Using simulated hydrologic response to revisit the 1973 Lerida Court landslide

Hydrologically driven mass wasting in the form of landslides on steep slopes is a worldwide occurrence. High-profile events in, for example, Brazil, Chile, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela during the last three decades all clearly illustrate, based upon significant losses of life and property, that hydrologically driven slope instability in developed (urban) areas can be a major geologic/environmental hazard. The focus of this study is the 1973 hydrologically driven Lerida Court landslide in Portola Valley, CA, USA. Physics-based hydrologic-response simulation, with the comprehensive Integrated Hydrology Model, was employed to forensically estimate the spatiotemporal pore pressure distributions for the Lerida Court site. Slope stability, driven by the simulated pore pressure dynamics, was estimated for the Lerida Court site with the infinite slope/Factor of Safety approach. The pore pressure dynamics for the Lerida Court site were reasonably captured by the hydrologic-response simulation. The estimated time of slope failure for the Lerida Court site compares well with field observations. A recommendation is made that hydrologically driven slope stability estimates including variably saturated subsurface flow be standard protocol for development sites in steep urban settings.     

Investigating the igneous petrogenesis of Martian volcanic rocks using augite quantitative textural analysis of the Yamato nakhlites

To better understand volcanism on planetary bodies other than the Earth, the quantification of physical processes is needed. Here, the petrogenesis of the achondrite Martian Yamato (Y) nakhlites (Y 000593, Y 000749, and Y 000802) is reinvestigated via quantitative analysis of augite (high-Ca clinopyroxene) phenocrysts: crystal size distribution (CSD), spatial distribution patterns (SDP), and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Results from CSD and EBSD quantitative data sets show augite to have continuous uninterrupted growth resulting in calculated minimum magma chamber residence times of either 88–117 ± 6 yr or 9–12 yr. All samples exhibit low-intensity S-LS type crystallographic preferred orientation. Directional strain is observed across all samples with intracrystalline misorientation patterns indicative of (100)[001]:(001)[100] (Y 000593 and Y 000802) and {110}<001>or {110}¹/₂<110> (Y 000749) slip systems. SDP results indicate phenocryst-bearing crystal-clustered rock signatures. Combined findings from this work show that the Yamato nakhlites formed on Mars as individual low-viscosity lava flows or sills. This study shows that through combining these different quantitative techniques over multiple samples, one can more effectively compare and interpret resulting data to gain a more robust, geologically contextualized petrogenetic understanding of the rock suite being studied. The techniques used in this study should be equally applicable to igneous achondrites from other parent bodies.     

Simulation of the annual and diurnal cycles of rainfall over South Africa by a regional climate model

The capability of a current state-of-the-art regional climate model for simulating the diurnal and annual cycles of rainfall over a complex subtropical region is documented here. Hourly rainfall is simulated over Southern Africa for 1998–2006 by the non-hydrostatic model weather research and forecasting (WRF), and compared to a network of 103 stations covering South Africa. We used five simulations, four of which consist of different parameterizations for atmospheric convection at a 0.5 × 0.5° resolution, performed to test the physic-dependency of the results. The fifth experiment uses explicit convection over tropical South Africa at a 1/30° resolution. WRF simulates realistic mean rainfall fields, albeit wet biases over tropical Africa. The model mean biases are strongly modulated by the convective scheme used for the simulations. The annual cycle of rainfall is well simulated over South Africa, mostly influenced by tropical summer rainfall except in the Western Cape region experiencing winter rainfall. The diurnal cycle shows a timing bias, with atmospheric convection occurring too early in the afternoon, and causing too abundant rainfall. This result, particularly true in summer over the northeastern part of the country, is weakly physic-dependent. Cloud-resolving simulations do not clearly reduce the diurnal cycle biases. In the end, the rainfall overestimations appear to be mostly imputable to the afternoon hours of the austral summer rainy season, i.e., the periods during which convective activity is intense over the region.     

