Yucatán karst features and the size of Chicxulub crater

The buried Chicxulub impact structure is marked by a dramatic ring of sinkholes (called cenotes if containing water), and adjacent less prominent partial rings, which have been shown to coincide with maxima in horizontal gravity gradients and a topographic depression. These observations, along with the discreteness and spacing of the features, suggest a formation mechanism involving faulting in the outer slump zone of the crater, which would thus have a diameter of approximately 180 km.
An opposing view, based primarily on the interpretation of gravity data, is that (he crater is much larger than the cenote ring implies. Given the association of the known cenote ring with faults, we here examine northern Yucatan for similar rings in gravity, surface features and elevation, which we might expect to be associated with outer concentric faults in the case of a larger, possibly multiring, structure.
No such outer rings have been found, although definite patterns are seen in the distribution of karst features outside the crater rim. We explain these patterns as resulting mainly from deformation related to the block fault zone that parallels tbe shelf edge of eastern Yucatan.     

Morphology of the Itapeva to Tramandai transgressive dunefield barrier system and mid‐ to late Holocene sea level change

The surface morphology of the transgressive dunefield barrier extending from Itapeva to Tramandai along the northern littoral of Rio Grande do Sul, is examined and an attempt is presented to link morphological changes across the barrier to Holocene sea level changes. The 4·5 km wide Holocene barrier displays two typical morphologies: an inner part dominated by large‐scale, continuous alongshore, overlapping dunefield phases comprising sand sheets, dunes, deflation plains and precipitation ridges; and an outer part dominated by discontinuous, medium‐ to small‐scale, triangular to lobate transgressive dunefield phases, cut by both active and relict (palaeo‐) creeks or washouts. Holocene sea level in the region rose to c. +1 to +3 m above present reaching a maximum around 5100 years bp and then progressively fell to the present level. We argue that the effect on barrier development was to suppress the development of a drainage system during the rising and maximum stages, and encourage the development of an organized drainage system in the form of regularly spaced washouts during the falling period, and that this change in sea level from rising to falling therefore produced the large‐scale differences in barrier morphology. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low calcification rates and calcium carbonate production in Porites panamensis at its northernmost geographic distribution

Porites panamensis is a hermatypic coral present in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Skeletal growth parameters have been reported, but studies of the relationship between annual calcification rates and environmental controls are scarce. In this study, we investigated three aspects of the annual calcification rates of P. panamensis: growth parameters among three P. panamensis populations; the sea surface temperature as a calcification rate control spanning a latitudinal gradient; and calcium carbonate production among three sites. Growth parameters varied among the sites due to the colony growth form. Massive colonies in the north showed a higher calcification rate than encrusting colonies in the south (mean: 1.22–0.49 g CaCO₃ · cm^?2 · yr^?1), where variations in calcification rates were related to growth rate (0.91–0.38 cm · yr^?1) rather than to skeletal density differences (overall mean ± SD, 1.31 ± 0.04 g CaCO₃ · cm^?3). Our results showed a positive linear relationship between annual calcification rates and sea surface temperatures within these P. panamensis populations. Differences were related to distinct oceanographic environments (within and at the entrance of the Gulf of California) with different sea surface temperature regimes and other chemical properties. Different populations calcified under different environmental conditions. Calcium carbonate production was dependent upon the calcification rate and coral cover and so carbonate production was higher in the north (coral cover 12%) than in the south (coral cover 3.5). Thus, the studied sites showed low calcium carbonate production (0.25–0.43 kg CaCO₃ · m^?2 · yr^?1). Our results showed reduced calcification rates, regional temperature regime control over calcification rates, different growth forms, low coral cover and low calcium carbonate production rates in P. panamensis.     

