An improved approach for assigning pumping rates to heterogeneous aquifer models

A common assumption of ground water models formulated using a block-centered finite-difference method is that a well is located at the center of a cell regardless of its actual location. Due to this assumption, errors are introduced in the spatial distribution of simulated heads. This paper presents an alternative approach for assigning the pumping rates of wells that are located off cell centers. This approach consists of assigning the pumping rate not only to the cell in which the well is located but also to adjacent cells, taking into account the length of the well screen, the hydraulic conductivity, and the distance from the well to the center of its cell. The advantage of this alternative approach over the conventional one is illustrated with a test problem of a synthetic aquifer. Statistical measures of error indicate a much better model fit when pumping rates of wells are distributed over several cells.     

Energy balance in urban Mexico City: observation and parameterization during the MILAGRO/MCMA-2006 field campaign

The parameterization of the energy balance from a residential and commercial neighborhood of Mexico City was investigated using direct measurements of radiative and heat fluxes carried out during the MILAGRO/MCMA-2006 field campaign as a reference. The measured fluxes were used to evaluate different models of the energy balance based on parameterizations that require standard meteorological observations: ambient temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure and cloudiness. It was found that these models reproduce with reasonable accuracy the diurnal features of the radiative and heat fluxes. The largest differences between modeled and observed fluxes correspond to the incoming longwave radiation, mainly due to errors in the cloudiness data. This paper contributes to the understanding of the energy partitioning in (sub)tropical urban environments, particularly in the developing world, where energy balance models have not been evaluated.     

Chondrite thermal histories: Clues from electron microscopy of orthopyroxene

Optically “striated” orthopyroxenes in two ordinary chondrites, Allegan (H5) and Quenggouk (H4), are compared with shock-affected orthopyroxenes in Saint-Sévérin (LL6) and Ambapur Nagla (H5) by high-voltage transmission electron microscopy. The striated orthopyroxenes have very many, thin, evenly distributed lamellae of clinopyroxene. They are undeformed and also lack evidence of partial inversion from clinopyroxene to orthopyroxene. Striated orthopyroxene does not seem to be a reliable indicator of prograde metamorphism. Instead, it is interpreted as inverted protopyroxene, produced during the cooling of chondrules at slower rates than the rapid quenching of Type 3 chondrules. The conclusions are consistent with retrograde models for the evolution of H-group chondrites, in which the higher Petrologic Types are attributed to retarded cooling due to accretionary processes leading to the growth of the parent body. The thermal histories of ordinary chondrites could be greatly clarified by further experimental work on inversions in bronzitic pyroxenes.     

Spatial and temporal variation of biomarkers in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from the Lagoon of Venice, Italy

A multiple biomarker approach was adopted in a seasonal study carried out in the Lagoon of Venice, with the double aim of evaluating the natural and anthropic stresses influencing the biological responses of mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and of assessing the effects due to spatial rather than temporal variations.Biochemical (aldehyde dehydrogenase and catalase activities), cellular (neutral red retention time) and physiological (survival in air and condition index) biomarkers were determined in mussels collected in four differently impacted lagoon areas.Multivariate analysis showed that samples were distributed mainly according to temperature and four seasonal groups were identified. The combination of spatial and temporal information enabled us to distinguish physiological variations due to natural causes from those due to anthropic stress, and to identify the sampling period when several biomarkers are less influenced by both natural and endogenous factors.     

Sediments from Lake Cheko (Siberia), a possible impact crater for the 1908 Tunguska Event

Cheko, a small lake located in Siberia close to the epicentre of the 1908 Tunguska explosion, might fill a crater left by the impact of a fragment of a Cosmic Body. Sediment cores from the lake’s bottom were studied to support or reject this hypothesis. A 175‐cm long core, collected near the center of the lake, consists of an upper ～1 m thick sequence of lacustrine deposits overlaying coarser chaotic material. ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs indicate that the transition from lower to upper sequence occurred close to the time of the Tunguska Event. Pollen analysis reveals that remains of aquatic plants are abundant in the top post‐1908 sequence, but are absent in the lower pre‐1908 portion of the core. These results, including organic C, N and δ¹³C data, suggest that Lake Cheko formed at the time of the Tunguska Event.     