Thermal and rheological controls on the formation of mafic enclaves or banded pumice

Magma mixing can occur in a fluid manner to produce banded pumice or in a brittle manner to form enclaves. We propose that the critical control on mixing style is a competition between developing networks of crystals in the intruding magma that impart a strength to the magma and melting and disrupting those networks in the host. X-ray computed tomography analysis demonstrates that banded pumice from the 1915 Mt. Lassen eruption lacks crystal networks. In contrast, rhyodacite hosts with mafic enclaves from Chaos Crags contain well-developed networks of large crystals. We present a one-dimensional conductive cooling model that predicts mixing style, either ductile or brittle, as a function of magma compositions, temperatures, and the size of the intruding dike. Our model relies on three assumptions: (1) Mixing is initiated by the injection of a hot dike into a cooler magma body with a yield strength; (2) when magma crystallinity exceeds a critical value, 13 vol% plagioclase, the magma develops a yield strength; and (3) when total crystallinity exceeds 40 vol%, the magma has a penetrative crystal network and is effectively solid. Importantly, because the two magmas are of different compositions, their crystallinities and viscosities do not have the same variations with temperature. As the intruding magma cools, it crystallizes from the outside in, while simultaneously, host magma temperature near the intruder rises. Mixing of the two magmas begins when the host magma is heated sufficiently to (1) disrupt the crystal network and (2) initiate convection. If the shear stress exerted by the convecting host magma on the dike is greater than the yield strength of the dike margin (and dike crystallinity does not exceed 40 %), then fluid mixing occurs, otherwise enclaves form by brittle deformation of the dike. Application of the model to magma compositions representative of Lassen and Chaos Crags shows that emplacement of dikes <1 m thick should produce enclaves, whereas thicker dikes should generate fluid mixing and form banded pumice within days to weeks of emplacement. Similar relationships apply to other modeled magmatic systems, including Pinatubo, Unzen, and Ksudach/Shtuybel’ volcanoes. For all studied systems, the absolute size of the intruding dike, not just its proportion relative to the host, influences mixing style.     

Exploring Mobility Indoors: an Application of Sensor‐based and GIS Systems

The popularization of tracking devices, such as GPS, accelerometers and smartphones, have made it possible to detect, record, and analyze new patterns of human movement and behavior. However, employing GPS alone for indoor localization is not always possible due to the system's inability to determine location inside buildings or in places of signal occlusion. In this context, the application of local wireless networks for determining position is a promising alternative solution, although they still suffer from a number of limitations due to energy and IT‐resources. Our research outlines the potential for employing indoor wireless network positioning and sensor‐based systems to improve the collection of tracking data indoors. By applying various methods of GIScience we developed a methodology that can be applicable for diverse human indoor mobility analysis. To show the advantage of the proposed method, we present the result of an experiment that included mobility analysis of 37 participants. We tracked their movements on a university campus over the course of 41 days and demonstrated that their movement behavior can be successfully studied with our proposed method.     

Longitudinal and depth variation of bacterioplankton productivity and related factors in a temperate estuary

Bacterioplankton productivity (BP) spatial variation was investigated in relation to potential resources, including primary productivity and dissolved organic matter, in the micro-tidal Neuse River–Pamlico Sound estuarine system, North Carolina, USA. Estuarine BP was predicted to correlate with the trophic gradient, decreasing along the salinity gradient in parallel with the decrease in organic matter and primary productivity. This prediction was tested over four years at spatial scales ranging from kilometers to meters along the riverine axis and with depth. The general pattern of BP across the salinity gradient was unimodal and matched the phytoplankton patterns in peak location and variability. Peak locations varied with discharge, especially in 2003 when above average discharge moved peaks downstream. Spatial coherence of BP with other variables was much less at short time scales. The effect of temperature, nutrients, and phytoplankton on BP varied by location, especially fresh versus brackish stations, although only temperature explained more than 20% of the BP variation. Depth variation of BP was as great as longitudinal variation and bottom samples were often higher than surface. BP was strongly correlated with particulate organic carbon at the pycnocline and bottom, highlighting the importance of particulate matter as a resource. Station-averaged BP and phytoplankton data corresponded well with two published meta-analyses, although the offset of the freshwater station suggested longitudinal differences in community composition or resource availability.     

Submarine channel levee shape and sediment waves from physical experiments

Submarine channel levees aggrade through repeated overspill events from the channel axis. The shape of the levees may therefore reflect some characteristic(s) of the overspilling flow. It has been noted that basin floor levees typically have a relatively low-relief and taper exponentially to their termination; in contrast slope channel levees may be much steeper close to the channel. A simple physical experiment was performed where a surge-like sediment-laden current flowed through a curved channel. Significant overspill occurred and generated a deposit flanking the channel on either side. The experiment was repeated 25 times to build up low-relief channel-levees. It was found that in proximal areas, levees were steep and characterised by power-law decays, a transitional zone of logarithmically thinning levee was found a little further down-channel, followed by exponential decays in medial to distal areas. The style of levee decay is a function of spatial variation in overbank sedimentation rates. Where flows rapidly lose momentum and deposit across the grain-size spectrum, i.e., in proximal areas, levees tend to be steep; farther down the channel, the steep levee slope gives way to a more gradually tapering deposit. In more distal parts of the channel, deposition is directly related to sediment settling velocity (rather than the suspended load exceeding flow transport capacity as is the case in proximal areas), the deposit reflects this with relatively simple exponential thickness decays. Additionally, small-scale sediment waves developed under lee wave conditions on the inner-bend overbank. The waves initially migrated slightly towards the channel, but as the style of overspill evolved due to intra-channel deposition, flows moved out of the lee wave window and sedimentation became out of phase with the wavelength of the features and the topography was healed.     

