Spatial analysis of tilt and gravity observations of Earth tides in western Europe

Summary. Tidal gravity and tilt data are available with a great density in western Europe, so that local and regional variability of Earth tides are well documented. O1 and M2 are the most reliable waves and the relevant ocean loads are deduced from some cotidal charts and from Green's functions given by Farrell. The reliability of the charts is proved a posteriori by the convergence of O1 and M2 with respect to body tides for tilt and gravity. It is shown that a spatial trend of the gravimetric factor exists but cannot be analysed because of scatter in the data. For tilt tides the importance of the load due to the Bay of Biscay is emphasized; by considering tilt and strain powers, it is shown in a global approach that the noise is in favour of a local tilt-strain coupling, and it is proved that in each station a quantitative estimate of this phenomenon can be obtained by a statistical analysis derived from a theoretical scheme (King et al. ) in as much as the ocean load is known with sufficient accuracy; an appraisal of the diminishing tilt factor is then deduced simultaneously.     

Joint Electrical and Time Domain Electromagnetism (TDEM) Data Inversion Applied to the Super Sauze Earthflow (France)

In order to evaluate the risk of an earthflow to evolve abruptly into torrential surge, knowledge of its internal structure is necessary. This study deals with the internal structure of the Super Sauze earthflow developed in black marls in the southern French Alps. Difficulties in this study area are a rough topography, surface heterogeneities and a large thickness variability of the earthflow mass. These conditions hamper the application of geotechnical methods as a preferred investigation mean. Moreover, they pose problems to geophysical investigations and their interpretation.This paper shows the advantage offered by the joint inversion of Time Domain ElectroMagne-tism data (TDEM) and data obtained from Direct Current soundings (DC). The results of the joint inversions are checked using geotechnical data. The internal structure of the earthflow interpreted on the basis of joint inversion data is comparable to that obtained from geotechnical results. Moreover, contrary to separate electrical and TDEM inversions, a satisfactory joint inversion model can be derived without supplying additional a priori information.     

Arsenic incorporation into FeS2 pyrite and its influence on dissolution: A DFT study

FeS₂ pyrite can incorporate large amounts of arsenic (up to ca. 10 wt%) and hence has a strong impact on the mobility of this toxic metalloid. Focussing on the lowest arsenic concentrations for which the incorporation occurs in solid solution, the substitution mechanisms involved have been investigated by assuming simple incorporation reactions in both oxidising and reducing conditions. The solution energies were calculated by Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations and we predict that the formation of AsS dianion groups is the most energetically favourable mechanism. The results also suggest that the presence of arsenic will accelerate the dissolution and thus the generation of acid drainage, when the crystal dissolves in oxidising conditions.     

