Integrating GIS and Data Visualization Tools for Distributed Hydrologic Modeling

Distributed hydrologic models are an integral component of spatial decision support systems for watershed management. At these basin (and larger) scales, a common problem in hydrology and other environmental sciences arises from the need to cope with the increasingly sophisticated models and software tools that are used in the management, processing, and analysis of large volumes of data collected from advanced in situ and remote monitoring instruments. The diversity of these tools, and the need for experts and non-experts alike to be able to easily use them, suggests a non-trivial integration problem of building customized systems from disparate (and in many cases proprietary) components. In this paper we address the systems integration problem within the context of a study of surface-subsurface-atmosphere interactions involving soil moisture remote sensing and hydrologic simulation. The simple early steps that were taken highlight the role of the different components and tools in the integration effort. An alternative approach is presented for creating an integrated system, based on a data flow model with the modular components linked within a flexible framework. An example is developed based on established systems integration techniques from the field of computer aided design.     

Silicic magmas from the continental Cameroon Volcanic Line (Oku, Bambouto and Ngaoundere): 40Ar-39Ar dates, petrology, Sr-Nd-O isotopes and their petrogenetic significance

The intraplate Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL) straddles the African-South Atlantic continent-ocean boundary and is composed mainly of alkaline basic volcanic rocks. Voluminous silicic volcanics characterize the continental sector of the CVL. We present here new geochemical, isotopic (Sr-Nd-O) and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological data on the main silicic volcanic centres of the Western (Mt. Oku, Sabga and Mt. Bambouto) and Eastern (Ngaoundere plateau) Cameroon Highlands. The silicic volcanism of Mt. Oku, Sabga and Mt. Bambouto occurred between 25 and 15 Ma and is represented by voluminous quartz-normative trachytes and minor rhyolitic ignimbrites. At Mt. Bambouto central volcano about 700 m of silicic volcanics erupted in less than 2.7 million years. These silicic volcanics are associated with slightly to moderately alkaline basalts and minor basanites. In general, onset of the silicic volcanism migrated from NE (Oku: 25 Ma) to SW (Sabga: 23 Ma; Bambouto: 18 Ma; and Mt. Manengouba: 12 Ma). The silicic volcanism of the Ngaoundere plateau (eastern branch of the CVL) is instead dominated by nepheline-normative trachytes which are associated with strongly alkaline basalts and basanitic rocks. These Ne-trachytes are younger (11-9 Ma) than the Q-trachytes of the Western Highlands. The least differentiated silicic volcanics are isotopically similar (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr < 0.70380; ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd > 0.51278) to the associated alkaline basalts suggesting differentiation processes without appreciable interaction with crustal materials. Such interactions may, however, have played some role in the genesis of the most evolved silicic volcanics which have ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr as high as 0.705–0.714. Fractional crystallization is the preferred mechanism for genesis of the silicic melts of both Western and Eastern Highlands, as shown by modeling major and trace element variations. The genesis of the least evolved Q-trachytes from the Western Highlands, starting from slightly to moderately alkaline basalts, is compatible with fractionation of dominantly plagioclase, clinopyroxene and magnetite. Crystal fractionation may have occurred at low pressure and at QFM buffer f _O2conditions. Parental magmas of the Ngaoundere Ne-trachytes are likely instead to have been strongly alkaline basalts which evolved through crystal fractionation at higher P (6-2 kbar) and f _O2 (QFM + 2). The migration (25 to 12 Ma) of the silicic volcanism from NE to SW in the continental sector of the CVL is reminiscent of that (31-5 Ma) of the onset of the basic volcanism in the oceanic sector (Principe to Pagalu islands) of the CVL. These ages, and that (11-9 Ma) of the silicic volcanism of the Ngaoundere plateau, indicate that the Cameroon Volcanic Line as a whole may not be easily interpreted as the surface expression of hot-spot magmatism. Received: 24 February 1998 / Accepted: 22 September 1998     

Strike-slip fault-propagation cleavage in carbonate rocks: the Mattinata Fault Zone, Southern Apennines, Italy

Disjunctive, spaced solution cleavage in carbonate rocks is genetically associated with the propagation of the left-lateral, strike-slip Mattinata Fault in the Gargano Promontory, Italy. Typical cleavage development is restricted within the 200–300-m wide fault zone, which is bounded by virtually unfractured wall rocks. The cleavage consists of sub-parallel solution surfaces, which are often reactivated as sheared solution planes. Geometrical and kinematic relationships exist between the fault and the associated cleavage planes, thus: (1) cleavage–fault intersection lines lie parallel to the fault and the sheared cleavage rotational axes and (2) the cleavage–fault angle is almost constantly equal to 40°. A model for the development of the Mattinata Fault is proposed in which the cleavage surfaces are interpreted as fault-propagation deformations. Cleavage nucleates as solution planes at the front of the advancing fault as the result of stress concentration in this region. Two distinct, time-sequential processes are shown to operate during the fault propagation: (1) typical millimetre- to centimetre-spaced solution surfaces form in the distal tip zone of the advancing fault plane; (2) as the tip advances, the fault plane breaks through the cleavage as minor shear displacements reactivate some of these nascent surfaces. These observations may prove useful in understanding mechanisms for fault-controlled enhanced/reduced permeability and fluid pathways.     

