The evolution of slump-induced destruction of Kukuy Griva slope (Lake Baikal) revealed on the base of the data of seismic and acoustic surveys

As a result of careful interpretation of the data of recent seismo-acoustic surveys, two major seismic complexes were identified in the structure of the upper sedimentary section of the north-western slope of Kukuy Griva (ridge). They are composed of several inner seismo-facies, which are very characteristic and separated with well-expressed regional reflector. Seismic and acoustic data revealed evidences of numerous landslide processes which were different in age and peculiarities of manifestation. For the first time, detailed schemes of seismo-facies distribution are compiled for major seismic complexes at the area. The boundary between seismic complexes is dated as 150 thousands years. It is shown that sliding was more intensive during Late Pleistocene and Holocene, reflecting activation of tectonic movements in this part of Baikal rift system.     

Geochemical processes controlling the spatial distribution of selenium in soil and water,west central South Dakota,USA

Selenium (Se) is essential in the human diet, but has a low threshold for toxic concentration. It is recommended that nutrients such as Se should be consumed through foods as part of a normal diet. Se concentrations in crops and meat depend on the amount of labile Se in the soil where crops and forage are grown. Therefore, managing agriculture for optimal Se in grain crops and forage requires an understanding of the distribution and mobility of Se. Elevated concentrations of Se occur in waters, soils, and forage 120 km west of Pierre in west central South Dakota, USA. The research site lies in an elevated, dissected plain where soils developed on gently dipping Pierre Shale. Soils were sampled along catena transects and waters collected from soil, ponds, and shallow borings in areas of known elevated forage and crop Se. Soil extracts from saturated-paste extraction and acid (aqua regia and hydrofluoric acid) extraction were analyzed. Selenate was the dominant Se species in both acid and saturated-paste extracts; selenite and organic Se were below detection (<0.2 ppb) in the same soil extracts. On average, 98% of soil Se was not water-soluble. The distribution of total Se shows much less spatial variation than water-soluble Se in the areas sampled. Se shows correlation with organic carbon in soils and waters, suggesting its association with organic carbon. Ca shows some correlation to Se in acid extracts, but not in saturated-paste extracts or in waters. Total Se shows no significant correlation to Na, Mg, and total S in the soils. Se in saturated-paste extracts and water samples shows good correlations with Na, Mg, and SO₄, suggesting that evaporitic Na–Mg–sulfate minerals may temporarily concentrate water-soluble Se in shallow soils. The dissolution and precipitation of these Na–Mg–sulfate salts together with pH and oxidation–reduction conditions apparently control water-soluble Se distribution and mobilization in shallow subsurface environments.     

Investigation on strength and stability of jointed rock mass using three‐dimensional numerical manifold method

This paper proposes a numerical model for jointed rock masses within the 3‐D numerical manifold method (NMM) framework equipped with a customized contact algorithm. The strength of rock sample containing a few sets of discontinuities is first investigated. The results of models with simple geometries are compared with the available analytical solutions to verify the developed computer code, whereas models with complex geometries are simulated to better understand the fundamental behavior and failure mechanism of jointed rock mass. Furthermore, the stability of jointed rock mass in an underground excavation is studied, where rock failure process is determined by the 3‐D NMM simulation. The simulation results provide valuable guidance on excavation process design and stabilization design in rock engineering practice. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Way forward to achieve sustainable and cost-effective biofuel production from microalgae: a review

Driven by policies aimed at enhancing energy security and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, the production and use of biofuels have significantly increased in recent years. Microalgae owing to its multiple advantages which include high lipid content, sustainable biomass production, effective land and water utilization are the most potential biofuel feedstock that can provide drop-in fossil fuel replacements without stimulating competition for agricultural resources and are considered to be more environmentally benign than the first- and second-generation biofuel feedstocks. However, there are many existing technical and scientific impediments that are yet to be resolved. Keeping this in view, the present review provides a concise account of the microalgal species known to accumulate high levels of lipid and describes the main factors that should be taken into consideration while selecting suitable algal strains for mass cultivation. The underlining advantages and limitations of raceway pond and photobioreactor cultivation systems are also examined. The recent advances in genetic engineering of microalgae to improve biomass and lipid productivity are then highlighted, which include the ongoing debate over the biosafety issues pertinent to the use of genetically modified algae. Furthermore, a wide range of high-value products that can be co-produced from microalgae have been discussed. The review concludes with a comprehensive summary of the major techno-economic constraints to commercialization of algal-derived biofuels along with promising methods for overcoming these challenges in order to produce cost-competitive and environmentally sustainable biofuel.     

Mineralogy and geochemistry of lateritic soil profiles in Kerala, India

Lateritic soils near Calicut, Kerala, contain halloysite of intermediate hydration, kaolinite, goethite, gibbsite and quartz. The presence of halloysite is responsible for relatively high plasticity and cation-exchange capacity. Fe-hydroxide colloids along with halloysite contribute to significant phosphate uptake by this soil. Composition of local groundwater is consistent with weathering of sodic plagioclase to gibbsite, kaolinite and metastable halloysite.     

Tectonic evolution of the Siberian Platform during the Vendian and Phanerozoic

This paper presents characteristics of the structural regions surrounding the Siberian Platform and discusses the Vendian-present time evolution of the Siberian Paleocontinent with the Siberian Craton making up its nucleus. It shows that the paleocontinent underwent significant intraplate compressional deformations with vertical movements and formation of inversion structural features within broad areas. Such epochs of deformation took place at the Riphean-Vendian time boundary, during the Late Paleozoic, Late Triassic, Early Cretaceous, and during the Late Cenozoic. The principal rifting events took place during the Middle-Late Devonian. The paper presents paleotectonic reconstructions of East Siberia at several key time intervals.     