Type C Ca, Al-rich inclusions from Allende: Evidence for multistage formation

The coarse-grained, igneous, anorthite-rich (Type C) CAIs from Allende studied (100, 160, 6-1-72, 3529-40, CG5, ABC, TS26, and 93) have diverse textures and mineralogies, suggesting complex nebular and asteroidal formation histories. CAIs 100, 160, 6-1-72, and 3529-40 consist of Al,Ti-diopside (fassaite; 13-23 wt% Al₂O₃, 2-14 wt% TiO₂), Na-bearing åkermanitic melilite (0.1-0.4 wt% Na₂O; Åk_30-75), spinel, and fine-grained (∼5-10 μm) anorthite groundmass. Most of the fassaite and melilite grains have “lacy” textures characterized by the presence of abundant rounded and prismatic inclusions of anorthite ∼5-10 μm in size. Lacy melilite is pseudomorphed to varying degrees by grossular, monticellite, and pure forsterite or wollastonite. CAI 6-1-72 contains a relict Type B CAI-like portion composed of polycrystalline gehlenitic melilite (Åk_10-40), fassaite, spinel, perovskite, and platinum-group element nuggets; the Type B-like material is overgrown by lacy melilite and fassaite. Some melilite and fassaite grains in CAIs 100 and 160 are texturally similar to those in the Type B portion of 6-1-72. CAIs ABC and TS26 contain relict chondrule fragments composed of forsteritic olivine and low-Ca pyroxene; CAI 93 is overgrown by a coarse-grained igneous rim of pigeonite, augite, and anorthitic plagioclase. These three CAIs contain very sodium-rich åkermanitic melilite (0.4-0.6 wt% Na₂O; Åk_63-74) and Cr-bearing Al,Ti-diopside (up to 1.6 wt% Cr₂O₃, 1-23 wt% Al₂O, 0.5-7 wt% TiO₂). Melilite and anorthite in the Allende Type C CAI peripheries are replaced by nepheline and sodalite, which are crosscut by andradite-bearing veins; spinel is enriched in FeO. The CAI fragment CG5 is texturally and mineralogically distinct from other Allende Type Cs. It is anorthite-poor and very rich in spinel poikilitically enclosed by Na-free gehlenitic melilite (Åk_20-30), fassaite, and anorthite; neither melilite nor pyroxene have lacy textures; secondary minerals are absent. The Al-rich chondrules 3655b-2 and 3510-7 contain aluminum-rich and ferromagnesian portions. The Al-rich portions consist of anorthitic plagioclase, Al-rich low-Ca pyroxene, and Cr-bearing spinel; the ferromagnesium portions consist of fosteritic olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, and opaque nodules.We conclude that Type C CAIs 100, 160, 6-1-72, and 3529-40 formed by melting of coarse-grained Type B-like CAIs which experienced either extensive replacement of melilite and spinel mainly by anorthite and diopside (traces of secondary Na-bearing minerals, e.g., nepheline or sodalite, might have formed as well), or addition of silica and sodium during the melting event. CG5 could have formed by melting of fine-grained spinel-melilite CAI with melilite and spinel partially replaced anorthite and diopside. CAIs ABC, 93, and TS-26 experienced melting in the chondrule-forming regions with addition of chondrule-like material, such as forsteritic olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, and high-Ca pyroxene. Anorthite-rich chondrules formed by melting of the Al-rich (Type C CAI-like) precursors mixed with ferromagnesian, Type I chondrule-like precursors. The Allende Type C CAIs and Al-rich chondrules experienced fluid-assisted thermal metamorphism, which resulted in pseudomorphic replacement of melilite and anorthite by grossular, monticellite, and forsterite (100, 160, 6-1-72, 3592-40) or by grossular, monticellite, and wollastonite (ABC, 93, TS-26). The pseudomorphic replacement was followed or accompanied by iron-alkali metasomatic alteration resulting in replacement of melilite and anorthite by nepheline and sodalite, enrichment of spinel in FeO, and precipitation of salite-hedenbergite pyroxenes, wollastonite, and andradite in fractures and pores in and around CAIs.     

Mapping of settlements in high-resolution satellite imagery using high performance computing

Classifying urban land cover from high-resolution satellite imagery is challenging, and those challenges are compounded when the imagery databases are very large. Accurate land cover data is a crucial component of the population distribution modeling efforts of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) LandScan Program. Currently, LandScan Program imagery analysts manually interpret high-resolution (1–5 m) imagery to augment existing satellite-derived medium (30 m) and coarse (1 km) resolution land cover datasets. For LandScan, the high-resolution image archives that require interpretation are on the order of terabytes. The goal of this research is to automate human settlement mapping by utilizing ORNL’s high performance computing capabilities. Our algorithm employs gray-level and local edge-pattern co-occurrence matrices to generate texture and edge patterns. Areas of urban land cover correlate with statistical features derived from these texture and edge patterns. We have parallelized our algorithms for implementation on a 64-node system using a single instruction multiple data programming model (SIMD) with Message Passing Interface (MPI) as the communication mode. Our parallel-configured classifier performs 30–40 times faster than stand-alone alternatives. We have tested our system on IKONOS imagery. The early results are promising, pointing towards future large-scale classification of human settlements at high-resolution.     

