione S transferase (GST) and glutathione (GSH) were positively correlated with tissue PCB concentrations. Only one of the enzymatic antioxidants, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), showed significant response to tissue PCB. No significant correlation was found between tissue concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons and other enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and NADPH DT-diaphorase (DT-d). Oxidative stress, measured as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, was correlated with chlorinated pesticide concentrations in tissues. This study demonstrated a correlation between GST/GSH and chlorinated hydrocarbons. The apparent lack of correlation between trace organic pollutants and some of the enzymatic antioxidants may be due to the inhibitory effects caused by these chemicals. The above results suggest that more investigations are needed before these enzymes can be used as biomarkers.     

Mathematical modeling of PCB bioaccumulation in Perna viridis

In the present work, we built a mathematical model of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) bioaccumulation in Perna viridis, namely, a one-compartment model with a time dependent incorporation rate R (μg g⁻¹ lipid per ppb water per day), with positive substrate cooperativity as the underlying physical mechanism. The temporal change of the PCB concentration Q (μg g⁻¹ lipid) in the soft tissues of the mussel depends on the competition of the input rate RW and the output rate kQ, where W is the concentration of PCB in water (ppb water) and k is the elimination rate (per day). From our experimental data, k=0.181±0.017 d⁻¹. The critical concentration in water W_c for positive substrate cooperativity was found to be 2.4 ppb. Below W_c, R is a constant. For a water concentration of 0.5 ppb Aroclor 1254, R=24.0±2.4 μg g⁻¹ lipid ppb⁻¹ d⁻¹. Above W_c, positive substrate cooperativity comes into effect and R becomes a function of time and dependent on the concentration Q in a form R=γQ/(Q+δ). This is the case for a water concentration of 5 ppb Aroclor 1254, where γ=15.1 μg g⁻¹ lipid ppb⁻¹ d¹ and δ≈200 μg g⁻¹ lipid. From this model, the uptake is exponentially increasing when the PCB concentration in the mussel is small compared to 200 μg g⁻¹ lipid, and hyperbolically increasing when the concentration is large compared to 200 μg g⁻¹ lipid, which are consistent with the experimental data. The model is useful for understanding the true processes taking place during the bioaccumulation and for risk assessment with higher confidence. Future experimental data which challenge the present model are anticipated and in fact desirable for improvement and perfection of the model.     

ELF propagation parameters for uniform models of the Earth–ionosphere waveguide

Uniform models for the Earth–ionosphere cavity are considered with particular attention to the physical properties of the ionosphere for the extremely low frequency (ELF) range. Two consistent features have long been recognized for the range: the presence of two distinct altitude layers of maximum energy dissipation within the lower ionosphere, and a “knee”-like change in the vertical conductivity profile representing a transition in dominance from ion-dominated to electron-dominated conductivity. A simplified two-exponential version of the Greifinger and Greifinger (1978) technique widely used in ELF work identifies two slopes in the conductivity profile and, providing accurate results in the ELF communication band (45–75 Hz), simulates too flat a frequency dependence of the quality factor within the Schumann resonance frequency range (5–40 Hz). The problem is traced to the upward migration, with frequency increasing, of the lower dissipation layer through the “knee” region resulting in a pronounced decrease of the effective scale height for conductivity. To overcome this shortcoming of the two-exponential approximation and still retain valuable model analyticity, a more general approach (but still based on the Greifinger and Greifinger formalism) is presented in the form of a “knee” model whose predictions for the modal frequencies, the wave phase velocities and the quality factors reasonably represent observations in the Schumann resonance frequency range.     

African monsoon variability during the previous interglacial maximum

Little is known about centennial- to millennial-scale climate variability during interglacial times, other than the Holocene. We here present high-resolution evidence from anoxic (unbioturbated) sediments in the eastern Mediterranean Sea that demonstrates a sustained ∼800-yr climate disturbance in the monsoonal latitudes during the Eemian interglacial maximum (∼125 ka BP). Results imply that before and after this event, the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) penetrated sufficiently beyond the central Saharan watershed (∼21°N) during the summer monsoon to fuel flooding into the Mediterranean along the wider North African margin, through fossil river/wadi systems that to date have been considered only within a Holocene context. Relaxation in the ITCZ penetration during the intra-Eemian event curtailed this flux, but flow from the Nile - with its vast catchment area - was not affected. Previous work suggests a concomitant Eurasian cooling event, with intensified impact of the higher-latitude climate on the Mediterranean basin. The combined signals are very similar to those described for the Holocene cooling event around 8 ka BP. The apparent type of concurrent changes in the monsoon and higher-latitude climate may reflect a fundamental mechanism for variability in the transfer of energy (latent heat) between the tropics and higher latitudes.     

From stable dipolar towards reversing numerical dynamos

We are using a three-dimensional convection-driven numerical dynamo model without hyperdiffusivity to study the characteristic structure and time variability of the magnetic field in dependence of the Rayleigh number (Ra) for values up to 40 times supercritical. We also compare a variety of ways to drive the convection and basically find two dynamo regimes. At low Ra, the magnetic field at the surface of the model is dominated by the non-reversing axial dipole component. At high Ra, the dipole part becomes small in comparison to higher multipole components. At transitional values of Ra, the dynamo vacillates between the dipole-dominated and the multipolar regime, which includes excursions and reversals of the dipole axis. We discuss, in particular, one model of chemically driven convection, where for a suitable value of Ra, the mean dipole moment and the temporal evolution of the magnetic field resemble the known properties of the Earth’s field from paleomagnetic data.     

