Geomorphology, Stratigraphy, and Radiocarbon Chronology of LlanquihueDrift in the Area of the Southern Lake District, Seno Reloncaví, and Isla Grande de Chiloé, Chile

Glacial geomorphologic features composed of (or cut into) Llanquihue drift delineate former Andean piedmont glaciers in the region of the southern Chilean Lake District, Seno Reloncav', Golfo de Ancud, and northern Golfo Corcovado during the last glaciation. These landforms include extensive moraine belts, main and subsidiary outwash plains, kame terraces, and meltwater spillways. Numerous radiocarbon dates document Andean ice advances into the moraine belts during the last glacial maximum (LGM) at 29,363–29,385 ¹⁴C yr BP , 26,797 ¹⁴C yr BP , 22,295–22,570 ¹⁴C yr BP , and 14,805–14,869 ¹⁴C yr BP . Advances may also have culminated at close to 21,000 ¹⁴C yr BP , shortly before 17,800 ¹⁴C yr BP , and shortly before 15,730 ¹⁴C yr BP . The maximum at 22,295–22,567 ¹⁴C yr BP was probably the most extensive of the LGM in the northern part of the field area, whereas that at 14,805–14,869 ¹⁴C yr BP was the most extensive in the southern part. Snowline depression during these maxima was about 1000 m. Andean piedmont glaciers did not advance into the outer Llanquihue moraine belts during the portion of middle Llanquihue time between 29,385 ¹⁴C yr BP and more than 39,660 ¹⁴C yr BP . In the southern part of the field area, the Golfo de Ancud lobe, as well as the Golfo Corcovado lobe, achieved a maximum at the outermost Llanquihue moraine prior to 49,892 ¹⁴C yr BP . Pollen analysis of the Taiquemmire, which is located on this moraine, suggests that the old Llanquihue advance probably corresponds to the time of marine isotope stage 4. The implication is that the Andean snowline was then depressed as much as during the LGM. A Llanquihue-age glacier expansion into the outer moraine belts also occurred more than about 40,000 ¹⁴C yr BP for the Lago Llanquihue piedmont glacier.     

Landslide hazard mapping along the coastline of the Cilento region (Italy) by means of a GIS-based parameter rating approach

This paper deals with the heuristic approach used for landslide hazard zonation along the coastal slopes and cliffs of the Cilento region between Agropoli and Sapri (Italy). This sector of coastline (about 118 km in length) is formed mainly of Mesozoic carbonates and Miocene flysch; Quaternary marine sandstones together with beach sands also crop out. Due to the destructive force of the waves, the coastline is affected by several landslides (mainly rock-falls and slides). The major geomorphological, geological and structural features of about 154 slopes and cliffs have been analysed and several parameters affecting the rock-masses were detected and measured. These parameters deal with topographical, geological, geomechanical, environmental and wave hydraulic characteristics of the studied area. In order to perform the heuristic approach, the Rock Engineering Systems (RES) proposed by Hudson was adopted with several modifications. The main steps of this work were: (1) the choice of parameters relevant to landslide hazard zonation, (2) the analysis of binary interaction between parameters, (3) the weighting of interaction importance, (4) the rating assignment to different classes of parameter values and (5) the final computation of an “Instability Index” (I.I.). A database containing the measured parameters was prepared, and using an interaction matrix, the outputs were linked into a Geographic Information System. It contains the following elements: geological and geomorphological features, historical data regarding landslides, images and values of I.I. for the studied slopes and cliffs. If new landslides occur or near-shore engineered structures are built, then the I.I. values will be automatically upgraded.Values of the I.I. were grouped into 3 classes marking low, medium and high landslide hazard. Both carbonatic rock-masses and flysch were distinguished with respect to I.I. values to show the differences in landslide susceptibility. In fact, rapid but small rock-falls can cause more casualties than moderate speed but large slides. High landslide hazard affects about 41% of carbonate cliffs and about 53% of slopes in arenaceous-marly flysch.     

Relevance of Pentane- and Hexane-Utilizing Bacterial Indicators for Finding Hydrocarbon Microseepage: A Study from Jamnagar Sub-basin, Saurashtra, Gujarat, India

Mesozoic sediments are source rocks for nearly half the world’s hydrocarbon reserves. Hence, there is great interest in the oil industry to know the trap and sub-trappean sediment thickness and their extent in the trap covered regions of Jamnagar study area. The microbial prospecting method is applied in the Jamnagar sub-basin, Gujarat for evaluating the prospects for hydrocarbon exploration by investigating the anomalous abundance of n-pentane- and n-hexane-oxidizing bacteria of this area. A total of 150 near-surface soil samples were collected in Jamnagar sub-basin, Gujarat for the evaluation of hydrocarbon resource potential of the basin. In this study, bacterial counts for n-pentane-utilizing bacteria range between 1.09 × 10² and 9.89 × 10⁵ cfu/g and n-hexane-utilizing bacteria range between 1.09 × 10² and 9.29 × 10⁵ cfu/g. The adsorbed hydrocarbon gases consisting of ethane plus hydrocarbons (ΣC₂₊) of 1–977 ppb and n-pentane (nC₅) of 1–23 ppb. The integrated geomicrobial and adsorbed soil gas studies showed the anomalous hydrocarbon zones nearby Khandera, Haripur, and Laloi areas which could probably aid to assess the true potential of the basin. Integrated geophysical studies have shown that Jamnagar sub-basin of Saurashtra has significant sediment thickness below the Deccan Traps and can be considered for future hydrocarbon exploration.     

