Spatial variability of liquefaction potential in regional mapping using CPT and SPT data

Cone penetration test (CPT) and standard penetration test (SPT) are widely used for the site specific evaluation of liquefaction potential and are getting increased use in the regional mapping of liquefaction hazard. This paper compares CPT and SPT-based liquefaction potential characterizations of regional geologic units using the liquefaction potential index (LPI) across the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay, California, USA and examines the statistical and spatial variability of LPI across and within geologic units. Overall, CPT-based LPI characterizations result in higher hazard than those derived from the SPT. This bias may result from either mis-classifications of soil type in the CPT or a bias in the CPT simplified procedure for liquefaction potential. Regional mapping based on cumulative distribution of LPI values show different results depending on which dataset is used. For both SPT and CPT-based characterizations, the geologic units in the area have broad LPI distributions that overlap between units and are not distinct from the population as a whole. Regional liquefaction classifications should therefore give a distribution, rather than a single hazard rating that does not provide for variability within the area. The CPT-based LPI values have a higher degree of spatial correlation and a lower variance over a greater distance than those estimated from SPTs. As a result, geostatistical interpolation can provide a detailed map of LPI when densely sampled CPT data are available. The statistical distribution of LPI within specific geologic units and interpolated maps of LPI can be used to understand the spatial variability of liquefaction potential.     

Examining the effects of climate change, acidic deposition, and copper sulphate poisoning on long-term changes in cladoceran assemblages

We analyzed cladoceran remains in dated sediment cores from four lakes in Nova Scotia, Canada, to assess the potential effects of climate warming, acidic deposition, and a major fish kill caused by copper sulphate poisoning on assemblage composition and Bosmina size structure. In three of the four lakes, we observed a decline in Daphnia in the early 20th century that might be indicative of limnological changes in response to acidic deposition or increased fish predation. The appearance of the softwater zooplankter Holopedium glacialis in Hirtle Lake ~1995 might be linked to declining aqueous [Ca], a consequence of acidic deposition. No shifts in subfossil Cladocera were identified in this study that could be linked to climate warming. The application of copper sulphate as a fish poison to Trefry Lake (the lake was later re-stocked with trout fry) in 1938 resulted in dramatic and persistent changes in the cladoceran assemblage, where littoral Cladocera declined in relative abundance and small, pelagic Bosmina increased. In addition, we observed a reduction in the mean body size of Bosmina in post-1938 sediments, suggesting that planktivorous fish abundance increased and/or predatory copepods and other invertebrate predators decreased. No recovery of Cladocera to pre-disturbance conditions was observed. Overall, our data suggest that acidic deposition and calcium decline may have had a modest impact on the cladoceran communities in these lakes, but the effects of copper sulphate poisoning on the food web in Trefry Lake were widespread, and still persist over 70?years following this intervention.     

Pre‐drill Groundwater Geochemistry in the Karoo Basin,South Africa

Enhanced production of unconventional hydrocarbons in the United States has driven interest in natural gas development globally, but simultaneously raised concerns regarding water quantity and quality impacts associated with hydrocarbon extraction. We conducted a pre‐development assessment of groundwater geochemistry in the critically water‐restricted Karoo Basin, South Africa. Twenty‐two springs and groundwater samples were analyzed for major dissolved ions, trace elements, water stable isotopes, strontium and boron isotopes, hydrocarbons and helium composition. The data revealed three end‐members: a deep, saline groundwater with a sodium‐chloride composition, an old, deep freshwater with a sodium‐bicarbonate‐chloride composition and a shallow, calcium‐bicarbonate freshwater. In a few cases, we identified direct mixing of the deep saline water and shallow groundwater. Stable water isotopes indicate that the shallow groundwater was controlled by evaporation in arid conditions, while the saline waters were diluted by apparently fossil meteoric water originated under wetter climatic conditions. These geochemical and isotopic data, in combination with elevated helium levels, suggest that exogenous fluids are the source of the saline groundwater and originated from remnant seawater prior to dilution by old meteoric water combined with further modification by water‐rock interactions. Samples with elevated methane concentrations (>14 ccSTP/kg) were strongly associated with the sodium‐chloride water located near dolerite intrusions, which likely provide a preferential pathway for vertical migration of deeply sourced hydrocarbon‐rich saline waters to the surface. This pre‐drill evaluation indicates that the natural migration of methane‐ and salt‐rich waters provides a source of geogenic contamination to shallow aquifers prior to shale gas development in the Karoo Basin.     

Flexural deformation controls on Late Quaternary sediment dispersal in the Garo-Rajmahal Gap,NW Bengal Basin

Subsurface deformation is a driver for river path selection when deformation rates become comparable to the autogenic mobility rate of rivers. Here we combine geomorphology, soil and sediment facies analyses, and geophysical data of the Late Quaternary sediments of the central Garo-Rajmahal Gap in Northwest Bengal to link subsurface deformation with surface processes. We show variable sedimentation characteristics, from slow rates (<0.8 mm/year) in the Tista megafan at the foot of the Himalaya to nondeposition at the exposed surface of the Barind Tract to the south, enabling the development of mature soils. Combined subsidence in the Tista fan and uplift of the Barind Tract are consistent with a N-S flexural response of the Indian plate to loading of the Himalaya Mountains given a low value of elastic thickness (15–25 km). Provenance analysis based on bulk strontium concentration suggests a dispersal of sediment consistent with this flexural deformation—in particular the abandonment of the Barind Tract by a Pleistocene Brahmaputra River and the current extents of the Tista megafan lobes. Overall, these results highlight the control by deeply rooted deformation patterns on the routing of sediment by large rivers in foreland settings.     

