Assessment of non-point sources of fecal pollution in coastal waters of Puerto Rico and Trinidad

Traditional and molecular methods (PCR) were used to detect, quantify and identify the source of fecal pollution in coastal sites of Puerto Rico and Trinidad. Enterococci and Escherichia coli standard plate counts were used as a general indicator of fecal contamination while the PCR detection of Bifidobacteria adolescentis and human or bovine specific Bacteroidales were used to examine potential sources. Seven of 14 sites in Trinidad including Maracas Bay which is a major public beach contained significant fecal contamination based on enterococci numbers counts exceeding established thresholds for areas of direct contact. Forty six percent of the 27 stations in Puerto Rico were over the established thresholds for enterococci and 49% according to E. coli counts. About 31% of the stations examined in Puerto Rico had evidence of human derived fecal contamination. Human fecal pollution was detected in only one station from Trinidad. Bovine derived contamination was detected only once.     

The Winchcombe fireball—That lucky survivor

On February 28, 2021, a fireball dropped ∼0.6 kg of recovered CM2 carbonaceous chondrite meteorites in South-West England near the town of Winchcombe. We reconstruct the fireball's atmospheric trajectory, light curve, fragmentation behavior, and pre-atmospheric orbit from optical records contributed by five networks. The progenitor meteoroid was three orders of magnitude less massive (∼13 kg) than any previously observed carbonaceous fall. The Winchcombe meteorite survived entry because it was exposed to a very low peak atmospheric dynamic pressure (∼0.6 MPa) due to a fortuitous combination of entry parameters, notably low velocity (13.9 km s⁻¹). A near-catastrophic fragmentation at ∼0.07 MPa points to the body's fragility. Low entry speeds which cause low peak dynamic pressures are likely necessary conditions for a small carbonaceous meteoroid to survive atmospheric entry, strongly constraining the radiant direction to the general antapex direction. Orbital integrations show that the meteoroid was injected into the near-Earth region ∼0.08 Myr ago and it never had a perihelion distance smaller than ∼0.7 AU, while other CM2 meteorites with known orbits approached the Sun closer (∼0.5 AU) and were heated to at least 100 K higher temperatures.     

Electrical resistivity ground imaging (ERGI): a new tool for mapping the lithology and geometry of channel-belts and valley-fills

Efforts to map the lithology and geometry of sand and gravel channel‐belts and valley‐fills are limited by an inability to easily obtain information about the shallow subsurface. Until recently, boreholes were the only method available to obtain this information; however, borehole programmes are costly, time consuming and always leave in doubt the stratigraphic connection between and beyond the boreholes. Although standard shallow geophysical techniques such as ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) and shallow seismic can rapidly obtain subsurface data with high horizontal resolution, they only function well under select conditions. Electrical resistivity ground imaging (ERGI) is a recently developed shallow geophysical technique that rapidly produces high‐resolution profiles of the shallow subsurface under most field conditions. ERGI uses measurements of the ground's resistance to an electrical current to develop a two‐dimensional model of the shallow subsurface (<200 m) called an ERGI profile. ERGI measurements work equally well in resistive sediments (‘clean’ sand and gravel) and in conductive sediments (silt and clay). This paper tests the effectiveness of ERGI in mapping the lithology and geometry of buried fluvial deposits. ERGI surveys are presented from two channel‐fills and two valley‐fills. ERGI profiles are compared with lithostratigraphic profiles from borehole logs, sediment cores, wireline logs or GPR. Depth, width and lithology of sand and gravel channel‐fills and adjacent sediments can be accurately detected and delineated from the ERGI profiles, even when buried beneath 1–20 m of silt/clay.     

Reactive transport modelling of reflux dolomitization in the Arab‐D reservoir,Ghawar field,Saudi Arabia

It has long been recognized that the Arab‐D reservoir in Ghawar field has been significantly dolomitized and that the distribution of dolomites is highly heterogeneous across this reservoir. Previous studies indicated that dolomite occurs with either a stratigraphic or non‐stratigraphic distribution; when mapped, dolomite tends to form several parallel linear trends across the field. Although stratigraphic dolomite was suggested to be formed early from highly evaporated pore fluids sourced from overlying evaporite deposits, non‐stratigraphic dolomite was thought to be generated primarily from hydrothermal fluids sourced from below. This study focuses primarily on these non‐stratigraphic dolomites, and proposes that: (i) these dolomites initially formed via seepage reflux, but were reinforced by late stage hydrothermal dolomitization; and (ii) reflux is also responsible for the formation of parallel, linear trends of dolomite. The reflux model hypothesizes that an evaporative lagoon (which is the source of dolomitizing fluids) formed during the falling stage systems tract of a depositional sequence, and that with continuing sea‐level fall this lagoon migrated progressively towards deeper parts of an intrashelf basin adjacent to the Ghawar field, leaving behind lines of dolomite bodies along a series of temporary coastlines. Two‐dimensional reactive transport models have been built to test this hypothesis, and have resulted in a predicted pattern of dolomite bodies that agrees with both the observed vertical distribution of non‐stratigraphic dolomite, as well as the mapped lateral distribution of the dolomite trends. In addition, the major ion compositions of Late Jurassic seawater are calculated based on fluid inclusion data in the literature. Using Jurassic seawater in current models leads to the absence of anhydrite cements and less potential of over‐dolomitization than using modern seawater.     