Sulfur cycling at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: A multiple sulfur isotope approach

The role of sulfur in two hydrothermal vent systems, the Logatchev hydrothermal field at 14°45′N/44°58′W and several different vent sites along the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (SMAR) between 4°48′S and 9°33′S and between 12°22′W and 13°12′W, is examined by utilizing multiple sulfur isotope and sulfur concentration data. Isotope compositions for sulfide minerals and vent H₂S from different SMAR sites range from + 1.5 to + 8.9‰ in δ³⁴S and from + 0.001 to + 0.051‰ in Δ³³S. These data indicate mixing of mantle sulfur with sulfur from seawater sulfate. Combined δ³⁴S and Δ³³S systematics reveal that vent sulfide from SMAR is characterized by a sulfur contribution from seawater sulfate between 25 and 33%. This higher contribution, compared with EPR sulfide, indicates increased seawater sulfate reduction at MAR, because of a deeper seated magma chamber and longer fluid upflow path length, and points to fundamental differences with respect to subsurface structures and fluid evolution at slow and fast spreading mid-ocean ridges.Additionally, isotope data uncover non-equilibrium isotopic exchange between dissolved sulfide and sulfate in an anhydrite bearing zone below the vent systems at fluid temperatures between 335 and 400 °C. δ³⁴S values between + 0.2 to + 8.8‰ for dissolved and precipitated sulfide from Logatchev point to the same mixing process between mantle sulfur and sulfur from seawater sulfate as at SMAR. δ³⁴S values between ? 24.5 and + 6.5‰ and Δ³³S values between + 0.001 and + 0.125‰ for sulfide-bearing sediments and mafic/ultramafic host rocks from drill cores taken in the region of Logatchev indicate a clear contribution of biogenic sulfides formed via bacterial sulfate reduction. Basalts and basaltic glass from SMAR sites with Δ³³S = ? 0.008‰ reveal lower Δ³³S lower values than suggested on the basis of previously published isotopic measurements of terrestrial materials.We conclude that the combined use of both δ³⁴S and Δ³³S provides a more detailed picture of the sulfur cycling in hydrothermal systems at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and uncovers systematic differences to hydrothermal sites at different mid-ocean ridge sites. Multiple sulfur isotope measurements allow identification of incomplete isotope exchange in addition to isotope mixing as a second important factor influencing the isotopic composition of dissolved sulfide during fluid upflow. Furthermore, based on Δ³³S we are able to clearly distinguish biogenic from hydrothermal sulfides in sediments even when δ³⁴S were identical.     

Enhancement of prestack diffraction data and attributes using a traveltime decomposition approach

Diffractions not only carry important information about small-scale subsurface structures, they also possess unique properties, which make them a powerful tool for seismic processing and imaging. Since a point diffractor scatters an incoming wave to all directions, a diffraction event implies better illumination than a reflection, because the rays travel through larger parts of the subsurface. Furthermore, unlike the reflection case, in which the emergence location of the reflected wave depends on the source position, in the case of non-Snell scattering, up-going and down-going raypaths are decoupled. Based on this decoupling, we introduce a diffraction traveltime decomposition principle, which establishes a direct connection between zero-offset and finite-offset diffraction wavefield attributes. By making use of this approach, we are able to enhance diffractions and obtain high-quality diffraction wavefield attributes at arbitrary offsets in the prestack domain solely based on zero-offset processing without any further optimization of attributes. We show the accuracy of the method by fitting diffraction traveltimes, and on simple waveform data. Application to complex synthetic data shows the ability of the proposed approach to enhance diffractions and provide high-quality wavefield attributes even in sparsely illuminated regions such as subsalt areas. The promising results reveal a high potential for improved prestack data enhancement and further applications such as efficient diffraction-based finite-offset tomography.