Seismic Hazard Estimate at the Iberian Peninsula

—?Seismic hazard at the Iberian Peninsula has been evaluated by using a methodology which combines both zonified and non-zonified probabilistic methods. Seismic sources are used when considering zones where certain calculation parameters may be considered homogeneous, as in zonified methods, while, on the other hand, earthquakes are considered wherever it has taken place, as in non-zonified methods. The methodology which is applied in this paper has been originally used to calculate the seismic hazard maps in the United States. In our case, it has been necessary to adapt the method to the specific features of the seismicity in the Iberian Peninsula and its geographical surroundings, not only with respect to its distribution and characteristics, but also with respect to the properties of the seismic catalog used.¶Geographically, the main feature of the result is the fact that it reflects both historical seismicity and current seismic clusters of the region. Despite the smoothing, maps show marked differences between several seismic zones; these differences becoming more noticeable as exposure time increases. Maximum seismic hazard is found to be in the southwestern region of the Peninsula, especially in the area of the Cape St. Vicent, and around Lisbon. The uncertainty of the results, without considering that due to the attenuation laws, as deduced from the other evaluation parameters, is quite stable, being more sensitive to the parameters b and m _max of the Gutenberg-Richter relation.     

A rifted inside corner massif on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 5°S

The structure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 5°S was investigated during a recent cruise with the FS Meteor. A major dextral transform fault (hereafter the 5°S FZ) offsets the ridge left-laterally by 80 km. Just south of the transform and to the west of the median valley, the inside corner (IC – the region bounded by the ridge and the active transform) is marked by a major massif, characterized by a corrugated upper surface. Fossil IC massifs can also be identified further to the west. Unusually, a massif almost as high as the IC massif also characterizes the outside corner (OC) south of the inactive fracture zone and to the east of the median valley. This OC massif has axis-parallel dimensions identical to the IC massif and both are bounded on their sides closest to the spreading axis by abrupt, steep slopes. An axial volcanic ridge is well developed in the median valley both south of the IC/OC massifs and in an abandoned rift valley to the east of the OC massif, but is absent along the new ridge-axis segment between the IC and OC massifs. Wide-angle seismic data show that between the massifs, the crust of the median valley thins markedly towards the FZ. These observations are consistent with the formation of the OC massif by the rifting of an IC core complex and the development of a new spreading centre between the IC and OC massifs. The split IC massif presents an opportunity to study the internal structure of the footwall of a detachment fault, from the corrugated fault surface to deeper beneath the fault, without recourse to drilling. Preliminary dredging recovered gabbros from the scarp slope of the rifted IC massif, and serpentinites and gabbros from the intersection of this scarp with the corrugated surface. This is compatible with a concentration of serpentinites along the detachment surface, even where the massif internally is largely plutonic in nature.     

Identification of Mining Blasts at Mid- to Far-regional Distances Using Low Frequency Seismic Signals

—?This paper reports results from two recent monitoring experiments in Wyoming. Broadband seismic recordings of kiloton class delay-fired cast blasts and instantaneous calibration shots in the Black Thunder coal mine were made at four azimuths at ranges from 1° to 2°. The primary focus of this experiment was to observe and to explain low-frequency signals that can be seen at all azimuths and should routinely propagate above noise to mid-regional distances where most events will be recorded by International Monitoring System (IMS) stations.¶The recordings clearly demonstrate that large millisecond delay-fired cast blasts routinely produce seismic signals that have significant spectral modulations below 10?Hz. These modulations are independent of time, the azimuth from the source and the orientation of the sensor. Low-frequency modulations below 5?Hz are seen beyond 9°. The modulations are not due to resonance as they are not produced by the calibration shots. Linear elastic modeling of the blasts that is guided by mine-blast reports fails to reproduce the fine detail of these modulations but clearly indicates that the enhanced “spectral roughness” is due to long interrow delays and source finiteness. The mismatch between the data and the synthetics is likely due to source processes, such as nonlinear interactions between shots, that are poorly understood and to other effects, such as variations of shot time and yield from planned values, that are known to be omnipresent but cannot be described accurately. A variant of the Automated Time-Frequency Discriminant (Hedlin, 1998b), which uses low-frequency spectral modulations, effectively separates these events from the calibration shots.¶The experiment also provided evidence that kiloton class cast blasts consistently yield energetic 2–10 second surface waves. The surface waves are strongly dependent on azimuth but are seen beyond 9°. Physical modeling of these events indicates that the surface waves are due mainly to the extended source duration and to a lesser extent to the slap-down of spalled material. The directionality is largely a path effect. A discriminant that is based on the partitioning of energy between surface and body waves routinely separates these events from the calibration shots.¶The Powder River Basin has essentially no natural seismic activity. How these mining events compare to earthquake observations remains to be determined.