Changes in water quality following tidal inundation of coastal lowland acid sulfate soil landscapes

This study examines the remediation of surface water quality in a severely degraded coastal acid sulfate soil landscape. The remediation strategy consisted of partial restoration of marine tidal exchange within estuarine creeks and incremental tidal inundation of acidified soils, plus strategic liming of drainage waters. Time-series water quality and climatic data collected over 5 years were analysed to assess changes in water quality due to this remediation strategy. A time-weighted rainfall function (TWR) was generated from daily rainfall data to integrate the effects of antecedent rainfall on shallow groundwater levels in a way that was relevant to acid export dynamics. Significant increases in mean pH were evident over time at multiple monitoring sites. Regression analysis at multiple sites revealed a temporal progression of change in significant relationships between mean daily electrical conductivity (EC) vs. mean daily pH, and TWR vs. mean daily pH. These data demonstrate a substantial decrease over time in the magnitude of creek acidification per given quantity of antecedent rainfall. Data also show considerable increase in soil pH (2–3 units) in formerly acidified areas subject to tidal inundation. This coincides with a decrease in soil pe, indicating stronger reducing conditions. These observations suggest a fundamental shift has occurred in sediment geochemistry in favour of proton-consuming reductive processes. Combined, these data highlight the potential effectiveness of marine tidal inundation as a landscape-scale acid sulfate soil remediation strategy.     

Helium and CO2 soil gas emission from Santorini (Greece)

Soil gas investigation is a useful tool to detect active faults. The sudden appearance of soil gas anomalies in zones of deep-reaching faults represents a promising potential precursor of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In volcanic areas the development of soil gas monitoring techniques is particularly important, as they can represent, together with remote sensing techniques, the only geochemical methods that can be safely applied during volcanic unrest, when it becomes impossible or too dangerous to sample crater fumaroles. A soil gas survey was carried out in June 1993 at the main island of Thera, in the Santorini volcanic complex. CO₂ flux and CO₂ and helium concentrations were measured at 50 cm depth for 76 points covering the entire island, with a spacing of 500 m or less. Several anomalous soil degassing sites have been detected. The main anomalies correspond to the Kolumbos line and to the Kameni line, two volcano-tectonic fault systems that controlled all the historic volcanic activity of Santorini. A third anomaly is related to a gas-leaking fault cutting the geothermal field of southern Thera. Soil gas data, together with geovolcanological and seismological evidence, indicate that the Kolumbos and Kameni lines are the most probable sites for future volcanic or seismic reactivation, and provide the basis for the establishment of a new geochemical monitoring technique at Thera.     

Pliocene lahar deposits in the Coastal Cordillera of central Chile: Implications for uplift, avalanche deposits, and porphyry copper systems in the Main Andean Cordillera

Lahar deposits occur within a shallow marine sedimentary succession of the Pliocene La Cueva Formation in the Coastal Cordillera of central Chile (33°40′–34°15′S). Provenance studies of the abundant volcanic material in the lahar deposits suggest that they derive from denudation by mass wasting of Oligocene–Miocene volcanic rocks on the western slopes of the Main Andean Cordillera at the same latitude. Pliocene rock debris deposits preserved in the region of El Teniente (34°S) and scattered along the westernmost part of the Andes of central Chile indicate catastrophic erosive events related to the rapid uplift of the cordilleran block. This rock debris was deposited by avalanches and transformed further downslope into lahars by dilution with stream water. Lahars were channeled along the ancient drainage system that reached a shallow Pliocene sea at the site of the present Coastal Cordillera. The exceedingly rapid exhumation of active porphyry systems during the Early Pliocene in this part of the Andes may have played a role in affecting hydrothermal processes, brecciation, and diatreme formation at the porphyry systems of El Teniente and Río Blanco–Los Bronces.