Potential problems with the use of gridded climate data in regional quantitative paleoenvironmental studies from data-poor regions

The reliability of quantitative paleoenvironmental reconstructions from lake sediment cores depends in part on the accuracy of the environmental data used in calibration. For paleoclimate reconstructions, gridded datasets provide convenient and consistent modern climate data for calibration. We show, however, that commonly used gridded climate data may have regional biases, which can affect calibration models and the paleoclimate reconstructions derived from them. Although there may be few alternatives to their use, researchers should be aware of potential problems, especially if unusual or counter-intuitive calibration models or reconstructions are obtained.     

A northwest North American training set: distribution of freshwater midges in relation to air temperature and lake depth

Freshwater midges, consisting of Chironomidae, Chaoboridae and Ceratopogonidae, were assessed as a biological proxy for palaeoclimate in eastern Beringia. The northwest North American training set consists of midge assemblages and data for 17 environmental variables collected from 145 lakes in Alaska, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and the Canadian Arctic Islands. Canonical correspondence analyses (CCA) revealed that mean July air temperature, lake depth, arctic tundra vegetation, alpine tundra vegetation, pH, dissolved organic carbon, lichen woodland vegetation and surface area contributed significantly to explaining midge distribution. Weighted averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS) was used to develop midge inference models for mean July air temperature (r _boot² = 0.818, RMSEP = 1.46°C), and transformed depth (ln (x+1); r _boot² = 0.38, and RMSEP = 0.58).     

Seismic study of pull-apart-induced sedimentation and deformation in the Northern Gulf of Aqaba (Elat)

New multichannel seismic and bathymetric data are presented, which clarify the Plio-Quaternary evolution of the northern Gulf of Aqaba (Elat) and the Dead Sea Transform (DST). The seismic data reveal two main seismic sequences, a lower (pretectonic) and an upper (syntectonic) unit, separated by a prominent unconformity. These units are each linked to a distinct tectonic phase in the history of the DST. Parallel horizons and an undisturbed internal structure point to a tectonic quite time or pure strike-slip without extension or compression during the first (pretectonic) phase. The second (syntectonic) phase, which begins in the early Pliocene, is characterized by a major change in the activity of the DST. The pretectonic sedimentary unit subsided and, consequently, dips southward with a supplementary inclination to the east. The coeval sedimentation of the syntectonic unit is recorded by the divergent reflection pattern and onlap terminations on the unconformity. The apparent fault system seems to be rearranged in the second phase. The stepover of the main strand of the DST from the eastern side of the Elat Deep to the western side of the northern Gulf of Aqaba was mapped in detail for the first time. The very smooth shape of the stepover and the apparent lack of extensional tectonics do not fit with the classical pull-apart basin model for the Elat Deep and point to a decoupling of the crystalline basement from the sedimentary overburden. Comparisons of the new geophysical findings with analog models support this assertion.     

Basin evolution of the northern part of the Northeast German Basin — Insights from a 3D structural model

A 3D structural model for the entire southwestern Baltic Sea and the adjacent onshore areas was created with the purpose to analyse the structural framework and the sediment distribution in the area. The model was compiled with information from several geological time-isochore maps and digital depth maps from the area and consists of six post-Rotliegend successions: The Upper Permian Zechstein; Lower Triassic; Middle Triassic; Upper Triassic–Jurassic; Cretaceous and Cenozoic. This structural model was the basis for a 3D backstripping approach, considering salt flow as a consequence of spatially changing overburden load distribution, isostatic rebound and sedimentary compaction for each backstripping step in order to reconstruct the subsidence history in the region. This method allows determination of the amount of tectonic subsidence or uplifting as a consequence of the regional stress field acting on the basin and was followed by a correlation with periods of active salt movement. In general, the successions above the highly deformed Zechstein evaporites reveal a thickening trend towards the Glückstadt Graben, which also experienced the highest amount of tectonic subsidence during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Two periods of accelerating salt movement in the area has been correlated with the E–W directed extension during the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic and later by the Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic inversion, suggesting that the regional stress field plays a key role in halokinesis. The final part of this work dealt with a neotectonic forward modelling in an attempt to predict the future topography when the system is in a tectonic equilibrium. The result reveals that many of the salt structures in the region are still active and that future coastline will run with a WNW–ESE trend, arguing that the compressional stresses related to the Alpine collision are the prime factor for the present-day landscape evolution.     

