Classification of Non-oriented Fractures Along Boreholes to Joint Sets and its Success Degree

Summary   The feasibility and safety of a mining project or the choice among alternative mining methods could depend on the joint densities and orientations within the rock mass. The accurate determination of the orientation of all joints is technically difficult and often economically unrealistic. This study presents a new approach in classifying joints found in exploration boreholes as joint sets, whose statistical distribution is determined from a few hundred oriented joints in boreholes. Each non-oriented joint is classified as belonging to a set based on its “a posteriori” probability of membership in a Bayesian framework. The theoretical rate of success of the classification can be computed for each possible borehole orientation and plotted on a stereonet to determine the optimal orientation of new boreholes. The performance and limitations of this approach are investigated. An application example at the Mont Porphyre's large scale block-caving project at Gaspé Mines, Quebec, Canada, is studied.     

Glacial stratigraphy of East and Central Jutland

Glaciostratigraphic investigations at one key locality (Haldum), 9 major and about 160 minor localities in East and Central Jutland, Denmark, together with laboratory work, have led to the establishment of a stratigraphy consisting of 10 till units, usually separated by meltwater deposits. The stratigraphy is in some degree supported by thermoluminescence datings. The complete sequence includes one till unit with associated meltwater deposits of Menapian age, three till units with intercalated meltwater deposits of Elsterian age, marine sediments deposited during the Holsteininan, and three till units with intercalated of Elsterian age, marine sediments deposited during the Holsteinian, and three till units with intercalated glaciofluvial sedimants of Saalian age. Eemian deposits are present above this level, and the whole sequence is capped by till and meltwater deposits related to three glacial advances during the Weichselian.     

A structural and geophysical approach to the study of fractured aquifers in the Scansano-Magliano in Toscana Ridge, southern Tuscany, Italy

Fresh water availability has recently become a serious concern in the Italian Apennines, as various activities rely on a predictable supply. Along the ridge between Scansano and Magliano in Toscana, in southern Tuscany, the situation is further complicated by contamination of the nearby alluvial aquifers. Aquifers locally consist of thin fractured reservoirs, generally within low-permeability formations, and it can be difficult to plan the exploitation of resources based on conventional techniques. An integrated study based on geological data investigated the link between tectonics and groundwater circulation, to better define the hydrological model. After the regional identification of fault and fracture patterns, a major structure was investigated in detail to accurately map its spatial position and to understand the geometry and properties of the associated aquifer and assess its exploitation potential. The subsurface around the fault zone was clearly imaged using ground probing radar, two-dimensional and three-dimensional resistivity tomography, and three-dimensional shallow seismic surveys. The vertical and horizontal contacts between the different geological units of the Ligurian and Tuscan series were resolved with a high degree of spatial accuracy. Three-dimensional high-resolution geophysical imaging proved to be a very effective means of characterising small-scale fractured reservoirs.     

Methodological recommendations for ungulate mortality analyses in paleoanthropology

Age profiling of fossil faunal samples relies on the correlation of animal tooth-wear patterns with life history stages, but the criteria used to infer these stages are not necessarily valid. Here we redefine some commonly used prey age classes, such as “juvenile,” “prime-age adult,” and “old adult,” based on the variable characteristics of tooth wear that we have observed in different ungulate size classes, and argue that prey vulnerability to predation is not so clearly predicted by the simplified age classes in widespread use by zooarchaeologists. We recommend instead classifying the youngest animal remains as either young juvenile or subadult juvenile, and adult remains as early prime, late prime or old, and provide specific criteria of dental eruption and occlusal wear for making these determinations. We argue this refined age profiling system, when used in combination with other types of zooarchaeological and taphonomic data, can provide accurate inferences of faunal accumulation processes.     

Bovid mortality profiles in paleoecological context falsify hypotheses of endurance running–hunting and passive scavenging by early Pleistocene hominins

The world’s first archaeological traces from 2.6 million years ago (Ma) at Gona, in Ethiopia, include sharp-edged cutting tools and cut-marked animal bones, which indicate consumption of skeletal muscle by early hominin butchers. From that point, evidence of hominin meat-eating becomes increasingly more common throughout the Pleistocene archaeological record. Thus, the substantive debate about hominin meat-eating now centers on mode(s) of carcass resource acquisition. Two prominent hypotheses suggest, alternatively, (1) that early Homo hunted ungulate prey by running them to physiological failure and then dispatching them, or (2) that early Homo was relegated to passively scavenging carcass residues abandoned by carnivore predators. Various paleontologically testable predictions can be formulated for both hypotheses. Here we test four predictions concerning age-frequency distributions for bovids that contributed carcass remains to the 1.8 Ma. old FLK 22 Zinjanthropus (FLK Zinj, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) fauna, which zooarchaeological and taphonomic data indicate was formed predominantly by early Homo. In all but one case, the bovid mortality data from FLK Zinj violate test predictions of the endurance running-hunting and passive scavenging hypotheses. When combined with other taphonomic data, these results falsify both hypotheses, and lead to the hypothesis that early Homo operated successfully as an ambush predator.     