Dynamic behavior of buildings with non-uniform stiffness along their height assessed through coupled flexural and shear beams

A novel model for assessing building behavior has been developed by coupling a Bernoulli beam with a quartic stiffness variation and a shear beam with a parabolic stiffness variation, trends that are expected in buildings designed for earthquake actions. Then the partial differential equation of motion governing the behavior of the model has been solved, obtaining analytic expressions (Closed form solutions) for mode shapes in terms of Legendre functions. These closed form solutions were validated with finite element model analyses and effects of non-uniformity of stiffness were assessed in a generalized manner. It was found that period lengthening is mild for the first mode, but for higher modes can be far more noticeable if shear stiffness at beam top is <20 % of its base value. Mode shapes also change notoriously for reductions beyond the same limit, potentially inducing large floor acceleration demands at unexpected locations. Also it was found that drift demands can be noticeably enhanced even if shear stiffness at top is 75 % of the base value, in what would be considered uniform buildings. This model has several applications for assessing the response or large stocks of buildings, calibrate complex models, assess damage on building contents, establishing in short time damage scenarios for large cities, and could be helpful for education, as emphasis is brought back on fundamental concepts.     

Anisotropic visco-hypoplasticity

Apart from time-driven creep or relaxation, most viscoplastic models (without plastic and viscous strain separation) generate no or a very limited accumulation of strain or stress due to cyclic loading. Such pseudo-relaxation (or pseudo-creep) is either absent or dwindles too fast with increasing OCR. For example, the accumulation of the pore water pressure and eventual liquefaction due to cyclic loading cannot be adequately reproduced. The proposed combination of a viscous model and a hypoplastic model can circumvent this problem. The novel visco-hypoplasticity model presented in the paper is based on an anisotropic preconsolidation surface. It can distinguish between the undrained strength upon triaxial vertical loading and horizontal loading. The strain-induced anisotropy is described using a second-order structure tensor. The implicit time integration with the consistent Jacobian matrix is presented. For the tensorial manipulation including numerous Fréchet derivatives, a special package has been developed within the algebra program MATHEMATICA (registered trade mark of Wolfram Research Inc.). The results can be conveniently coded using a special FORTRAN 90 module for tensorial operations. Simulations of element tests from biaxial apparatus and FE calculations are also shown.     

Assessment of three temperature reconstruction methods in the virtual reality of a climate simulation

The performance of statistical climate reconstruction methods in the pre-instrumental period is uncertain, as they are calibrated in a short instrumental period but applied to much longer reconstructions time spans. Here, the virtual reality created by a climate simulation of the past millennium with the model ECHO-G is used as a test bed of three methods to reconstruct the annual Northern Hemisphere temperature. The methods are Composite plus Scaling, the inverse regression method of Mann et al. (Nature 392:779–787, 1998) and a direct principal-components regression method. The testing methodology is based on the construction of pseudo-proxies derived from the climate model output, the application of each of these methods to pseudo-proxy timeseries, and the comparison of their result with the simulated mean temperature. Different structures of the noise have been used to construct pseudo-proxies, ranging from the simulated grid-point precipitation. Also, one sparse and one denser pseudo-proxy network, co-located with two real networks, have been considered. All three methods underestimate the simulated variations of the Northern Hemisphere temperature, but the Composite plus Scaling method clearly displays a better performance and is robust against the different noise models and network size. The most relevant factor determining the skill of the reconstruction appears to be the network size, whereas the different noise models tend to yield similar results.     

Evaporation from shallow groundwater in closed basins in the Chilean Altiplano

Abstract

The hydrological cycle in arid and semi-arid climates is highly controlled by evaporation. The correct quantification of this process is essential for improving the accuracy of water balance estimates, especially in closed basins. The objective of this paper is to characterize evaporation rates from shallow groundwater using the chamber approach in six closed basins in the Altiplano of northern Chile. Measurements were made at 49 locations with water-table depths ranging from 0.09 m to 3.3 m. Estimated daily evaporation rates appeared to be strongly related to groundwater depth and soil texture. In particular, the highest rates were recorded in areas with high groundwater tables and coarse-grained soils. Evaporation curves were derived by fitting exponential and power relationships as functions of the groundwater depths that we proposed to use in the study area. An application of these curves for the Salar de Pedernales basin produced an estimated evaporation flow of 530 L s^-1, using the average curve.

