Book Review: Upscaling and Downscaling Methods for Environmental Research. By Marc F. P. Bierkens,Peter A. Finke,and Peter de Willigen. Kluwer Academic Publishers,Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2000, 190 p. + CD-ROM, $88.00 lpar;U.S.), hardback,ISBN 0-7923-6339-6

Mathematical Geosciences -     

Towards high‐resolution 3D marine seismic surveying using Boomer sources

The use of Boomer sources for 3D seismic imaging of shallow marine structures was investigated in a feasibility study. Boomers show sufficient stability to be used in multichannel seismic surveys. The acquisition of a high-frequency, densely sampled seismic data volume was successfully performed in the Baltic Sea. A Pleistocene fluvial channel system and shallow gas accumulations were revealed beneath the unconsolidated sediments which constitute the sea-floor in the southern Kiel Bay.     

Explaining success and failure in international river management

When and why are international efforts to solve transboundary river management problems successful? When and why do such efforts fail, and what does success or failure mean? With more than 260 international river basins covering 45% of the Earth's land surface, and with freshwater being humanity's most valuable natural resource, these questions are hardly trivial. Natural scientists and engineers have provided some answers, but they remain far from complete without major input from the social sciences. While technical know-how and innovation are also crucial to successful international river management, success in this context hinges primarily on political processes in which institutional arrangements are designed and implemented. This review essay maintains that social scientists have made considerable progress in this field since 1977, when a landmark book by David Le Marquand on the politics of international river management was published. This progress includes the development of theoretically better informed explanatory models and their evaluation against an increasing amount of empirical information. It provides a solid foundation for proceeding to a larger-scale research effort that involves the analysis of a larger set of empirical cases on the basis of a single explanatory model.     

The Mobility of Rare Earth Elements and Redox Sensitive Elements in the Groundwater/Seawater Mixing Zone of a Shallow Coastal Aquifer

The concentrations of Rare Earth Elements (REE) and Redox Sensitive Elements (RSE) were measured in groundwaters along a transect of the forest-marsh interface of a surficial aquifer system in North Inlet, SC. The well transect extended from a forest recharge area across the marsh and tidal creek to a tidal recharge area of beach ridge. The concentrations of the RSE (Fe, Mn, and U) were consistent with reducing conditions through the transect. Fe was present at concentrations ranging from a few micromolar to greater than one hundred micromolar in most wells. U was depleted with respect to salinity predicted concentrations, indicating removal with respect to the seawater endmember. Dissolved Mn concentrations were generally low in all wells, indicating no significant solid source of Mn (as MnOx) in this system. When extrapolated to a global scale, estimates of U removal during seawater exchange with the aquifer solids equaled 10–20% of the total riverine dissolved U input flux. REE concentrations in the forest recharge area were high in shallow wells, and showed a light enriched fractionation pattern, characteristic of soil leaching by Natural Organic Matter (NOM) rich waters. A decrease in REE concentration with depth in the forest wells coupled with a trend towards Heavy REE (HREE) enriched fractionation pattern indicated removal of the REE coincident with NOM and Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) removal. The saline waters of the beach ridge wells show a Light REE (LREE) enriched fractionation pattern and have the highest overall concentrations of the REE, indicating a significant REE source to the seawater endmember waters. The concentration gradients along the beach ridge flow path indicate a large source in the deep wells, and net export of dissolved REE to the tidal creek system and the coastal ocean. Ultrafiltration experiments indicate a transition from a colloidal dominated reservoir for the REE in the forest wells to a colloidal and dissolved reservoir in the beach ridge wells. The ultrafiltration data coupled with a correlation with Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) release suggest that there is diagenetic mobilization of an REE rich organic carbon phase in the saline endmember wells. We suggest here that degradation of this relic terrestrial organic carbon and REE rich phase results in the export of dissolved REE equal to or exceeding river inputs in this region.     

Preliminary Results from a New 157 nm Laser Ablation ICP-MS Instrument: New Opportunities in the Analysis of Solid Samples

Preliminary results are given from an excimer 157 nm laser ablation multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (LA-MC-ICP-MS), used for the isotopic measurements of solid materials. Elements of geological interest with different volatilities such as Pb and U (e.g. zircon geochronology) and Cu and Zn (as examples of geochemical/biochemical tracers) were analysed. The range of ablation rates of 20-150 nm s^-1 enabled us to ablate the sample down to a depth of 45 μm for a 50 μm diameter pit. The Cu and Zn isotopic measurements gave values that were very stable with, on average, a 0.01 % standard error, comparable with that achieved in liquid mode measurements.     

Curvature analysis of triangulated surfaces in structural geology

This paper addresses the problem of characterizing the shape of a geological surface on the basis of its principal curvatures. The surface is assumed to be modeled as a set of adjacent triangles defined by the location of their vertices and a method is proposed for estimating numerically the principal curvatures at the vertices of the triangles using a local C² interpolant. Also shown is how principal curvatures can be useful for studying the deformation of a geological surface (with application to 3D balanced unfolding), and analyzing the folding or faulting of the interface between two adjacent layers.