A continuous record of Holocene eolian activity in West Greenland

Eolian landforms are widespread alongside proglacial valley-sandurs in West Greenland and comprise low-relief sand sheets, climbing dunes, and upland loess. Sedimentary facies mainly reflect distance to outwash-source zones and the influence of vegetation cover. The sediments show stratification types typical for poorly to moderately vegetated sand-sheets, alternately laminated silt/peat sequences, and unstratified loess. Twenty-five accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C dates provide the basis for the chronostratigraphy of the inland eolian deposits. ¹⁴C dates from interstratified sand-sheets suggest that the bulk of eolian sands were deposited prior to 3400 cal yr B.P. and after 550 cal yr B.P. This two-phase formation for the inland dunes most likely reflects local changes in proglacial floodplain development and meltwater rerouting associated with a significant recession of the Greenland ice sheet during the mid Holocene climate optimum. Subsequent floodplain regeneration and renewed sand-sheet formation after 550 cal yr B.P. followed when the ice margin readvanced to its present position. In contrast, atmospheric deposition of regionally derived silt in upland peat mires has been continuous since at least 4750 cal yr B.P. Silt influx data demonstrate a strongly episodic history of the intensity of eolian activity over the past five millennia, which tentatively reflects alternating periods of (winter) aridity associated with the variable incursion of maritime air masses over the interior ice-free areas of West Greenland.     

Formulation of the multiple anisotropic scattering process in two dimensions for anisotropic source radiation

The radiative transfer theory (RTT) describes the energy transport through a random heterogeneous medium, neglecting phase information. It provides an adequate framework for modelling high-frequency seismogram envelopes. For isotropic scattering and sources, the radiative transfer equation (RTE) has been formulated analytically and numerically simulated using Monte Carlo methods for acoustic and elastic media. Here, we derive an exact analytical solution of the RTE in 2-D space for the acoustic case, including anisotropic scattering for a anisotropic point-like impulsive source. For this purpose, we generalize the path integral method, which has been used before in the isotropic case, to take into account the anisotropy of both the source radiation pattern and scattering processes, simultaneously. Then we obtain a general solution, which is written in a closed form in the Fourier space. To illustrate the theoretical results, we compute the full space and time evolution of the specific intensity for an arbitrary case. We also compare the time traces computed from our general solution with cases in which the source and/or the scattering process are isotropic. The importance of taking into account both anisotropies simultaneously becomes obvious in our examples. We also show that at long lapse time, our example approaches the solution of the diffusion equation.     

Characterization of drying-induced deformation behaviour of Opalinus Clay and tuff in no-stress regime

The drying-induced deformation behaviour of Opalinus Clay and tuff, which are being investigated under international and local collaborative projects for nuclear waste disposal in Switzerland and Japan, was investigated under a no-stress condition in the laboratory to evaluate their generic susceptibility to the formation of excavation damaged zone. The cylindrical core samples of Opalinus Clay and tuff were prepared to a one-dimensional drying condition and submitted to an uncontrolled laboratory environment. The strain evolution, evaporative water loss and environmental entities, such as temperature and relative humidity, were recorded simultaneously and quasi-continuously. It was observed that the drying phase induced significant strain magnitude and damage in Opalinus Clay samples, which was evidenced by the formation of hairy cracks on the surface parallel to the bedding. On the contrary, the strain occurrences in tuff samples were relatively insignificant, and no tendency of cracking was observed. In addition, the quasi-continuous availability of volumetric strains was further used in poroelastic relation for the estimation of capillary suction evolution. The calculated results were validated with pore size distributions obtained from mercury intrusion porosimetry.     

Stratigraphic framework of the thrust geometry and structural inversion in the southeastern Pyrenees : La Garrotxa area

Abstract

The structure of la Garrotxa area within the Cadi unit (south-eastern Pyrenees) consists of a set of duplexes at different scales which repeat the different carbonatic litho-units of the Lower and Middle Eocene. These duplexes are folded by antiformal stacks structures with basement rocks in their cores. The north boundary of these antiformal stacks represents an inversion of pre-existent extensional faults which formed half-graben geometries. The basement rocks involved in the structure represent short-cuts formed in the footwall of the extensional faults. All thrusts of La Garrotxa area branch with the upper Garrotxa thrust. The more complex structure of La Garrotxa area than the adjacent areas within the Cadí unit, is due to the initial complex synsedimentary geometry of the sedimentary pile.