Coupling of solid deformation and pore pressure for undrained deformation—a discrete element method approach

This paper presents a numerical scheme for fluid‐particle coupling that uses the discrete element method by taking into consideration solid deformation and pore pressure generation. A new water particle element is introduced to calculate pore water pressure due to porosity changes. The water particle element has the same size and shape as the solid element and experiences the same amount of deformation. On the basis of the effective stress principle at the element contact, the total force is equal to the sum of the force transmitted through the solid element contact and the water particle force due to pore water pressure. Analytical solutions of traditional soil mechanics problems, such as isotropic compression and consolidated triaxial undrained test, are used to quantitatively validate the proposed model. The numerical results show good agreement between the model and the analytical solutions. The model therefore provides an effective method to calculate pore pressure in a porous medium in discrete modeling.     

Role of initial depth at basin margins in sequence architecture: field examples and computer models

A delay in the onset of sedimentation during fault‐related subsidence at a basin margin can occur in both extensional settings, where footwall tilting may cause a diversion of drainage patterns, and in strike‐slip basins, where a source area may be translated along the basin margin. The ‘initial depth’ created by this delay acts as pre‐depositional accommodation and is a partly independent variable. It controls the geometry of the first stratal units deposited at the basin margin and thus modifies the response of the depositional system to subsequent, syndepositional changes in accommodation. In systems with a sharp break in the depositional profile, such as the topset edge in coarse‐grained deltas, the initial depth controls the foreset height and therefore the progradational distance of the topset edge. The topset length, in turn, influences topset accommodation during cyclical base level variations and therefore is reflected in the resulting stacking patterns at both long‐ and short‐term time scales. In the simplified cases modelled in this study, it is the relationship between the initial depth and the net increase in depth over the interval of a relative sea‐level cycle (ΔH) that governs long‐ and short‐term stacking patterns. In situations where the initial depth is significantly larger than ΔH, the topset accommodation of the first delta is insufficient to contain the volume of sediment of younger sequences formed during subsequent relative sea‐level cycles. Therefore, the depositional system tends to prograde over a number of relative sea‐level cycles before the topset area increases so that the long‐term stacking pattern changes to aggradation. Stacking patterns of high‐frequency sequences are influenced by a combination of topset accommodation available and position of the short‐term relative sea‐level cycles on the rising or falling limb of a long‐term sea‐level curve. This determines whether deposits of short‐term cycles are accommodated in delta topsets or foresets, or in both. Variations in stacking pattern caused by different initial depths may be misinterpreted as due to relative sea level or sediment supply changes and it is necessary to consider initial bathymetry in modelling and interpretation of stacking patterns, especially in fault‐bounded basins.     

A coupled mesoscale-model Fourier-method for idealized mountain-wave simulations over Hawaii

Mesoscale model simulations of representative trade winds impinging upon the Big Island of Hawaii are diagnosed for their mountain-wave characteristics by coupling a mesoscale model to a Fourier method. Localized phase-averaged wave momentum fluxes are calculated, which facilitates the study of wave generation from fine-scale topographic features. We find that the wave momentum fluxes are dominated by forcing from subsidiary topographic peaks, with the broader island topography controlling flow splitting and lee vortex generation. Waves also arise at the far northern and southern extremities of the island by acceleration of split flow. The strength of the local momentum fluxes proves to be sensitive to a small change in the incident flow direction. Areally integrated fluxes (wave drag) align closely with the incident flow direction and are an order of magnitude smaller than linear predictions and an order of magnitude larger than corresponding dividing streamline predictions. We briefly discuss the relevance of these results to the parameterization of subgrid-scale mountain-wave drag in climate and weather models.     

Delving into Allende's dark secrets

What are the strange dark clasts within carbonaceous chondrites? How did they form? And what do they tell us about the early solar system? Mark Sephton, one of a team investigating the Allende meteorite, summarizes their findings.