Rapid growth of an Archean continent by arc magmatism

The voluminous Meso- to Neoarchean rocks exposed in the Beartooth Mountains of the northern Wyoming Province of western North America comprise the Long Lake Magmatic Complex (LLMC), a variably metamorphosed and deformed association of igneous and meta-igneous plutonic rocks with SiO₂ ranging from at least 52 to 78 wt%. Within this compositional range, rock types include lineated amphibolites to hornblende-bearing gneisses of intermediate composition and multiple generations of foliated to unfoliated granitoids. Emplacement ages range between approximately 2.79 and 2.83 Ga, based on U–Pb zircon geochronology (SHRIMP). Field relations, elemental compositions, and geochronology indicate that these rocks do not represent a single fractional crystallization sequence, but rather, the LLMC was constructed by injection of numerous, discrete magmas as sill-like bodies over an ∼40 Ma period. Although there is a continuum of compositions in the LLMC, trace element abundances can be used to distinguish distinct sources and petrogenetic processes that can be broadly extrapolated to at least 3 compositional groupings: (1) trondhjemitic to granitic intrusive rocks with SiO₂ >70 wt%, (2) variably metamorphosed granodioritic orthogneisses with SiO₂ between 63 and 70 wt%, and (3) amphibole-bearing mafic to intermediate gneisses with SiO₂ between 52 and 63 wt%. Despite the range of SiO₂ contents, maximum LREE abundances are similar across the compositional range and, consequently, exhibit a wide range of (La/Yb)_n ratios (∼20–130). All LLMC rocks share a relative depletion in HFSE abundances similar to modern convergent margin magmas. Initial Sr and Nd isotopic compositions across the compositional range are consistently offset from typical bulk silicate earth (BSE) values and preclude unaltered derivation from primitive or depleted mantle. Common Pb isotopic data define a single array that lies above model crustal growth curves and, along with the Nd and Sr data, suggest relatively uniform interaction with, or derivation from, older lithosphere. The combined isotopic and elemental data suggest the LLMC resulted from simultaneous, rapid, and voluminous production of diverse magmas that represent melting of isotopically similar, but compositionally distinct, crustal and mantle sources. Dynamically, Meso- to Neo-archean crustal growth in the northern Wyoming Province appears to require an environment similar to a modern ocean–continent convergent margin with a comparable rate of crustal production and diversity of magma series. The resultant crust and associated mantle lithosphere (keel) appear to have suffered little-to-no modification prior to Laramide (Cretaceous) uplift and exposure.     

An analysis of the time scales of variability in centuries-long enso-sensitive records in the last 1000 years

We document the characteristic time scales of variability for seven climate indices whose time-dependent behavior is sensitive to some aspect of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The ENSO sensitivity arises from the location of these long-term records on the periphery of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Three of the indices are derived principally from historical sources, three others consist of tree-ring reconstructions (one of summer temperature, and the other two of winter rainfall), and one is an annual record of oxygen isotopic composition for a high-elevation glacier in Peru. Five of the seven indices sample at least portions of the Medieval Warm Period (~ A.D. 950 to 1250).Time series spectral analysis was used to identify the major time scales of variability among the different indices. We focus on two principal time scales: a high frequency band (~ 2–10 yr), which comprises most of the variability found in the modern record of ENSO activity, and a low frequency band to highlight variations on decadal to century time scales (11 <P < 150 yr). This last spectral band contains variability on time scales that are of general interest with respect to possible changes in large-scale air-sea exchanges. A technique called evolutive spectral analysis (ESA) is used to ascertain how stable each spectral peak is in time. Coherence and phase spectra are also calculated among the different indices over each full common period, and following a 91-yr window through time to examine whether the relationships change.In general, spectral power on time scales of ~ 2–6 yr is statistically significant and persists throughout most of the time intervals sampled by the different indices. Assuming that the ENSO phenomenon is the source of much of the variability at these time scales, this indicates that ENSO has been an important part of interannual climatic variations over broad areas of the circum-Pacific region throughout the last millennium. Significant coherence values were found for El Niño and reconstructed Sierra Nevada winter precipitation at ~ 2–4 yr throughout much of their common record (late 1500s to present) and between 6 and 7 yr from the mid-18th to the early 20th century.At decadal time scales each record generally tends to exhibit significant spectral power over different periods at different times. Both the Quelccaya Ice Cap ¹⁸O series and the Quinn El Niño event record exhibit significant spectral power over frequencies ~ 35 to 45 yr; however, there is low coherence between these two series at those frequencies over their common record. The Sierra Nevada winter rainfall reconstruction exhibits consistently strong variability at periods of ~ 30–60 yr.     

Stable isotope studies of fluid inclusions in speleothems and their paleoclimatic significance

Fluid inclusions found trapped in speleothems (cave deposited travertine) are interpreted as samples of seepage water from which enclosing calcium carbonate was deposited. The inclusions are assumed to have preserved their D/H ratios since the time of deposition. Initial ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios can be inferred from δD because rain- and snow-derived seepage waters fall on the meteoric water line (δD = 8δ¹⁸O + 10). Estimates of temperature of deposition of the carbonate can be calculated from inclusion D/H ratios and δ¹⁸O of enclosing calcite in Pleistocene speleothems. For most speleothems investigated (0–200,000 yr old) δ¹⁸O of calcite appears to have decreased with increasing temperature of deposition indicating that the dominant cause of climate-dependent change in δ¹⁸O of calcite was the change in K_cw, the isotope fractionation equilibrium constant, with temperature; δ¹⁸O of meteoric precipitation generally increased with increasing temperature, but not sufficiently to compensate for the decrease in K_cw.