Mercury transformations and fluxes in sediments of a riverine wetland

Porewater samples were obtained on five occasions during spring, summer and fall by in situ dialysis from three sites of a large freshwater wetland situated along the St. Lawrence River. These samples were analysed for total dissolved mercury ([Hg]_T) and methylmercury ([MeHg]) concentrations and for complementary variables including dissolved sulfate, sulfide and elemental sulfur concentrations. Sediment cores were obtained on three occasions from one of these sites for the determination of total mercury ({Hg}_T) and methylmercury ({MeHg}) concentration as well as mercury methyltransferase (HgMT) activity profiles. {MeHg} and HgMT activity varied with time and sediment depth. The porewater [Hg]_T and [MeHg] depth profiles varied with time and among sites. Modeling the porewater [MeHg] profiles with a one-dimensional reaction-transport equation allowed identification of the sediment depths where MeHg is produced or consumed, as well as an estimate of the net in situ MeHg production rates in the sediments. The model-predicted depths of MeHg production, as well as the sulfate concentration and the HgMT activity depth distributions are all consistent with the involvement of sulfate reducing bacteria in the production of MeHg.     

Timing of surficial process changes down a Mojave Desert piedmont

We measured ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al in 29 sediment samples to infer the history and millennial-scale rates of change down a low-gradient piedmont, a common but enigmatic landform that dominates the Mojave Desert. Nuclide data suggest that a large volume of sediment was deposited on the proximal East Range Road piedmont in Fort Irwin, California, ∼ 75,500 yr ago. Since then, this material has been stable or eroding slowly. In contrast, on the distal piedmont (3.5 km from the upland source basins) soil stratigraphy suggests that there have been alternating periods of surface stability, erosion, and deposition over the last 70,000 yr. Nuclide data from samples amalgamated along cross-piedmont transects suggest that long-term average down-gradient sediment speeds range from 9 cm yr^− 1 near the uplands to 22 cm yr^− 1 6 km down-piedmont. These speeds are similar to ¹⁰Be-estimated sediment speeds down three other piedmonts in the Mojave Desert, suggesting that piedmont surface morphologies dominated by shallow migrating channels have similar sediment transport rates. The timing of surface process change down the East Range Road piedmont is determined by a combination of sediment available in the source basins, sediment transport rates, and the size of the piedmont.     

A diverse rodent fauna from the middle Bartonian (Eocene) of Les Alleveys,Switzerland: snapshot of the early theridomyid radiation

A fossiliferous fissure filling at Les Alleveys, Mormont (Canton de Vaud, Switzerland), sampled in 1986 and representing part of the same fissure system as that excavated by Chavannes and Morlot in 1852, contains an Eocene mammal fauna of 27 species-group taxa, dominated by micromammals. Unlike the 1852 collection, thanks to screenwashing techniques, there is an abundance of rodents, especially theridomyids, which provide new information on the early radiation of the family. The homogeneity of the new assemblage suggests that the Les Alleveys fauna is entirely Bartonian in age and not as previously thought mixed with Priabonian elements. Bartonian faunas rich in a diversity of micromammals are relatively uncommon in Europe outside the Quercy region of France and this is the first such fauna from Mormont and from Switzerland. The rodents are here treated systematically and a new species of Elfomys, E. engesseri sp. nov. is described. A few teeth of an undescribed species tentatively referred to ‘Protadelomys’ provide an archaic element, whereas a single milk premolar of Patriotheridomys? suggests a considerable range for the genus prior to the middle Priabonian. The Les Alleveys theridomyids, together with a range of other early family members are analysed cladistically. The analysis confirms both the distinctness of the subfamily Remyinae and that the genus Estellomys is a primitive theridomyine; it shows Paradelomys to be a primitive member of the Columbomyinae, but finds no dental synapomorphies to support the Issiodoromyinae as represented by Elfomys and Pseudoltinomys.