Citation Johnson, E., Yáñez, J., Ortiz, C. & Muñoz, J. (2010) Evaporation from shallow groundwater in closed basins in the Chilean Altiplano. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(4), 624–635.     

Canelles landslide: modelling rapid drawdown and fast potential sliding

A large landslide (40 × 10⁶ m³) was reactivated on the left bank of Canelles reservoir, Spain. The instability was made evident after a considerable reduction of the reservoir level. The drawdown took place during the summer of 2006 after several years of high water levels. The drawdown velocity reached values between 0.5 and 1.2 m/day (registered at low elevations). The paper reports the geological and geotechnical investigations performed to define the movement. The geometry of the slip surface was established from the detailed analysis of the continuous cores recovered in deep borings and from limited information provided by inclinometers. Deep piezometric records provided also valuable information on the pore water pressure in the vicinity of the failure surface. These data allowed validating a flow–deformation coupled calculation model, which takes into account the changes in water level that occurred 4  years previous to the failure as well as the average rainfall. The analysis indicates that the most likely reason for the instability is the rapid drawdown that took place during the summer of 2006. The potential sudden acceleration of the slide is also analysed in the paper introducing coupled thermal hydraulic and mechanical effects that may develop at the basal shearing surface of the sliding mass. The results indicate that the slide velocity may reach values around 16 m/s when displacement reaches 250 m.     

Population Structure of the SW Atlantic Estuarine Crab Neohelice granulata Throughout Its Range: a Genetic and Morphometric Study

Phylogeographic patterns of the SW Atlantic estuarine crab Neohelice granulata were examined using mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I sequences and analyzed together with morphometric data. Specimens were sampled during a 4-year period (2001?C2004) from 11 localities encompassing the full distributional range of this species along the SW Atlantic (22°57?? S to 42°25?? S). DNA sequences were obtained from 69 individuals belonging to seven localities, and morphometric variation in 12 continuous characters was analyzed for 646 crabs from ten localities. Strong genetic differentiation, consistent with a pattern of isolation-by-distance, was detected among all localities indicating that gene flow occurs mainly between neighboring populations. Analyses of molecular variance showed genetic subdivision between the southern (Argentina) and the northern (Brazil) sites, suggesting restricted gene flow at a regional scale. The genetic structure of this species could be divided into two distinct groups due to a limited gene flow between southern and northern regions as a consequence of larval dispersal patterns. Coastal currents in the vicinity of the Rio de la Plata likely act as a barrier to dispersal within the species range. Moreover, genetic data indicate that populations of N. granulata might have undergone a northward demographic expansion since the late Pleistocene. The morphometric analysis showed no geographical pattern of morphological differentiation, although there were differences among sampling sites.     

Reconstruction of annual winter rainfall since A.D.1579 in central-eastern Spain based on calcite laminated sediment from Lake La Cruz

We present the first winter (December to March) rainfall reconstruction based in a novel proxy, the thickness of annual calcite laminations preserved in Lake La Cruz (central–eastern Spain). A previous calibration analysis between laminae thickness and the instrumental data series (1950 to present) indicated a highly significant correlation with winter rainfall. Therefore this study attempts the winter rainfall reconstruction since the onset of laminations (1579 a.d.) by means of the calibration function previously developed. The verification analysis between inferred annual values and earlier instrumental data (1859–1949) confirms the suitability of this novel proxy and the reliability of the series reconstructed. The reconstructed series show the fluctuating character of winter rainfall in the western Mediterranean area; interdecadal dry periods alternated with wetter periods following, in a board sense, the pattern recorded by documentary sources in other regions of the Iberian Peninsula. At present times regional winter rainfall anomalies are highly correlated with the phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). However the time series analysis showed the dominance of nonstationary components at high frequencies of the climate signal over the last four centuries suggesting that the connection between winter rainfall and the NAO has not been stable over time and also other modes of variability, not only NAO, may have conditioned winter rainfall variability.