The Cadi unit overlies the Serrat unit with a hangingwall ramp geometry. This unit was deduced from the Serrat-1 well, drilled in 1987. The Serrat unit is made up of a Middle Eocene evaporitic sequence, with alternating shales and anhydrites and a 100 meters thick salt layer close to the top. The total thickness of this evaporitic Beuda sequence is 1 000 meters. The Beuda sequence clearly controlled the thrust geometry of the younger thrusts.     

Neotectonics of East Anatolian Plateau (Turkey) and Lesser Caucasus: implication for transition from thrusting to strike-slip faulting

Abstract

The east Anatolian plateau and the Lesser Caucasus are characterised and shaped by three major structures: (1) NW- and NE-trending dextral to sinistral active strike-slip faults, (2) N-S to NNW-trending fissures and /or Plio-Quatemary volcanoes, and (3) a 5-km thick, undeformed Plio-Quatemary continental volcanosedimentary sequence accumulated in various strike-slip basins. In contrast to the situation in the east Anatolian plateau and the Lesser Caucasus, the Transcaucasus and the Great Caucasus are characterised by WNW-trending active thrust to reverse faults, folds, and 6-km thick, undeformed (except for the fault-bounded basin margins) continuous Oligocene-Quaternary molassic sequence accumulated in actively developing ramp basins. Hence, the neotectonic regime in the Great Caucasus and the Transcaucasus is compressional-contractional, and Oligocene-Quaternary in age; whereas it is compressional-extensional, and Plio-Quatemary in age in the east Anatolian plateau and the Lesser Caucasus.

Middle and Upper Miocene volcano-sedimentary sequences are folded and thrust-to-reverse-faulted as a result of compressional- contractional tectonic regime accompanied by mostly calc-alkaline volcanic activity, whereas Middle Pliocene-Quaternary sequences, which rest with angular unconformity on the pre-Middle Pliocene rocks, are nearly flat-lying and dominated by strike-slip faulting accompanied by mostly alkali volcanic activity implying an inversion in tectonic regime. The strike-slip faults cut and displace dykes, reverse to thrust faults and fold axes of Late Miocene age up to maximum 7 km: hence these faults are younger than Late Miocene, i.e., these formed after Late Miocene. Therefore, the time period between late Serravalian (~ 12 Ma) continent-continent collision of Arabian and Eurasian plates and the late Early Pliocene inversion in both the tectonic regime, basin type and deformation pattern (from folding and thrusting to strike-slip faulting) is here termed as the Transitional period.

Orientation patterns of various neotectonic structures and focal mechanism solutions of recent earthquakes that occurred in the east Anatolian plateau and the Caucasus fit well with the N-S directed intracontinental convergence between the Arabian plate in the south and the Eurasian plate in the north lasting since Late Miocene or Early Pliocene in places. © 2001 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments of the East China Sea and their relationship with carbonaceous materials

This study measured concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments in the East China Sea (ECS) to investigate possible sources and fate of PAHs. Total concentration of PAHs in the sediments of the ECS ranged from 22 to 244 ng g(-1), with the highest levels in the coastal area and outer shelf. The observed PAH results showed elevated levels in both inner and outer shelf areas, a finding that is different from predictions by an ocean circulation model, suggesting that terrestrial sources are important for PAH contaminations in the ECS, while sediment resuspension, tidal changes and lateral transport may be important in affecting the distribution of PAHs in the outer shelf. The distribution of PAHs in the surface sediments of the ECS is similar to the distribution of carbonaceous materials (e.g., particulate organic carbon and black carbon), suggesting that carbonaceous materials may strongly affect the distribution of PAHs.     

Comparison of microbial communities in petroleum-contaminated groundwater using genetic and metabolic profiles at Kyonggi-Do,South Korea

