Robustness of the holistic seismic risk evaluation in urban centers using the USRi

The Urban Seismic Risk index (USRi) published in a previous article (Carreño et al., Nat Hazards 40:137–172, 2007) is a composite indicator that measures risk from an integrated perspective and guides decision-making for identifying the main interdisciplinary factors of vulnerability to be reduced or intervened. The first step of the method is the evaluation of the potential physical damage (hard approach) as a result of the convolution of the seismic hazard with the physical vulnerability of buildings and infrastructure. Subsequently, a set of social context conditions that aggravate the physical effects is also considered (soft approach). According to this procedure, the physical risk index is evaluated for each unit of analysis from existing loss scenarios, whereas the total risk index is obtained by multiplying the former index by an impact factor using an aggravating coefficient, based on variables associated with the socio-economic conditions of each unit of analysis. The USRi has been developed using the underlying holistic and multi-hazard approach of the Urban Risk Index framework proposed for the evaluation of disaster risk in different megacities worldwide. This article presents the sensitivity analysis of the index to different parameters such as input data, weights and transformation functions used for the scaling or normalization of variables. This analysis has been performed using the Monte Carlo simulation to validate the robustness of this composite indicator, understanding as robustness how the cities maintain the ranking as well as predefined risk level ranges, when compared with the deterministic results of risk. Results are shown for different cities of the world.     

Time relationship between regional deformation and fabric development in the Peralimala pluton,South India — Inferences from magnetic fabric

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) is investigated in samples of Peralimala (PM) pluton (ca. 550 Ma) and adjacent gneiss, gabbro, mylonite and amphibolite from the Moyar Shear Zone (MSZ), Southern Granulite Terrane (SGT) with an aim to decipher the time-relationship between fabric development in the pluton and regional tectonics. Magnetic foliation recorded in the PM pluton is sub-parallel to the WNW-ESE striking MSZ. Magnetic foliation and lineation trajectories are sigmoidal and curve into the shear zone. A dextral sense of shear is deciphered from the trajectories, which is similar to that reported within the MSZ in some earlier studies. It is inferred that the PM pluton has developed post-emplacement deformation-fabric related to reactivation of the MSZ during Pan-African age. Based on the data and existing information about regional tectonics of the area, the possibility of the (a) PM pluton being a Deformed Alkali Rock and Carbonatite (DARC) and (b) MSZ marking an ancient suture zone, is discussed.     

Contesting culture: a case study of commodification in Cuban music

After more than three decades of isolation from the West and a paralyzing economic crisis in the early 1990s, Cuba is increasingly globally active in both cultural and economic realms. In this paper I use Bourdieu’s (The fields of cultural production, 1993) fields of cultural production as a general frame through with to inspect the commercialization of Cuban music. Through a case study with Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, the creator of the Buena Vista Social Club, I explore the dialectical relationship of music as an expression of cultural and a cultural asset, and at the same time a commodity for the international market. I show that de Marcos uses his position between the international music industry and the local music scene in order to preserve cultural authenticity and survive economically. In doing so he challenges the all-to-typical place of the artist in the contested space of cultural production between the West and the Third World.

Comparative studies on compounds occluded inside asphaltenes hierarchically released by increasing amounts of H2O2/CH3COOH

Being the heaviest fraction of crude oils, asphaltenes are liable to aggregate, and other molecules in the oils can be steadily adsorbed onto, and even occluded inside the macromolecular structures of the asphaltenes. These occluded compounds inside the asphaltenes can survive over geological time in oil reservoirs owing to effective protection by the macromolecular structures of the asphaltenes. The asphaltenes of a crude oil (ZG31) from the central Tarim Basin, NW China, were hierarchically degraded by increasing the amount of H₂O₂/CH₃COOH to release the occluded compounds. Besides the common components, series of even numbered n-alk-1-enes and 3-ethylalkanes were detected among the occluded compounds. Comparison of the biomarker distributions and the compound-specific C isotopic results between the compounds from the maltenes and those from the occluded fraction, the ZG31 reservoir was suggested to have been charged multiple times, with different charges being derived from different strata of source rocks.     

Origin of ore fluids in the Muruntau gold system: Constraints from noble gas, carbon isotope and halogen data

Hydrothermal vein minerals directly associated with native gold mineralization in the Muruntau vein system (Uzbekistan) have been studied for noble gas, carbon isotope and halogen chemistry of the trapped ore-related fluids. Helium trapped in early arsenopyrite 1, which has preserved the original fluid signature better than associated scheelite and quartz, indicates a small input from a mantle source (?5% of total He). However, the overwhelming majority of the He in the fluid (∼95%) is from crustal sources. The noble gases Ne, Kr and Xe in the sample fluids are dominated by gases of atmospheric origin. The carbon isotope (δ¹³C: −2.1‰ to −5.3‰) and halogen characteristics of the fluids (log Br/Cl: −2.64 to −3.23) lend further support for the activity of juvenile fluids during the main ore stage. The high proportion of crustal components in the ore-forming fluids may be explained by intense fluid-rock interaction and is also supported by previous Nd and Sr isotope studies. The involvement of a juvenile fluid component during the main stage of hydrothermal activity at Muruntau (∼275 Ma) can be linked to the emplacement of lamprophyric dikes at Muruntau, due to apparently overlapping ages for high-temperature alteration, related ore vein formation and intrusion of the dikes. The input of mantle-derived fluids, possibly related to the Hercynian collisional event in the western Tien Shan, stimulated intense fluid-rock interaction in the crust. In this context, the mantle-derived fluid should be considered as one possible carrier of metals. Significant amounts of external meteoric fluids circulating in fracture systems are interpreted to have modified the noble gas signature of fluid in quartz, mostly during late, low temperature fluid circulation.     