Minima de L'intégrale D'action du Problème Newtoniende 4 Corps de Masses Égales Dans R3: Orbites 'Hip-Hop'

We consider the problem of 4 bodies of equal masses in R ³ for the Newtonian r⁻¹ potential. We address the question of the absolute minima of the action integral among (anti)symmetric loops of class H ¹ whose period is fixed. It is the simplest case for which the results of [4] (corrected in [5]) do not apply: the minima cannot be the relative equilibria whose configuration is an absolute minimum of the potential among the configurations having a given moment of inertia with respect to their center of mass. This is because the regular tetrahedron cannot have a relative equilibrium motion in R ³ (see [2]). We show that the absolute minima of the action are not homographic motions. We also show that if we force the configuration to admit a certain type of symmetry of order 4, the absolute minimum is a collisionless orbit whose configuration ‘hesitates’ between the central configuration of the square and the one of the tetrahedron. We call these orbits ‘hip-hop’. A similar result holds in case of a symmetry of order 3 where the central configuration of the equilateral triangle with a body at the center of mass replaces the square. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Platforms in the akalche at E1 Mirador,Peten, Guatemala and their implications

Late Preclassic Period platforms were surveyed and test-excavated in a seasonal swamp or akalche, at the large ancient lowland Maya site of El Mirador in Peten, Guatemala. Pedological, hydrological, and archaeological evidence suggest that the climatic and hydrological regimes were drier than they are today to permit habitation and warrant the investment in labor. Nevertheless, observations of present conditions, including the clayey soils, indicate that the akalche was almost as inhospitable in antiquity as it is today, that it had the same extremely poor agricultural potentials and that intensive wetland cultivation would have necessitated sizeable investments in dams to dampen the extreme seasonal fluctuations in water levels. Dams are not observed, and evidence is elicited to indicate that they would be readily observable today had they been emplaced here in antiquity. We offer evidence suggesting that these platforms had domestic functions, but we are forced to conclude that intensive wetland cultivation did not sustain them nor this large regional center as a whole. We argue, instead, that these habitations constitute evidence for population pressures on urban upland resources, especially building sites and perhaps agricultural land. Akalche households appear to have sustained themselves, at least in part, by foraging for animal and plant foods, cordage products, building materials, and firewood. The data are inadequate to decide if these structures housed full or part time specialists, or if they were self-sufficient in subsistence. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Atmospheric loading corrections at the observation level in VLBI analysis

This paper investigates whether in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) analysis atmospheric loading corrections should be applied a priori at the observation level or whether it is sufficient to correct for atmospheric loading effects a posteriori by adding constant values per session to the estimated station coordinates. Simulated observations at single stations corresponding to the precise point positioning approach of global navigation satellite systems show that the atmospheric loading effect can be fully recovered by a posteriori corrections, i.e., the height differences between both approaches stay well below 1 mm. However, real global VLBI network solutions with sessions from 1984 to 2008 reveal that the effect of neglected atmospheric loading corrections at the stations is distributed to the other stations in the network, thus resulting in station height differences between solutions with observation level and with a posteriori corrections which can be as large as 10 mm and a ‘damping’ effect of the corrections. As soon as the terrestrial reference frame and the corresponding coordinate time series are determined, it would be conceptually wrong to apply atmospheric loading corrections at the VLBI stations. We recommend the rigorous application of atmospheric loading corrections at the observation level to all stations of a VLBI network because the seven parameters for translation, rotation, and in particular the network-scale of VLBI networks are significantly affected.     

埃格迪前陆逆冲带顶部盆地的形成和反转构造（西西里海峡西北）

已经认识到,沿西西里和意大利半岛的亚平宁-马格里布褶皱冲断带顶部发育伸展盆地。这些盆地主要形成于上第四纪,推测与伊特鲁里亚弧后盆地的打开有关,这时逆冲前锋部位存在挤压活动。在其沉积下陷内部存在挤压构造。为确定构造类型,对这些盆地中的位于埃格迪岛西南的INVO-2盆地使用密级多道反射剖面测网勘测。INVO-2盆地沿一系列西北-东南向的伸展断层构成,并被地貌高分成两个次级盆地。半地堑极性反转沿两个次级盆地的轴向发育。发育在盆地凹陷内的挤压构造,倾向既有垂直又有平行于盆地轴向的,在一些情况中,这些构造与早期伸展地层的再活动有关。虽然因缺乏井资料不能准确确定挤压期,从盆地的开始到现在,看来挤压是间歇性地发生并夹在以伸展状态为主中。在张性环境中压缩脉冲的起因,我们可以在其毗邻的马格里布碰撞带的动力学中找出答案。     

A revision of soft proton scattering at grazing incidence and its implementation in the <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">geant</Emphasis>4 toolkit

The scattering of soft protons inside the Wolter-type optics of X-ray observatories has been proven to concentrate these particles onto the focal plane instruments. The funneling of these protons increases the instrumental background and can also contribute to the degrading of the detectors. The instrumental background and degradation of the detector’s performance experienced by Chandra and XMM-Newton is significantly larger than what was expected on the basis of previous Monte Carlo simulations. For Chandra the main issue is the degradation of the energy resolution due to lattice displacements in the detectors. For XMM the contribution to the instrumental background is more significant. In between, new laboratory measurements as well as a revision of the theory are needed to correctly assess the impact of the environmental radiation for future missions. In this publication we present a Geant4 class that will allow future users to select between either theoretical models or measured data to simulate the scattering of soft protons at grazing angles. To develop this method, we revisit the theory of elastic scattering of protons on polished surfaces and implement these approaches into Geant4. We also implemented recently performed measurements using parts of eROSITA (extended ROentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array) mirror shells as scattering targets as another scattering model to be used within the Geant4 toolkit.