Seasonal variation in lysosomal destabilization in oysters,Crassostrea virginica

Lysosomal destabilization assays have been used as valuable biomarkers of pollutant exposures in a variety of bivalve and fish species. The responses of oysters, Crassostrea virginica, deployed at and native to various reference and degraded sites were evaluated for lysosomal destabilization during both summer and winter seasons. In both native and deployed oysters, lysosomal destabilization rates tended to be higher during the winter at both reference and polluted sites. There are at least two hypothetical explanations. Greater lysosomal destabilization rates may be related to physiological changes associated with mobilization of nutrient reserves during the winter and gametogenesis. However, lysosomal destabilization in deployed oysters was correlated with tissue metal concentrations. These data also support a second hypothesis that seasonal differences in physico-chemical factors (such as reduced levels of acid volatile sulfides) may increase the bioavailability of metals during the winter so that adverse effects are more pronounced.     

Towards a Better Understanding of Dynamic Interaction Metrics for Wildlife: a Null Model Approach

The ability to measure dynamic interactions, such as attraction or avoidance, is crucial to understanding socio‐spatial behaviors related to territoriality and mating as well as for exploring resource use and the potential spread of infectious epizootic diseases. In spite of the importance of measuring dynamic interactions, it has not been a main research focus in movement pattern analysis. With very few exceptions (see Benhamou et al. 2014), no new metrics have been developed in the past 20 years to accommodate the fundamental shift in the type of animal movement data now being collected and there have been few comparison or otherwise critical studies of existing dynamic interaction metrics (but see Long et al. 2014; Miller 2012). This research borrows from the null model approach commonly used in community ecology to compare six currently used dynamic interaction metrics using data on five brown hyena dyads in Northern Botswana. There was disconcerting variation among the dynamic interaction results depending on which metric and which null model was used, and these results highlight the need for more extensive research on measuring and interpreting dynamic interactions in order to avoid making potentially misleading inferences about socio‐spatial behaviors.     

Proximity to ice fields and lake depth as modulators of paleoclimate records: a regional study from southwest Yukon,Canada

Pronounced climate warming during the past century has been well documented in high-latitude regions. Nonetheless, considerable heterogeneity exists in northern climate trends. We examined the roles of cryospheric landscape and lake depth in modulating the rate and magnitude of local climate responses through a paleolimnological study of lakes from southwest Yukon, Canada. By sampling lakes at varying distances from the Wrangell-St. Elias ice fields, we hypothesized that, for lakes of similar maximum depth, sites closest to the ice fields would be relatively complacent in terms of their chironomid and diatom assemblage changes over the past ~200 years. This hypothesis is based on the moderating effect of the glaciers on local climate, which would be most pronounced in the lakes nearest to the ice fields. However, given the known ecological differences between deep and shallow lakes, we further predicted that, for a given distance from the ice fields, a sediment record from a shallower lake would show the greatest change in stratigraphic subfossil assemblages. Because of the complicated shape of the ice fields, we applied the longitude for each site (which decreases from west to east) to approximate the proximity of our study lakes to the ice fields. Consistent with our predictions, we observed a space-transgressive pattern in the chironomid assemblage turnover that was associated with their proximity to the ice fields (r = ?0.75, P = 0.034, n = 8) across lakes of similar depth (mean maximum depth ± 1, SE = 18.1 ± 2.6 m). Considering a broader network of lakes that represented a greater range in maximum depth (4.9–29 m), we found that differences in subfossil chironomid assemblages between the modern and ca. AD 1800 sediment layers were strongly related to lake depth (r = ?0.77, P < 0.001, n = 15), but failed to detect a significant relationship with latitude or longitude (i.e. our proxy for proximity to the ice fields). Similarly, our comparative high-resolution analyses of two lakes with distinct lake morphometries, but similar proximities to the ice fields, demonstrated the predicted contrasting pattern: we observed pronounced post-1880 changes in the biotic assemblages in the shallow lake and a muted and delayed response (i.e. ~1970s) in the deeper lake. Our findings confirm that cryospheric landscape features can strongly modulate regional climate. Furthermore, our work shows that investigators need to be conscious of how climate change affects the structure and functioning of lakes of different typologies, which influences the way in which paleoclimate signals are recorded and interpreted.     

Re-evaluation of lead isotopic data,southern Massif Central,France

Three independent Pb isotope homogenizing processes operating on large volumes of rock material during limited intervals in the Phanerozoic have been used to define a unique evolutionary curve for rock and ore lead isotopic compositions of the southern Massif Central, France. The model is