Results from the Big Spring basin water quality monitoring and demonstration projects,Iowa, USA

Agricultural practices, hydrology, and water quality of the 267-km² Big Spring groundwater drainage basin in Clayton County, Iowa, have been monitored since 1981. Land use is agricultural; nitrate-nitrogen (-N) and herbicides are the resulting contaminants in groundwater and surface water. Ordovician Galena Group carbonate rocks comprise the main aquifer in the basin. Recharge to this karstic aquifer is by infiltration, augmented by sinkhole-captured runoff. Groundwater is discharged at Big Spring, where quantity and quality of the discharge are monitored. Monitoring has shown a threefold increase in groundwater nitrate-N concentrations from the 1960s to the early 1980s. The nitrate-N discharged from the basin typically is equivalent to over one-third of the nitrogen fertilizer applied, with larger losses during wetter years. Atrazine is present in groundwater all year; however, contaminant concentrations in the groundwater respond directly to recharge events, and unique chemical signatures of infiltration versus runoff recharge are detectable in the discharge from Big Spring. Education and demonstration efforts have reduced nitrogen fertilizer application rates by one-third since 1981. Relating declines in nitrate and pesticide concentrations to inputs of nitrogen fertilizer and pesticides at Big Spring is problematic. Annual recharge has varied five-fold during monitoring, overshadowing any water-quality improvements resulting from incrementally decreased inputs. Electronic Publication     

Processes controlling precipitation of carbonate cement and dissolution of silica in reef and near-reef settings

Carbonate cementation in the surface layer of reefs and beachrock eliminates porosity and partially replaces detrital quartz grains. The uptake and release of CO₂ by photosynthesis and respiration in reef communities cause a shift in the carbonate buffer system of seawater. Field studies and experimentation simulating the natural settings show minimum values of CO₂ (1.9 mmoles 1^?1) and HCO₃^? (2.4 meq 1^?1) in association with maximum values of pH (9.8) and O₂ (> 100% oxygen saturation) in waters covering corals and algae prior to sunset. The converse is true for these variables prior to sunrise, when minimum values of pH (7.6) and O₂ (<66% oxygen saturation) occur with maximum values of CO₂ (2.7 mmoles 1^?1) and HCO₃^? (2.7 meq 1^?1). Experimental tanks containing plain seawater showed almost no diurnal variability in pH (a constant 7.5–7.6) or O₂ (80–90% oxygen saturation) measurements. Seawater adjacent to reef biomass, with elevated pH and supersaturated with calcium carbonate, is periodically pumped into the underlying reef and beach sediments due to pressure-buildups between the reef framework or algal zones and open waters. Carbonate precipitation and quartz dissolution follow. As the system equilibrates, pH values progressively decrease.     

Geochemical Characteristics of Gold Polymetallic Deposits as Exemplified by the Laozuoshan Deposit,Heilong jiang,China

From the studies of ore deposit geologic settings,sulfur isotopes,lead isotopes,carbon isotopes and oxygen isotopes,fluid inclusions and petrochemistry in this paper,the authors have drawn a conclusion that the ore-forming hydrothermal solutions are the high-temperature magmatic hydrothermal solutions for the gold ore deposit,and at the same time,the involvemety of crustal materials can not be ruled out .It is the first time that the authors have proposed that the Laozuoshan gold-ploymetallic ore deposit in Heilongjiang Province was formed in the calc-alkaline series environment at the margin of an active continent.     

Lanmuchangite,a New Thallium （Hydrous） Sulphate from Lanmuchang,Guizhou Province,China

1IntroductionLanmuchangite ,anewmineralTlAl[SO4]2 ·1 2H2 O ,occursintheoxidationzoneofrichthalli umorebodiesattheLanmuchangthallium(mercury)deposit.Itisnamedafterthelocalitywhereitwasdiscovered .InJune,2 0 0 1 ,themineralanditsnamewereapprovedbytheCommissiononNewMineralsandMineralNames,IMA .ItstypicalmaterialisdepositedattheGeologicalMuseumofChina ,Beijing .2OccurrenceandmineralassociationLanmuchangiteoccursintheoxidationzoneofrichthalliumorebodiesattheLanmuchangthal lium(mercury)or…     

Field and Laboratory Tests Investigating Settlements of Foundations on Weathered Keuper Marl

Measured settlements of buildings on the weathered Keuper Marl appeared to be much smaller than calculated settlements, which were based on stiffness modulus from standard oedometer tests. Therefore, both special triaxial K ₀-tests and oedometer tests were carried out for an accurate determination of stiffness moduli. Modulus obtained in the triaxial K ₀-tests were at least two to three times the values obtained in the oedometer tests. To verify observations from the laboratory tests, the loads and the settlements of two single footings on weathered Keuper mudstone have been measured during construction of a building over 1 year. Also, a large scale footing load test with measurements of deformations were conducted on the weathered Keuper mudstone. The measured settlements of the two single footings and the tested foundation were compared with the settlements based on conventional calculations with moduli from oedometer tests and triaxial K ₀-tests. Up to a foundation pressure of σ_v = 500 kN/m2 the calculated settlement based on E _S-modulus obtained from triaxial K ₀-tests was found to correspond well to the measured deformation. For foundation pressure beyond 500 kN/m2, the foundation response was highly non-linear and it could not be described any more with the linear-elastic model. Therefore the footing load test was also simulated by FEM analyses.