A multidisciplinary study of a slow-slipping fault for seismic hazard assessment: the example of the Middle Durance Fault (SE France)

Assessing seismic hazard in continental interiors is difficult because these regions are characterized by low strain rates and may be struck by infrequent destructive earthquakes. In this paper, we provide an example showing that interpretations of seismic cross sections combined with other kinds of studies such as analysis of microseismicity allow the whole seismogenic source area to be imaged in this type of region. The Middle Durance Fault (MDF) is an 80-km-long fault system located southeastern France that has a moderate but regular seismicity and some palaeoseismic evidence for larger events. It behaves as an oblique ramp with a left-lateral-reverse fault slip and has a low strain rate. MDF is one of the rare slow active fault system monitored by a dedicated dense velocimetric short period network. This study showed a fault system segmented in map and cross section views which consists of staircase basement faults topped by listric faults ramping off Triassic evaporitic beds. Seismic sections allowed the construction of a 3-D structural model used for accurate location of microseismicity. Southern part of MDF is mainly active in the sedimentary cover. In its northern part and in Alpine foreland, seismicity deeper than 8 km was also recorded meaning active faults within the crust cannot be excluded. Seismogenic potential of MDF was roughly assessed. Resulting source sizes and estimated slip rates imply that the magnitude upper limit ranges from 6.0 to 6.5 with a return period of a few thousand years. The present study shows that the coupling between 3-D fault geometry imaging and accurate location of microseismicity provides a robust approach to analyse active fault sources and consequently a more refined seismic hazard assessment.     

自然恢复和人工促进恢复对侵蚀退化生态系统碳贮量的影响比较

本研究以严重侵蚀退化马尾松林为研究对象,采取自然恢复和人工促进恢复2种措施对退化地进行修复,监测恢复前后生态系统碳贮量变化。结果表明:自然恢复和人工促进恢复后生态系统总碳贮量分别是恢复前的2.78和4.87倍,其中,植被层碳贮量分别是恢复前的14.30和30.87倍,土壤层碳贮量分别是恢复前的1.85和2.78倍。生态系统内土壤碳的恢复速率落后于植被。2种不同恢复措施相比,人工促进恢复的生态系统碳吸存速率显著快于自然恢复(P0.01),人工促进恢复后生态系统碳吸存速率是自然恢复的2.17倍,其中植被和土壤的吸存速率也分别是自然恢复的2.26倍和2.09倍。而且人工促进恢复后的退化系统,碳库在乔木层各器官的分配方式更符合健康生态系统的分配方式,系统功能和结构更加稳定,有利于系统后期恢复。因此,从退化生态系统恢复的紧迫性和长期性考虑,采取积极的人工促进恢复措施能维持退化系统快速、持续恢复。     

暖温带地理景观中土壤硒的分异特征

本文按垂直自然带谱研究了暖温带地理景观中山地草旬土、山地棕壤、山地淋溶褐土和潮土中硒的分异特征。结果表明：（1）硒在土剖面上的分异，除受生物富集的影响外，淋溶和粘人作用强烈地制约着硒在剖面上的迁移；（2）不同机械组分中的硒含量以粘粒中最高，呈明显的粘粒＞细粉粒＞中粉粒＞砂粒序列。因此，成土过程中，不同机械组分以及次生或们生矿物和垂直运动和自然分选作用对土壤硒的地理分异具有非常重要的作用。（3）易于淋溶失的有机态或钙结合的硒对所研究的土壤表层硒的贡献都大于50％。提出淋溶作用是我国低硒带形成的主要外营力。     

High-resolution paleoecological analysis of recent disturbance in a southern Chilean Nothofagus forest

A 1600 year paleoecological record of environmental change is developed from a small lake in the Nothofagus forest of southern Chile (45.5°S, 72°W). High resolution fossil pollen, charcoal, sedimentological, and chrysophycean stomatocyst analyses are used to investigate the impacts of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on terrestrial and lacustrine environments. Chronological control is based on a combination of ²¹⁰Pb and ¹⁴C dating. Temporal resolution during the past 150–200 yr is ca. 8 yr/sample. The macroscopic charcoal record correlates very closely with historical and dendroecological records of 20th century anthropogenic burning in this region. The chrysophyte stratigraphy indicates that this burning had immediate impacts on the lake itself, while the pollen record provides evidence for a succession of vegetation changes lagging slightly behind the disturbance. These palynological changes are very similar to the pollen signal of European disturbance in northeastern North America. Pre-European shifts in chrysophyte assemblages may be due to the influence of earthquake activity on the lake, though there is no corroborative evidence in the pollen or charcoal records. This study demonstrates that high resolution paleoecological methods can be used to help bridge the temporal gap between traditional ecological and paleoecological studies of environmental change in the temperate forests of southern South America.