Meteorological analysis of the tornado in Ciudad Acuña,Coahuila State,Mexico, on May 25, 2015

Extreme meteorological conditions favor the development of severe storms and tornadoes that may have largely impacts on the population despite its relatively short life. Tornadic severe storms have been documented around the World. In Mexico (MEX), the study of the occurrence of tornadoes and severe storms is relatively new. In this research, we have selected an event of severe tornadic storm in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. The storm was driven by a frontal system moving southward from USA converging with a warmer moist air flux from the Gulf of Mexico. The tornado strikes on the Northeast of Mexico, in Coahuila State, on May 25, 2015. Imagery of infrared channel from GOES 13 satellite and the presence of a hook echo in radar data of May 25, 2015, indicate a supercell structure. The maximum values of radial velocity were about ?20 and 15 m s^?1. In this study, the WRF model was used in order to simulate the mesoscale meteorological conditions of the tornado. Model simulations capture atmospheric features observed in Doppler radar. The simulated storm-relative helicity values were between 400 and 500 m² s^?2. The simulated convective available potential energy values were of 3000 J kg^?1. These values were higher than values for convective storms, located over the region of Ciudad Acuña in Mexico and Del Rio in USA. The supercell was a result of high humidity and temperature gradients, conditioned by frontal activity and moisture flux intensifications from the Gulf of Mexico.

     

The Variscan belt: correlations and plate dynamics

International Journal of Earth Sciences -     

Extraterrestrial microspherules from Bajada del Diablo,Chubut, Argentina

The Quaternary infilling of a circular structure located in Bajada del Diablo, Chubut Province, Argentina has been proposed as a crater strewn field in previous studies. Here we report the finding of about 65 microspherules collected in a trench excavated in the center of the structure. The majority of hand-picked specimens are single, but some of them exhibit compound forms. The single specimens are spherical with a mean size of 137 μm, whereas the more complex samples show peduncles and drop shapes. Dendritic crystal growth is recognized in the internal structure of some broken microspherules. Preliminary chemical composition from the surface and center of microspherules was determined by energy dispersive spectrometry employing EDS. Quantitative EMPA and XRD analysis indicate that the microspherules are mainly composed of Fe and O with magnetite, Fe0 with subordinate wüstite. Following consideration of possible anthropogenic and volcanic origins, these spherulites are ascribed to an extraterrestrial input. An accumulation rate of 47 microspherules per m²/yr is estimated for the studied sediments. This value is two orders of magnitude higher than the reference flux for cosmic dust estimated for the last 1 Ma in the Transantarctic Mountains. The microspherules might have been generated as a byproduct of asteroid entry in the atmosphere.     

Slope stability analysis in 3D using numerical limit analysis (NLA) and elasto-plastic analysis (EPA)

The present paper addresses the problem of factor of safety (FS) determination in 3D slope stability analysis. For that purpose, use is made of two numerical methods/techniques in three benchmark problems: numerical limit analysis (NLA) and elasto-plastic analysis (EPA). Finite elements are used in both techniques. The primary objective of the study is, by comparing the two techniques, to establish the feasibility of using NLA in the evaluation of 3D slope stability problems and to establish its practical applicability and competitiveness in relation to EPA. Because of their geometry or their boundary conditions, the problems cannot be analysed as plane strain state problems or using the 2D limit equilibrium technique. In both methods, an FS is determined for the slopes by reducing the strength parameters of the geological materials using a scalar factor, known as the strength reduction factor. From the comparison of the FSs and of the computational efforts required for the two numerical techniques, it was possible to establish NLA’s competiveness and viability for the analysis of real 3D slope stability problems when implemented in an efficient manner.     