This research has been performed to determine the differences in microbial communities according to physicochemical properties such as concentrations of volatile aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX), dissolved oxygen (DO), electron acceptors, etc., in oil-contaminated groundwaters at Kyonggi-Do, South Korea. The properties of bacterial and microbial communities were analyzed by 16S polymerase chain reaction (PCR) denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting method and community-level physiological profiling (CLPP) using Eco-plate, respectively. Based on the DGGE fingerprints, the similarities of bacterial community structures were high with similar DO levels, and low with different DO levels. Whereas the dominant bacterial groups in GW13 (highest BTEX and lowest DO) were acidobacteria, α-proteobacteria, β-proteobacteria, γ-proteobacteria, δ-proteobacteria, and spirochetes, those in GW7 (highest BTEX and highest DO) were actinobacteria, α-proteobacteria, β-proteobacteria, γ-proteobacteria, δ-proteobacteria, and sphingobacteria. Based on the CLPP results, the groundwater samples were roughly divided into three groups: above 4 mg/L in DO (group 1: GW3 and GW7), below 4 mg/L in DO (group 2: GW8, W1, W2, W3, and BH10), and highly contaminated with BTEX (group 3: GW13). Shannon index showed that the microbial diversities and equitabilities were higher in shallower aquifer samples. Overall, this study verified that the greatest influencing factors on microbial/bacterial communities in groundwaters were DO and carbon sources, although BTEX concentration was one of the major factors.     

Neotectonics and seismicity of Erzurum pull-apart basin,East Turkey

The study area is the Erzurum pull-apart basin located in the East Anatolian Tectonic Block (EATB), which is under the control of a strike-slip neotectonic regime since the beginning of Quaternary. The Quaternary Erzurum pull-apart basin is an about 1-30 km wide, 90 km long and actively growing strike-slip depression. It is bounded by the Erzurum-Dumlu sinistral strike-slip fault zone to the east-southeast, by the Askale sinistral strike-slip fault zone to the north-northwest, and by the Baskoy-Kandilli reverse fault zone and the N-S-trending Ilica oblique-slip normal fault set to the west. The Erzurum pull-apart basin was evolved by the deformation and subdivision of an E-W-trending older intermontane basin. The new basin has a 0.5 km thick, flat-lying (undeformed) and uconsolidated fill, which overlies, with an angular unconformitry, the deformed (folded and faulted) basement rocks of pre-Quaternary age. Basin fill consists of coarser-grained marginal facies (fault terrace, fan, fan-apron and superimposed fan deposits) and finer-grained depocentral facies represented by flood plain to organic material-rich marsh deposits. All gradations are seen among these lithofacies.The seismicity of the Erzurum pull-apart basin is quite high. The magnitude of the peak earthquake to be sourced from the active faults (e.g., the Erzurum fault) is about Mw = 7.0. This was proved by both the historical and recent earthquakes. Numerous settlements in the size of a large city (e.g., Erzurum), county, town and small villages with a total population of over 766,000 are located in and along the active fault-bounded margins of the Erzurum pull-apart basin. They are under the threat of destructive earthquakes to be sourced from the margin-boundary faults. Therefore, based on both the active fault parameters and the water-saturated basin fill, a large-scale earthquake hazard map has to be prepared. This map has to be used in both the earthquake hazard to risk analyses and the redesign of city planning and all type of constructions in Erzurum and other settlements in this region.     

Drought episodes in the Czech Republic and their potential effects in agriculture

This paper presents the methodology for assessment of drought episodes and their potential effects on winter and spring cereal crops in the Czech Republic (in the text referred to as Czechia). Historical climate and crop yields data for the period of 47 years (1961–2007) have been integrated into an agrometeorological database. The drought episodes were determined by three methods: according to the values of the standardized precipitation index (SPI), percentage of long-term precipitations (r), and on the basis of the Ped drought index (S _i). Consequently, the combined SPI, S _i, and r indices have been used as tools in identification of the severity, frequency, and extent of drought episodes. Additionally, the paper also presents the S _i drought index and its potential use for real-time monitoring of spatial extension and severity of droughts in Czechia. The drought risk to crops was analyzed by identifying the relationships between the fluctuation of crop yields and drought index (S _i) based on the multiple regression analysis with stepwise selection. In general, models explain that a high percentage of the variability of the yield is due to drought (more than 45% of yield variance).     

The effect of Fe on the crystal structure of wadsleyite β-(Mg1 − x Fe x )2SiO4, 0.00≤x≤0.40

Single crystals of five wadsleyite compositions, β-(Mg,Fe)₂SiO₄ with Fe/(Fe+Mg)=0.00, 0.08, 0.16, 0.25 and 0.40, have been synthesized at high temperature and pressure in a uniaxial, split-sphere apparatus. Crystal structures of these samples, determined by x-ray diffraction techniques, reveal that iron is significantly ordered: Fe is depleted in the M2 octahedron, while it is enriched in M1 and M3. The most iron-rich synthetic sample, which falls well outside previous estimates of wadsleyite stability, raises questions regarding published Mg₂SiO₄-Fe₂SiO₄ phase diagrams at transition zone conditions.