Smoothing unit vector fields

Data, each consisting of a unit vector and a position, are modeled as a smooth unit vector field plus random directional errors; the smooth unit vector field is estimated by fitting a spline to observations. The estimate is nonlinear; it is obtained with an iterative procedure in which, at each step, a least-squares smoothing spline is fitted to a set of pseudovalues. The resulting estimate is exemplified with a data set extracted from the literature in geology. The proposed estimate is compared, using the same data set with that obtained through suggestions of other authors, and is found to have attractive qualities. The use of plots of the resulting estimate to find the appropriate value of the smoothing parameter is emphasized throughout.     

Geostatistical Simulation of Acoustic Log Data for Seismic Depth Conversion

Seismic reflection methods measure the time a seismic wave takes to travel through the ground, from the user defined source to a series of signal monitoring sensors known as geophones. The measured times need to be depth converted to allow for integration with other geological data. In order to convert from time to depth, an estimate of the rock volume velocity field must be made. The velocity field estimate can be made by assignment of velocity estimates to a geological model independent of the seismic processing. This article presents the results of using the acoustic geophysical log data extrapolated via sequential Gaussian simulation to derive the velocity field. The uncertainties associated with the velocity estimates were significant and provided the means to assess confidence limits for the actual depth determination. The technique is assessed by application to a major coal deposit, approximately 2.1 m thick and 210 m deep. Considering only the uncertainty associated with estimating the velocity field, half of the confidence interval values showed approximately 1 m of uncertainty in depth. The application of sequential Gaussian simulation to model the 3D distribution of acoustic velocity can be extended to other geophysical log parameters or derived estimates.     

The December 26th 2004 Tsunami Recorded along the Southeastern Coast of Brazil

Sea level measurements along the southeastern Brazilian coast, between 20° S and 30° S, show the effect of the Sumatra Tsunami of December 26, 2004. Two records from stations, one located inside an estuary and other inside a bay, shows oscillations of about 0.20 m range; one additional record from a station facing the open sea shows up to 1.2 m range oscillations. These oscillations have around 45 min period, starting 20–22 h after the Sumatra earthquake in the Indian Ocean (00:59 UTC) and lasting for 2 days. A computer modelling of the event reproduces the time of arrival of long shallow-water tsunami waves at the southeastern Brazilian coast but with slight longer period and amplitudes smaller than observed at the coast, probably due to its coarse resolution (1/4 of a degree). The high amplitudes observed at the coast suggest a mechanism of amplification of these waves over the southeastern Brazilian shelf.     

Testing the predictive power of seagrass depth limit models

The power of equations predicting seagrass depth limit (Z_c) from light extinction (K _z) was tested on data on seagrass depth limits collected from the literature. The test data set comprised 424 reports of seagrass colonization depth and water transparency, including data for 10 seagrass species. This data set confirmed the strong negative relationship betweenZ _c andK _z. The regression equation in Duarte (1991) overestimated the realized seagrass colonization depths at colonization depths < 5 m, while there was no prediction bias above this threshold. These results indicated that seagrass colonizing turbid waters (K _z 0.27 m^-1) have higher apparent light requirements than those growing in clearer waters. The relationship between seagrass colonization depth and light attenuation shifts at a threshold of light attenuation of 0.27 m^-1, requiring separate equations to predictZ _c for seagrass growing in more turbid waters and clearer waters, and to set targets for seagrass restoration and conservation efforts.     

