Performance of a flux splitting scheme when solving the single-phase pressure equation discretized by MPFA

In this article we present a series of tests to study how well suited the TPFA coefficient matrix is as a preconditioner for the MPFA discrete system of equations in an iterative solver, using a flux splitting method. These tests have been conducted for single-phase flow for a wide range of anisotropy, heterogeneity, and grid skewness (mainly parallelogram grids). We use the K-orthogonal part of the MPFA transmissibilities for a parallelogram grid to govern the TPFA transmissibilities. The convergence of the flux splitting method is for each test case measured by the spectral radius of the iteration matrix.     

Adaminaby Group west of Batemans Bay: Deformation and metamorphism of the Narooma accretionary complex,NSW

This study provides new structural data that show that the Adaminaby Group is part of the Narooma accretionary complex and has been overprinted by HT/LP metamorphism associated with Middle Devonian Moruya Suite intrusions. The grade of metamorphism based on Kübler Indices is the same in the Wagonga and Adaminaby Groups at Batemans Bay inferring that these rocks were involved in the same accretionary event. White micas in slates of the Adaminaby Group record apparent K–Ar ages of 384.6 ± 7.9 Ma and 395.8 ± 8.1 Ma. These ages are believed to represent the age of Middle to Upper Devonian Buckenbowra Granodiorite. Kübler Index values indicate lower epizonal (greenschist facies) metamorphic conditions and are not influenced by heating in metamorphic aureoles of the plutons. All b cell lattice parameter values are characteristic of intermediate pressure facies conditions although they are lower in the metamorphic aureole of the Buckenbowra Granodiorite than in the country rock, defining two areas with dissimilar baric conditions. East of the Buckenbowra Granodiorite, b cell lattice parameter values outside the contact aureole (x = 9.033 Å; n = 8) indicate P = 4 kb, and assuming a temperature of 300°C, infer a depth of burial of approximately 15 km for these rocks with a geothermal gradient of 20°C/km. In the metamorphic aureole of the Buckenbowra Granodiorite, b cell lattice parameter values (x = 9.021 Å; n = 41) indicate P = 3.1 kb inferring exhumation of the Adaminaby Group rocks to a depth of approximately 11 km prior to intrusion. A geothermal gradient of 36°C/km operated in the aureole during intrusion. An extensional back-arc environment prevailed in the Adaminaby Group during the Middle to Upper Devonian.     

Applied geophysics for cover thickness mapping in the southern Thomson Orogen

Abstract

Potentially mineralised Paleozoic basement rocks in the southern Thomson Orogen region of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales are covered by varying thicknesses of Mesozoic to Cenozoic sediments. To assess cover thickness and methods for estimating depth to basement, we collected new airborne electromagnetic (AEM), seismic refraction, seismic reflection and audio-frequency magnetotelluric data and combined these with new depth to magnetic basement models from airborne magnetic line data and ground gravity data along selected transects. The results of these investigations over two borehole sites, GSQ Eulo 1 and GSQ Eulo 2, show that cover thickness can be reliably assessed to within the confidence limits of the various techniques, but that caveats exist regarding the application of each of the disciplines. These techniques are part of a rapid-deployment explorers’ toolbox of geophysical techniques that have been tested at two sites in Australia, the Stavely region of western Victoria, and now the southern Thomson Orogen in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. The results shown here demonstrate that AEM and ground geophysics, and to a lesser extent depth to magnetic source modelling, can produce reliable results when applied to the common exploration problem of determining cover thickness. The results demonstrate that portable seismic systems, designed for geotechnical site investigations, are capable of imaging basement below 300 m of unlithified Eromanga Basin cover as refraction and reflection data. The results of all methods provide much information about the nature of the basement–cover interface and basement at borehole sites in the southern Thomson Orogen, in that the basement is usually weathered, the interface has paleotopography, and it can be recognised by its density, natural gamma, magnetic susceptibility and electrical conductivity contrasts.     

Vanadium in magnetite gabbros and its behaviour during lateritic weathering,Windimurra Complex,Western Australia

Shephards Discordant Zone is a 500–600 m thick interlayered sequence of deformed, altered and metamorphosed magnetite metagabbro and about 50 layers or lenses of magnetitite (> 80–90% magnetite). The sequence shows progressive magmatic fractionation upwards: Ti and Ti/Fe increase, and V, V/Ti and Cr decrease upwards in magnetite and in whole‐rock compositions. The main magnetite‐rich sequence (about 400 m thick) is deeply weathered, with 40 m of saprolite showing vertical zonation of weathering minerals due to progressive weathering. Magnetitites (average 1% V₂O₃) are resistant to weathering and show little chemical change, but magnetite gabbros (average 0.27% V₂O₃) are extensively weathered and show progressive loss of Ca, Na, Mg and S. Plagioclase, magnetite (1.37% V₂O₃), chlorite (up to 0.35% V₂O₃), actinolite, epidote and minor sulfides in unweathered rocks weather to kaolinite, hematite, goethite and minor vermiculite, ilmenite remaining largely unaffected. Vanadium is essentially immobile during weathering and is unaffected during weathering of magnetitites (1% V₂O₃), but is slightly depleted during weathering of magnetite gabbros (0.23% V₂O₃).     

