87Sr/86Sr ratio: a natural tracer to monitor groundwater flow paths during artificial recharge in the Bangkok area, Thailand

The aquifer system in the Thon Buri sedimentary basin below the deltaic flood plain of the Chao Phraya River, central Thailand, has been exploited for public water supply for the capital Bangkok since the early 1920s. Groundwater withdrawal, currently 1.4 million m³/d, has resulted in a maximum decline in hydraulic head of up to 40 m. This has induced land subsidence of as much as 1.7 m (1940–1992) in the eastern suburbs of the metropolis. Artificial injection of purified water within an area-wide network of recharge wells could constitute a remedy to slow the water level depression within the sedimentary basin, and thus the subsidence. This requires a prior shutdown of water withdrawal. The flow paths of the injected water can be traced by changes in the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of the groundwater and injected water mixture within the three main aquifers in the basin that are used for public supply. The ratios, monitored at five monitoring stations within the cone of depression, have been constant over 3 years. Injection of the calculated cone volume of 5.2?×?10⁹ m³ would take at least 10 years, depending on the injection pressure and the number and position of wells.     

Direct and indirect luminescence dating of tephra: A review

In Quaternary studies, tephras are widely used as marker horizons to correlate geological deposits. Therefore, accurate and precise dating is crucial. Among radiometric dating techniques, luminescence dating has the potential to date tephra directly using glass shards, volcanic minerals that formed during the eruption or mineral fragments that originate from the shattered country rock. Moreover, sediments that frame the tephra can be dated to attain an indirect age bracket. A review of numerous luminescence dating studies highlights the method's potential and challenges. While reliable direct dating of volcanic quartz and feldspar as a component in tephra is still methodically difficult mainly due to thermal and athermal signal instability, red thermoluminescence of volcanic quartz and the far-red emission of volcanic feldspar have been used successfully. Furthermore, the dating of xenolithic quartz within tephra shows great potential. Numerous studies date tephra successfully indirectly. Dating surrounding sediments is generally straightforward as long as samples are not taken too close to the tephra horizons. Here, issues arise from the occurrence of glass shards within the sediments or unreliable determination of dose rates. This includes relocation of radioelements, mixing of tephra into the sediment and disregarding different dose rates of adjacent material.     

Sex identification of Carcinus maenas by analysis of carapace geometrical morphometry

The European green crab Carcinus maenas is a widely spread invasive species. Studying the most recently introduced population of the species in the Atlantic coast off Patagonia, it became apparent to us that carapaces (the dorsal cover of the visceral-cavity detaching from the rest of the exoskeleton after ecdysis) accumulated on the intertidal may be used as a valuable complementary material to analyze the size structure of crabs. However, since growth rate (and consequently size at instar) of crabs differs between males and females, finding a method to distinguish crab sex by observation of carapace morphology was necessary to allow the construction of independent size frequency distributions for each sex. In this work, we examined the shape of the carapaces from both sexes of C. maenas, and using Elliptical Fourier Analysis successfully identified sexual dimorphism. Thus, a reliable method to identify sexes by visual observation of the carapace was developed. Based on our results, we discuss the evolutionary significance of carapace form differentiation of both sexes.     

Correlations between statistical population indices and spectral characteristics of carbon stars

The coefficients of correlation between spectroscopic data published by Yamashita (1967) and others for carbon stars and the statistical population indices calculated for these stars at the Toru Observatory are calculated (Table II). The intensity estimates of Cai 4227 Å, Nai D lines, the C¹³/C¹² ratio, then=n(Li/Ca) index, as well as CN and probably C₂ bands are higher in population I carbon stars. The CH(G) band and probably hydrogen (H, H, H) lines as well as Baii 4554 and 4934 Å lines are stronger in population II carbon stars. The photoelectric colour indices, corrected for interstellar reddening do not show significant population effects. They can be used as spectral type equivalents. For a population criterion the CH/CN intensity ratio is proposed.     