Seismic attenuation of coda waves in the eastern region of Cuba

Cuba's seismic attenuation had never been studied in detail. In this paper we present the results of the research on the seismic attenuation of Cuba's eastern zone based upon the information collected by the seismological Cuban network from 1998 to 2003. 581 earthquakes were selected from the Cuban catalogue to make this study. All of them, recorded by at least three seismic stations, had their epicenters located in the eastern Cuban region (19.3–22 N, 79–73 W), epicentral distances between 15 km and 213 km, their coda duration magnitudes ranging from 2 and 4.1 and their focal depths reaching up to 30 km. The seismic wave attenuation was studied using coda waves. The single scattering method proposed by Sato in 1977 was applied, the attenuation and frequency dependency for different paths and the correlation of the results with the geotectonics of the region are presented in this paper.The mean Q_c value calculated was Q_c = (64 ± 2)f^{0.84 ± 0.01}. The relatively low Q₀ and the high frequency dependency agree with the values of a region characterized by a high tectonic activity. The Q_c values of seven subregions of eastern Cuba were calculated and correlated with the geology and tectonics of the area.     

Diffuse Emission of Hydrogen from Poás Volcano,Costa Rica,America Central

We report the results of four soil H₂ surveys carried out in 2000–2003 at Poás volcano, Costa Rica, to investigate the soil H₂ distribution and evaluate the diffuse H₂ emission as a potential surveillance tool for Poás volcano. Soil gas H₂ contents showed a wide range of concentration from 0.2 to 7,059 ppmV during the four surveys. Maps of soil gas H₂ based on Sequential Gaussian Simulation showed low H₂ concentration values in the soil atmosphere (<0.7 ppmV) for most of the study area, whereas high soil gas H₂ values were observed inside the active crater of Poás. A significant increase in soil gas H₂ concentration was observed inside the active crater during 2001 and 2002 with respect to year 2000, followed by a decrease in 2003. The observed spatial and temporal variations of soil H₂ concentration have been well correlated with seismicity, microgravimetry and fumarolic chemistry changes which occurred during this study. These observations evidence changes in the shallow magmatic-hydrothermal system of Poás, and it might be related to a potential magmatic intrusion during the period 1998–2004. Therefore, monitoring diffuse H₂ emission of Poás has become an important geochemical tool for the monitoring of its volcanic activity.     

Anomalous Emissions of SO2 During the Recent Eruption of Santa Ana Volcano, El Salvador, Central America

Santa Ana volcano in western El Salvador, Central America, had a phreatic eruption at 8:05 am (local time) on October 1, 2005, 101 years after its last eruption. However, during the last one hundred years this volcano has presented periods of quiet degassing with fumarolic activity and an acidic lake within its crater. This paper presents results of frequent measurements of SO₂ degassing using the MiniDOAS (Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy) system and a comparison with the volcanic seismicity prior to the eruption, during, and after the eruption. Vehicle measurements of SO₂ flux were taken every hour during the first nine days of the eruption and daily after that. The period of time reported here is from August to December, 2005. Three periods of degassing are distinguished: pre-eruptive, eruptive, and post-eruptive periods. The intense activity at Santa Ana volcano started in July 2005. During the pre-eruptive period up to 4306 and 5154 ton/day of SO₂ flux were recorded on October 24 and September 9, 2005, respectively. These values were of the same order of magnitude as the recorded values just after the October 1^st eruption (2925 ton/day at 10:01 am). Hourly measurements of SO₂ flux taken during the first nine days after the main eruptive event indicate that explosions are preceded by an increase in SO₂ flux and that this parameter reaches a peak after the explosion took place. This behavior suggests that increasing accumulation of exsolved magmatic gases occurs within the magmatic chamber before the explosions, increasing the pressure until the point of explosion. A correlation between SO₂ fluxes and RSAM (Real Time Seismic Amplitude Measurements) is observed during the complete sampling period. Periodic fluctuations in the SO₂ and RSAM values during the entire study period are observed. One possible mechanism explaining these fluctuations it that convective circulation within the magmatic chamber can bring fresh magma periodically to shallow levels, allowing increasing degasification and then decreasing degasification as the batch of magma lowers its gas content, becomes denser, and sinks to give space to a new magma pulse. These results illustrate that the measurements of SO₂ flux can provide important warning signals for incoming explosive activity in active volcanoes.