Solar irradiance and total ozone over El Arenosillo (Spain) during the solar eclipse of 3 October 2005

The ground track of the annular eclipse of 3 October 2005 crossed the Iberian Peninsula. The main objective of this work was to analyze the variability of the solar irradiance and the total ozone column during the course of this event at El Arenosillo (Southwestern Spain). For achieving this goal, two Kipp & Zonen broadband radiometers (one for measuring total solar irradiance and other for measuring ultraviolet erythemal solar irradiance), one NILU-UV multi-band instrument and one Brewer spectroradiometer were used in this work. Total irradiance (310–2800 nm), and ultraviolet erythemal radiation (UVER) were recorded at a high frequency of 5 s, showing a strong reduction (higher than 80%) of the irradiance at the maximum solar obscuration which was of 79.6%. The irradiance decrease during the course of the eclipse was positively correlated with the percentage of eclipse obscuration, showing a very high agreement (R²～0.99). The irradiance recorded at selected wavelengths from the NILU-UV instrument shows a more pronounced decrease in the UV irradiance at the lower wavelengths during the solar eclipse. Finally, the evolution of the total ozone column (TOC) derived from Brewer and NILU instruments during the eclipse presented an opposite behavior: while the Brewer derived TOC values increase about 15 DU, the NILU derived TOC values decrease about 11 DU. This opposite behavior is mainly related to an artifact in the spectral irradiances recorded by the two instruments.     

Alternative theory for signal contribution sections and depth of investigation characteristics in electrical prospecting

We present an alternative to Roy's theorem for direct current regimes with the aim of validating the theoretical basis of signal contribution sections in electrical prospecting. Roy's theorem establishes that the electrical potential at a point can be expressed as an integral over all space of the electric field weighted by the gradient of inverse distance. The integrand is interpreted to represent elementary contributions to the potential that can be analyzed to compare different electrode arrays. Signal contribution sections and depth of investigation characteristics can be beautifully illustrated with important practical applications. However, the electric potential, being the solution of a boundary value problem, cannot be uniquely decomposed into elementary contributions. There is no guarantee for the integrand of a given integral to be meaningful in all situations. In the case of Roy's theorem, the concept has been severely criticized by respected scholars who challenged the scientific legitimacy of his approach. If we are going to keep the concept of elementary contributions alive, we need to go beyond Roy's theorem. In this paper, we develop an alternative theorem and show that it merges with the concept of sensitivity, which is unique and mathematically sound, and is also open to physical validation. This prevents any possible contradictions in the future and, equally important, eliminates the dichotomy between sensitivity and elementary contributions.     

Steered migration in hard rock environments

Hard rock seismic exploration normally has to deal with rather complex geological environments. These types of environments are usually characterized by a large number of local heterogeneity (e.g., faults, fracture zones, and steeply dipping interfaces). The seismic data from such environments often have a poor signal‐to‐noise ratio because of the complexity of hard rock geology. To be able to obtain reliable images of subsurface structures in such geological conditions, processing algorithms that are capable of handling seismic data with a low signal‐to‐noise ratio are required for a reflection seismic exploration. In this paper, we describe a modification of the 3D Kirchhoff post‐stack migration algorithm that utilizes coherency attributes obtained by the diffraction imaging algorithm in 3D to steer the main Kirchhoff summation. The application to a 3D synthetic model shows the stability of the presented steered migration to the presence of high level of the random noise. A test on the 3D seismic volume, acquired on a mine site located in Western Australia, reveals the capability of the approach to image steep and sharp objects such as fracture and fault zones and lateral heterogeneity.     

A new steel framing system for seismic protection of timber platform frame buildings. Implementation with hysteretic energy dissipators

This paper describes a new seismic protection system for timber platform frame buildings, either for new construction or retrofit. The system consists in connecting the timber frame to a steel structure that includes hysteretic energy dissipators designed to absorb most of the seismic input energy thus protecting the timber frame and the other steel members; alternatively, the system might use other types of dissipative devices. The steel structure consists of four steel stacks (located at each of the four façades) and steel collectors embracing each slab; the stacks and the collectors are connected, at each floor level, through the energy dissipators. The steel structure is self‐supporting, that is, the timber frame is not affected by horizontal actions and can be designed without accounting for any seismic provision; in turn, the steel members do not participate in the main load‐carrying system. The timber‐steel interface is designed to avoid any stress concentration in the transfer of horizontal forces and to guarantee that the yielding of the dissipators occurs prior to any timber failure. The energy dissipation capacity of the suggested system is discussed, and an application example on a six‐story timber building is presented; this case corresponds to highly demanding conditions because of the relatively large building height and weight, the high local seismicity, and the soft soil condition. This research belongs to a wider project aiming to promote the structural use of timber by improving the seismic capacity of wooden buildings; this research includes experiments and advanced numerical simulation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.