The timing of migmatization in the northern Arabian–Nubian Shield: Evidence for a juvenile sedimentary component in collision‐related batholiths

Collision‐related granitoid batholiths, like those of the Hercynian and Himalayan orogens, are mostly fed by magma derived from metasedimentary sources. However, in the late Neoproterozoic calcalkaline (CA) batholiths of the Arabian–Nubian Shield (ANS), which constitutes the northern half of the East African orogen, any sedimentary contribution is obscured by the juvenile character of the crust and the scarcity of migmatites. Here, we use paired in situ LASS‐ICP‐MS measurements of U–Th–Pb isotope ratios and REE contents of monazite and xenotime and SHRIMP‐RG analyses of separated zircon to demonstrate direct linkage between migmatites and granites in the northernmost ANS. Our results indicate a single prolonged period of monazite growth at 640–600 Ma, in metapelites, migmatites and peraluminous granites of three metamorphic suites: Abu‐Barqa (SW Jordan), Roded (S Israel) and Taba–Nuweiba (Sinai, Egypt). The distribution of monazite dates and age zoning in single monazite grains in migmatites suggest that peak thermal conditions, involving partial melting, prevailed for c. 10 Ma, from 620 to 610 Ma. REE abundances in monazite are well correlated with age, recording garnet growth and garnet breakdown in association with the prograde and retrograde stages of the melting reactions, respectively. Xenotime dates cluster at 600–580 Ma, recording retrogression to greenschist facies conditions as garnet continued to destabilize. Phase equilibrium modelling and mineral thermobarometry yield P–T conditions of ~650–680°C and 5–7 kbar, consistent with either water‐fluxed or muscovite‐breakdown melting. The expected melt production is 8–10 vol.%, allowing a melt connectivity network to form leading to melt segregation and extraction. U–Pb ages of zircon rims from leucosomes indicate crystallization of melt at 610 ± 10 Ma, coinciding with the emplacement of a vast volume of CA granites throughout the northern ANS, which were previously considered post‐collisional. Similar monazite ages (c. 620 Ma) retrieved from the amphibolite facies Elat schist indicate that migmatites are the result of widespread regional rather than local contact metamorphism, representing the climax of the East African orogenesis.     

Ambient vibration based seismic evaluation of isolated Gülburnu highway bridge

This paper describes ambient vibration based seismic evaluation procedure of an isolated highway bridge. The procedure includes finite element modeling, ambient vibration testing, finite element model updating and time history analysis. Gülburnu Highway Bridge located on the Giresun–Espiye state highway is selected as a case study. Three dimensional finite element model of the bridge is created by SAP2000 software to determine the dynamic characteristics analytically. Since input force is not measured, Operational Modal Analysis is applied to identify dynamic characteristics. Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition and Stochastic Subspace Identification methods are used to obtain experimental dynamic characteristics. Analytical and experimental dynamic characteristic are compared with each other and finite element model of the bridge is updated by changing of material properties to reduce the differences between the results. Analytical model of the bridge after model updating is analyzed using 1992 Erzincan earthquake record to determine the seismic behavior. EW, NS and UP components of the ground motion are applied to the bridge at the longitudinal, transverse and vertical directions, respectively. It is demonstrated that the ambient vibration measurements are enough to identify the most significant modes of highway bridges. Maximum differences between the natural frequencies are reduced averagely from 9% to 2% by model updating. It is seen from the earthquake analyses that friction pendulum isolators are very effective in reducing the displacements and internal forces.     

深基坑变形监测方案设计及数据分析研究

结合某深基坑监测实践,探讨了基坑安全监测点的布设,并对支撑轴力和地下水位监测数据进行了深入分析,研究表明,混凝土持续的体积收缩以及在荷载下混凝土发生徐变被认为是影响轴力异常的最主要因素.对基坑工程监测实践有一定的借鉴意义.     

Simulation of large earthquakes and its implications on earthquake insurance rates: a case study in Bursa region (Turkey)

Ground motion intensity parameters of past and potential earthquakes are required for a range of purposes including earthquake insurance practice. In regions with no or sparse earthquake recordings, most of the available methods generate only peak ground motion parameters. For cases where full ground motion time histories are required, simulations that consider fault rupture processes become necessary. In this study, a major novel use of simulated ground motions is presented in insurance premium calculations which also require ground motion intensity measures that are not always available through observations. For this purpose, potential earthquakes in Bursa are simulated using stochastic finite-fault simulation method with dynamic corner frequency model. To ensure simulations with reliable synthetic ground motions, input parameters are derived from regional data. Regional model parameters are verified by comparisons against the observations as well as ground motion prediction equations. Next, a potential large magnitude event in Bursa is simulated. Distribution of peak ground motion parameters and time histories at selected locations are obtained. From these parameters, the corresponding Modified Mercalli Intensities (MMI) are estimated. Later, these MMIs are used as the main ground motion parameter in damage probability matrices (DPM). Return period of the scenario earthquake is obtained from the previous regional seismic hazard studies. Finally, insurance rates for Bursa region are determined with implementation of two new approaches in the literature. The probability of the scenario event and the expected mean damage ratios (MDR) from the corresponding DPMs are used, and the results are compared to Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP) rates. Results show that insurance premiums can be effectively computed using simulated ground motions in the absence of real data.