Sequence of geologic events in the central and northeastern parts of the Lapland Granulite Belt: Isotopic geochemical zircon data and results of geological-petrological studies

Geological and petrological studies of rocks were conducted to reproduce the succession of endogenic processes in the central and northeastern parts of the Lapland Granulite Belt along the course of the Lotta River. Mineralogical-geochemical data on zircon from these rocks (the anatomy of zircon crystals seen in BSE and CL imagery; U, Th, Hf, and Y concentrations; and REE patterns) and their crystallization temperatures (calculated using the Ti concentration) make it possible to correlate the newly obtained geochronologic data with the sequence of metamorphic events inferred from petrological data. Three major episodes of enderbite-forming processes are distinguished: (i) early episode at 1.99 Ga, (ii) main episode at 1.940–1.925 Ga; and (iii) late episode at 1.89 Ga. The early medium-pressure metamorphic episode is dated at 1.97–1.96 Ga. The diatexis of the quartz-feldspar granulites with the derivation of garnet plagioclase leucogranites took place at 1.917–1.909 Ga.     

The order-disorder transition in gallium analogue of albite,NaGaSi3O8

The order-disorder transformation in NaGaSi₃O₈ was studied at \(P_{H_2 O} \approx 100\) bar using a hydrous sodium gallium silicate gel and synthetic Ga-albites of various degrees of order as initial materials. The structural state of the gallium albites was determined by the angle separation in X-ray powder patterns of 131 and 1 \(\bar 3\) 1, and of \(\bar 2\) 04 and 060 peaks. The direction of order-disorder transformations was found to change sharply at 938 (±3)°C. This indicates a first order phase transition in NaGaSi₃O₈ as in albite, of which it is the structural analogue.     

Operational forecasting of daily summer maximum and minimum temperatures in the Valencia Region

Extreme-temperature events have a great impact on human society. Thus, knowledge of summer temperatures can be very useful both for the general public and for organizations whose workers operate in the open. An accurate forecasting of summer maximum and minimum temperatures could help to predict heatwave conditions and permit the implementation of strategies aimed at minimizing the negative effects that high temperatures have on human health. The objective of this work is to evaluate the skill of the regional atmospheric and modelling system (RAMS) model in determining daily summer maximum and minimum temperatures in the Valencia Region. For this, we have used the real-time configuration of this model currently running at the Centro de Estudios Ambientales de Mediterráneo Foundation. This operational system is run twice a day, and both runs have a 3-day forecast range. To carry out the verification of the model in this work, the information generated by the system has been broken into individual simulation days for a specific daily run of the model. Moreover, we have analysed the summer forecast period from 1 June to 31 August for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. The results indicate good agreement between observed and simulated maximum temperatures, with RMSE in general near 2 °C both for coastal and inland stations. For this parameter, the model shows a negative bias around ?1.5 °C in the coast, while the opposite trend is observed inland. In addition, RAMS also shows good results in forecasting minimum temperatures for coastal locations, with bias lower than 1 °C and RMSE below 2 °C. However, the model presents some difficulties for this parameter inland, where bias higher than 3 °C and RMSE of about 4 °C have been found. Besides, there is little difference in both temperatures forecasted within the two daily RAMS cycles and that RAMS is very stable in maintaining the forecast performance at least for three forecast days.     

High-resolution historical records from Pettaquamscutt River basin sediments: 2. Pb isotopes reveal a potential new stratigraphic marker

A high-resolution record of Pb deposition in Rhode Island over the past 250 yr was constructed using a sediment core from the anoxic Pettaquamscutt River basin. The sedimentary Pb concentration record shows the well-described maximum associated with leaded gasoline usage in the United States. Diminished Pb variability during recorded periods of local industrial activity (1735 to 1847) supports the greater importance of regional atmospheric lead transport vs. local inputs. The Pb isotopic composition at this site shows a clear maximum in anthropogenic ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb in the mid-1800s. Similar peaks have also been observed in sediments from Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes, suggesting a common source. Possible causes for this event include mining and smelting of Pb ores in the Upper Mississippi Valley district, which accounted for almost all Pb production in the United States in that period. The timing of this event can provide an important stratigraphic marker for sediments deposited in the past 200 yr in the Northeastern United States. The downcore profile of anthropogenic ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb provides a classic example of how changes in the mixture of ores for production of tetraethyl lead caused a regional-scale shift in the sedimentary record, and suggests that coal could have played a secondary role in Pb emissions after 1920.     

Analysis of the color variability of ON 231 in 1994–2002

We analyze multicolor observations of the blazar ON 231 obtained during coordinated observations in 1994–2002. On average, the spectral energy distribution of the variable component in the optical range remains constant, and can be represented by the power law F _ν ∼ ν ^−0.85. Since the radiation of the blazar is strongly polarized, there is no doubt that the variable emission that is responsible for the activity of the blazar is synchrotron radiation. There are small but significant season-to-season variations in the spectral index.     

A magnetized disk around an O star in W75N. A VLBI map of the OH maser

W75N is a star-forming region containing ultracompact H II regions as well as OH, H₂O, and methanol masers. The VLBA maps obtained show that the masers are located in a thin disk rotating around an O star, which is the exciting star for the ultracompact H II region VLA1. A separate group of maser spots is associated with the ultracompact H II region VLA2. The radial velocity of the maser spots varies across the disk from 3.7 to 10.9 km/s. The disk diameter is 4000 AU. The maser spots revolve in Keplerian orbits around the O9 star.