Continuous 60-year stable isotopic and earth-alkali element records in a modern laminated tufa (Jaruga,river Krka,Croatia): Implications for climate reconstruction

A continuous 60-year record (1938–1998) of stable isotope compositions of carbon and oxygen, as well as trace metal (Mg, Sr, Ba) concentrations in a laminated calcite crust precipitated in a short artificial tunnel on a non-equilibrium groundwater-fed karstic river is presented. Chemical and isotopic records have been compared to hydrometeorological data, available for the last 48 years. An attempt is made to relate isotopic and geochemical variations in the crust to environmental parameters, such as temperature, precipitation and changes in vegetation cover, as well as to postdepositional recrystallisation of the older crust material. Isotopic composition of the crust is largely influenced by non-equilibrium precipitation, which favours the incorporation of isotopically depleted C and O into the carbonate. Furthermore, because of the complicated hydrological situation, there is no observable correlation between the stable oxygen isotope composition of water and temperature. The result is that the ¹⁸O isotopic thermometers overestimate the measured precipitation temperatures. Temperatures calculated from Mg/Ca ratios of water and the carbonate match the δ¹⁸O palaeotemperatures within ± 2.4 °C in the older part of the crust, precipitated before the onset of industrial pollution of the river. It was demonstrated that the application of Mg palaeothermometry in natural systems, where the Mg/Ca ratio of water is influenced not only by temperature, but also by other environmental parameters such as precipitation, surface runoff, groundwater retention time and anthropogenic influences, is subject to a large uncertainty, up to 10 °C.     

Microtremor study of site effects and soil-structure resonance in the city of Ljubljana (central Slovenia)

The city of Ljubljana is located in one of the three areas with the highest seismic hazard in Slovenia, and it is also the most densely populated. Site effects due to Quaternary sediments, which fill the up to 200 m-deep basin, are characteristic of the whole city area, but they can be especially strong in the southern part of Ljubljana, which is built on very soft lacustrine deposits. Existing microzonation studies of the city are inadequate, since there is a lack of borehole, geophysical and earthquake data. The microtremor horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) method was therefore applied to a 200 m dense grid of free-field measurements over an area of 45 km² (1,223 measuring points) in order to assess the fundamental frequency of the sediments. The main difficulties in microtremor measurement arose from high levels of traffic and industrial noise, and from underground structures. Experimental conditions which can influence data quality, such as strong wind and water saturation of soil, were analysed. Very clear HVSR peaks were obtained in the entire southern part of the city, whereas in the northern part the site response is in general lower due to lower impedance contrast of gravel with the bedrock. The iso-frequency map of sediments shows a distribution in the range of 0.9–10 Hz. In the southern part of Ljubljana, sediment frequency correlates well with the thickness of soft sediments known from geophysical investigations and sparse drilling. Average amplitude of the HVSR peaks is considerably higher in the southern part (6.7 ± 2.4) than in the northern part (4.0 ± 2.0) of the city, indicating a high impedance contrast of lacustrine sediments with the bedrock. Microtremor measurements were also performed inside 122 buildings of various heights. We focused on important public buildings and selected blocks of flats and houses. To assess the longitudinal and transverse fundamental frequencies of each building, amplitude spectra and the spectral ratio between the upper floor and the basement were analysed for both directions. When one of these frequencies is close to a nearby free-field fundamental frequency, a potential soil-structure resonance is present. This was found in 12 of the measured buildings. Three of them are tall residential buildings (from 10 to 15 floors) with a fundamental frequency of 2–3 Hz, and nine of them are low-rise buildings (from 3 to 5 floors) with a fundamental frequency ranging from 3 to 4.5 Hz. Using the relationship between fundamental frequency and height, the typical height of buildings that might cause soil-structure resonance can be estimated at a given sediment frequency obtained from free-field measurements.     

Hydrogeological characterization of groundwater storage and drainage in an alpine karst aquifer (the Kanin massif,Julian Alps)

The Kanin massif is an important trans‐boundary aquifer, which stretches between Slovenia and Italy. The groundwater is only partially exploited, mainly for water supply, but the aquifer exhibits great potential for future exploitation. Since no consistent regional overview of the hydrogeological functioning of the Kanin massif was available, the decision was made to perform a study of this area, using a pragmatic approach based on 3D geological and hydrogeological modelling. The so‐called KARSYS approach was applied, with the aim of characterizing the groundwater reserves within this karst massif and of locating the main drainage axes that carry groundwater from the recharge areas to the respective springs. Delineation of the catchment areas of the corresponding springs was carried out, and some new explanations were obtained, especially with regard to the Mo?nica spring, which is located in Slovenia and forms a potential source of drinking water. It was found that this spring's catchment area extends as far as the Italian ski resort of Sella Nevea. The conceptual model also provides a possible explanation about the underground drainage towards the Boka spring and waterfall, which has been a challenge for decades. This new explanation is based on the existence of a perched groundwater body that feeds the Boka spring via a system of conduits. Despite some limitations, the results, which consist of a visualization of the underground drainage and groundwater storage within the Kanin massif, can be used as a basis for planning the sustainable management of karst waters in the studied area. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatially smoothed seismicity modeling of seismic hazard in Slovenia

A progress report on the mapping effort for construction of a peak ground acceleration (PGA) map of Slovenia for 475-year return period for rock and firm soil is presented. The methodology is similar to that recently applied in Central and Eastern United States. It is based on historical seismicity spatially smoothed to different length scales. The procedure is described by Frankel (1995). He uses the characteristic earthquake recurrence relationship and in his firt version four different seismicity models. We also use four seismicity models. But instead of characteristic earthquake recurrence, we use the doubly truncated exponential magnitude-frequency relationship; no evidence of characteristic earthquakes in Slovenia has been found yet. Three of our models are similar to Frankel's first three models. Model 1 uses spatially smoothed activity rate based on magnitude 3.7 and above events since 1880. Model 2 deals with spatially smoothed activity rate based on magnitude 5.0 abd above events since 1690. Model 3 smoothes the observed activity over the entire region; it represents a uniform seismicity zone. Frankel skipped this model in his latest version (Frankel et al. 1996). In model 4, we introduce a new approach of calculating seismic activity rate taking into account released seismic energy. The ground motion attenuation model of Pugliese and Sabetta (1989) is used for all models. PGA maps for models 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been calculated, and a weighted mean map derived from them. A map of model 1 has been compared with the corresponding source zone map; the two maps do not differ significantly. A worst-case map derived from all four models has also been produced.