True Amplitude Migration Weights from Travel Times

— 3-D amplitude preserving prestack migration of the Kirchhoff type is a task of high computational effort. A substantial part of this effort is spent on the calculation of proper weight functions for the diffraction stack. We propose a new strategy to compute the migration weights directly from coarse gridded travel-time data which are in any event needed for the summation along diffraction time surfaces. The technique employs second-order travel-time derivatives that contain all necessary information on the weight functions. Their determination alone from travel times significantly reduces the requirements in computational time and particularly storage, since it is done on the fly. Application of the method shows good accordance between numerical and analytical results for the simple types of models considered in this study.     

Secondorder interpolation of traveltimes

To carry out a 3D prestack migration of the Kirchhoff type is still a task of enormous computational effort. Its efficiency can be significantly enhanced by employing a fast traveltime interpolation algorithm. High accuracy can be achieved if secondorder spatial derivatives of traveltimes are included in order to account for the curvature of the wavefront. We suggest a hyperbolic traveltime interpolation scheme that permits the determination of the hyperbolic coefficients directly from traveltimes sampled on a coarse grid, thus reducing the requirements in data storage. This approach is closely related to the paraxial ray approximation and corresponds to an extension of the wellknown     method to arbitrary heterogeneous and complex media in 3D. Application to various velocity models, including a 3D version of the Marmousi model, confirms the superiority of our method over the popular trilinear interpolation. This is especially true for regions with strong curvature of the local wavefront. In contrast to trilinear interpolation, our method also provides the possibility of interpolating source positions, and it is 56 times faster than the calculation of traveltime tables using a fast finitedifference eikonal solver.     

Reflection coefficients for weak anisotropic media

The interaction of plane elastic waves with a plane boundary between two anisotropic elastic half-spaces is investigated. The anisotropy dealt with in this study is of a general type. Explicit expressions for energy-related reflection and transmission coefficients are derived. They represent an approximation which is valid for a small deviation of the elastic parameters from isotropy.
Classical perturbation theory is applied on a 6times6 non-symmetric real eigenvalue problem to calculate first-order corrections for the polarization and stress of the plane waves. The explicit solution of the isotropic problem is used as a reference case. Degenerate perturbation theory is used to consider the splitting of the isotropic S -wave into two anisotropic qS-waves. The boundary conditions for two half-spaces in welded contact lead to a 6times6 system of linear equations. A correction to the isotropic solution is calculated by linearization. The resultant coefficients are functions of horizontal slowness, Lamé parameters and densities of the reference media, and of the perturbation of the elasticity tensors from isotropy.     

Traveltime computation for 3D anisotropic media by a finite-difference perturbation method

The first-order perturbation theory is used for fast 3D computation of quasi-compressional (qP)-wave traveltimes in arbitrarily anisotropic media. For efficiency we implement the perturbation approach using a finite-difference (FD) eikonal solver. Traveltimes in the unperturbed reference medium are computed with an FD eikonal solver, while perturbed traveltimes are obtained by adding a traveltime correction to the traveltimes of the reference medium. The traveltime correction must be computed along the raypath in the reference medium. Since the raypath is not determined in FD eikonal solvers, we approximate rays by linear segments corresponding to the direction of the phase normal of plane wavefronts in each cell. An isotropic medium as a reference medium works well for weak anisotropy. Using a medium with ellipsoidal anisotropy as a background medium in the perturbation approach allows us to consider stronger anisotropy without losing computational speed. The traveltime computation in media with ellipsoidal anisotropy using an FD eikonal solver is fast and accurate. The relative error is below 0.5% for the models investigated in this study. Numerical examples show that the reference model with ellipsoidal anisotropy allows us to compute the traveltime for models with strong anisotropy with an improved accuracy compared with the isotropic reference medium.