The assemblage quartz — Sillimanite — Garnet — Cordierite as an indicator of metamorphic conditions in the Daly Bay Complex,N.W.T.

If cordierite is treated as an anhydrous mineral, the composition of garnet and cordierite, coexisting with quartz and silliminate, depends on total pressure and temperature. Phase relations may be deduced by combining some available experimental work with several approximations. Assuming ideal ionic solution in garnet and cordierite, analyses of coexisting garnet and cordierite permit the determination of total pressure and temperature. Five rocks from the Daly Bay Complex, N. W. T., collected from locations up to 35 miles apart, indicate a range of 610–760 and 5.3–6.6 kb.     

The Metric Impact of Reduction Optics in Digital Cameras

The recently released Nikon E2 still video camera incorporates reduction optics technology which enables a full conventional 35mm image to be recorded on a 2/3 inch (17mm) CCD array. This paper investigates the metric impact of reduction optics through application of the technique of multisensor system self-calibration. The influence of the JPEG image compression facility contained within the E2 is also assessed in an overall evaluation of the camera for vision metrology applications which demand relatively high object point triangulation accuracies.     

Late Holocene floodplain incision and alluvial fan formation in the central Grampian Highlands,Scotland: chronology,environment and implications

A section cut across an alluvial fan and the underlying floodplain terrace in the central Grampian Highlands provides an unusually complete record of late Holocene events. At ca. 2.7–2.4 cal kyr BP floodplain aggradation was replaced by net floodplain incision. Pollen evidence and charcoal counts provide no evidence for contemporaneous anthropogenic landscape change, and the timing of the transition suggests that it reflects an increase in high-magnitude erosive flood events following overall climatic deterioration. The overlying fan was deposited by torrential hyperconcentrated flows during three brief storm-generated depositional events at ca. 2.2–2.1, 1.9–1.8 and 0.9–0.7 cal kyr BP, separated and succeeded by prolonged periods of stability and peat accumulation. During these three events, a cumulative total of ca. 6750 m³ of sediment was deposited, probably in no more than a few hours over a timescale of two millennia. These findings imply that proposed links between human activity and the development of alluvial fans or debris cones require reassessment, and that different elements of the Holocene alluvial landscape have responded in different ways to the same climatic inputs. Aggregation of dating evidence relating to aggradation or incision of alluvial landforms at different scales therefore may produce misleading results. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fluid evolution during burial and Variscan deformation in the Lower Devonian rocks of the High-Ardenne slate belt (Belgium): sources and causes of high-salinity and C–O–H–N fluids

Fluid inclusions in quartz veins of the High-Ardenne slate belt have preserved remnants of prograde and retrograde metamorphic fluids. These fluids were examined by petrography, microthermometry and Raman analysis to define the chemical and spatial evolution of the fluids that circulated through the metamorphic area of the High-Ardenne slate belt. The earliest fluid type was a mixed aqueous/gaseous fluid (H₂O–NaCl–CO₂–(CH₄–N₂)) occurring in growth zones and as isolated fluid inclusions in both the epizonal and anchizonal part of the metamorphic area. In the central part of the metamorphic area (epizone), in addition to this mixed aqueous/gaseous fluid, primary and isolated fluid inclusions are also filled with a purely gaseous fluid (CO₂–N₂–CH₄). During the Variscan orogeny, the chemical composition of gaseous fluids circulating through the Lower Devonian rocks in the epizonal part of the slate belt, evolved from an earlier CO₂–CH₄–N₂ composition to a later composition enriched in N₂. Finally, a late, Variscan aqueous fluid system with a H₂O–NaCl composition migrated through the Lower Devonian rocks. This latest type of fluid can be observed in and outside the epizonal metamorphic part of the High-Ardenne slate belt. The chemical composition of the fluids throughout the metamorphic area, shows a direct correlation with the metamorphic grade of the host rock. In general, the proportion of non-polar species (i.e. CO₂, CH₄, N₂) with respect to water and the proportion of non-polar species other than CO₂ increase with increasing metamorphic grade within the slate belt. In addition to this spatial evolution of the fluids, the temporal evolution of the gaseous fluids is indicative for a gradual maturation due to metamorphism in the central part of the basin. In addition to the maturity of the metamorphic fluids, the salinity of the aqueous fluids also shows a link with the metamorphic grade of the host-rock. For the earliest and latest fluid inclusions in the anchizonal part of the High-Ardenne slate belt the salinity varies respectively between 0 and 3.5 eq.wt% NaCl and between 0 and 2.7 eq.wt% NaCl, while in the epizonal part the salinity varies between 0.6 and 17 eq.wt% NaCl and between 3 and 10.6 eq.wt% for the earliest and latest aqueous fluid inclusions, respectively. Although high salinity fluids are often attributed to the original sedimentary setting, the increasing salinity of the fluids that circulated through the Lower Devonian rocks in the High-Ardenne slate belt can be directly attributed to regional metamorphism. More specifically the salinity of the primary fluid inclusions is related to hydrolysis reactions of Cl-bearing minerals during prograde metamorphism, while the salinity of the secondary fluid inclusions is rather related to hydration reactions during retrograde metamorphism. The temporal and spatial distribution of the fluids in the High-Ardenne slate belt are indicative for a closed fluid flow system present in the Lower Devonian rocks during burial and Variscan deformation, where fluids were in thermal and chemical equilibrium with the host rock. Such a closed fluid flow system is confirmed by stable isotope study of the veins and their adjacent host rock for which uniform δ¹⁸0 values of both the veins and their host rock demonstrate a rock-buffered fluid flow system.