Burial history and thermal evolution of Westphalian coal-bearing strata in the Campine Basin (NE Belgium)

A 1D-modelling program has been applied to reconstruct the burial and thermal histories of two exploration boreholes, KB172 and KB174, located in the Campine Basin. The results show differences in geological histories. The coalification of the Westphalian A and B strata in KB174 (0.66–0.98% R_o) was pre-Permian. Calculated maximum temperatures, based on borehole data and vitrinite reflectance, regional thicknesses and a heat flow of 84 mW/m² during the Late Westphalian, range from 110 °C at the top to 175 °C at the bottom of the Westphalian cored in this borehole. The high coalification (0.85–1.30% R_o) of the Westphalian C and D strata in KB172 could be the result of the deposition of 2500 m of Upper Permian to Middle Jurassic sediments in combination with elevated heat flows (71–80 mW/m²). Two coalification periods, i.e. Late Westphalian and Middle Jurassic, are suggested for this borehole. The simulated maximum temperatures range from 130 °C at the top to 175 °C at the bottom of the investigated Westphalian C and D. The differences in the burial and thermal histories of both boreholes can be related to the activity of the transversal Donderslag Fault, a major structural element in the Campine coalfield, and the Roer Valley Graben.     

The contamination of personal space: boundary construction in a prison environment

In this paper, inmates in dormitories in a prison in New Mexico, USA, talk about their everyday lives. We are particularly interested in the ways in which they think about space. Their principal concern appears to be the definition of personal space in an environment where boundaries are weak. The paper focuses on anxieties about contamination which serve to define real and imaginary spaces within the prison. Interpersonal relationships figure more in inmates' observations than does the disciplinary regime and the material environment of the prison. We argue that this has important implications for understanding space–power relations in institutional settings.     

Groundwater temperature evolution in the subsurface urban heat island of Cologne,Germany

Long‐term heating of shallow urban aquifers is observed worldwide. Our measurements in the city of Cologne, Germany revealed that the groundwater temperatures found in the city centre are more than 5 K higher than the undisturbed background. To explore the role of groundwater flow for the development of subsurface urban heat islands, a numerical flow and heat transport model is set up, which describes the hydraulic conditions of Cologne and simulates the transient evolution of thermal anomalies in the urban ground. A main focus is on the influence of horizontal groundwater flow, groundwater recharge and trends in local ground warming. To examine heat transport in groundwater, a scenario consisting of a local hot spot with a length of 1 km of long‐term ground heating was set up in the centre of the city. Groundwater temperature‐depth profiles at upstream, central and downstream locations of this hot spot are inspected. The simulation results indicate that the main thermal transport mechanisms are long‐term vertical conductive heat input, horizontal advection and transverse dispersion. Groundwater recharge rates in the city are low (<100 mm a^?1) and thus do not significantly contribute to heat transport into the urban aquifer. With groundwater flow, local vertical temperature profiles become very complex and are hard to interpret, if local flow conditions and heat sources are not thoroughly known. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-resolution monitoring of biogeochemical gradients in a tar oil-contaminated aquifer

The detailed understanding of in situ biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in porous aquifers requires knowledge on biogeochemical gradients, the distribution of individual redox species and microorganisms. The generally limited spatial resolution of conventional monitoring wells, however, hampers appropriate characterization of small-scale gradients and thus localization of the relevant processes. Groundwater sampling across a BTEX plume in a sandy aquifer by means of a novel high-resolution multi-level well (HR-MLW) is presented here. The presence of distinct and steep biogeochemical gradients is demonstrated in the centimeter and decimeter scale, which could not be resolved with a conventional multi-level well. The thin BTEX plume with a vertical extension of only 80 cm exhibited a decline of contaminant concentrations by two orders of magnitude within a few centimeters in the upper and lower fringe zone. The small-scale distribution of sulfate, sulfide and Fe(II) in relation to the contaminants and elevated δ³⁴S and δ¹⁸O values of groundwater sulfate strongly indicated sulfate and iron reduction to be the dominant redox processes involved in biodegradation. High microbial activities and biomass especially at the plume fringes and the slope of chemical gradients supported the concept that the latter are regulated by microbial processes and transverse dispersion, i.e. vertical mixing of electron donors and acceptors. Transverse dispersion therefore was suggested to be a driving factor controlling biodegradation in porous aquifers, but not exclusively limiting natural attenuation processes at this site. Broad overlapping zones of electron donors and electron acceptors point towards additional factors limiting anaerobic biodegradation in situ. The identification of small-scale gradients substantially contributed to a better understanding of biodegradation processes and hence is a prerequisite for the development of reliable predictive mathematical models and future remediation strategies.     

The hafnium isotope composition of Pacific Ocean water

The first Hf isotope data for seawater are reported for a series of stations in the Northwestern Pacific and define a range from ε_Hf = 3.5 ± 1.4 to 8.6 ± 1.6. Most samples have values within error of the average of ε_Hf = 5.9, but significant variations are found in intermediate waters at a depth of 600 m, as well as in deep waters. The Nd and Hf isotope compositions of the deep waters fall within the range of values found for surfaces of hydrogenetic ferromanganese crusts in the region, confirming that Hf in the Fe-Mn crusts has been derived from the overlying water column, which thus provide an archive of past seawater compositions. Although the seawater samples are generally close to the global ε_Nd-ε_Hf correlation obtained from ferromanganese crusts, there are significant deviations from this correlation indicating that there is some additional decoupling between Nd and Hf isotope signals, most likely caused by local water mass mixing and differences in residence times. This is not resolved in the crust samples, which integrate seawater signals over 10⁴ years. The combined use of these two isotope systems in seawater therefore provides an additional dimension for tracing water masses in the oceans. Studies of the distribution of oceanic Hf isotope compositions that have been confined to deep water and boundary waters, as recorded in seafloor ferromanganese crusts, can now be extended and aimed at characterising the entire present-day water column. Average Hf concentrations measured in this study are somewhat lower than previously reported, suggesting a shorter residence time for Hf in the global oceans, although the uncertainty in the extent of Hf removal from the water column during estuarine mixing as well as a lack of data on hydrothermal and dust inputs remains a limit on how well the residence time can be defined.     

Climatic variability during the last 90 ka of the southern and northern Levantine Basin as evident from marine records and speleothems

The influence of the northern Atlantic and tropical monsoonal systems, as recorded by the River Nile, on the climate variability of the southeastern Mediterranean was studied in two cores taken by the R/V Marion Dufresne: one core taken SE of Cyprus representing the northern Levantine Basin (core 9501, 980 m water depth) and the other located ˜380 km further south, represents the southeastern Levantine Basin in an area influenced by the River Nile plume (core 9509, 884 m water depth). The study was performed at relatively high resolution using several proxies: δ¹⁸O of Globigerinoides ruber, sediment characteristics and index colour parameters in core sections representing the last 86 ka. A low-resolution alkenone sea surface temperature record was also measured. The time frame in both cores was mostly constrained by ‘wiggle’ matching with the nearby well-dated δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C record of the Soreq Cave, which is mainly influenced by the eastern Mediterranean water vapor. The sedimentary record of the southern core is strongly influenced by the River Nile contribution throughout the last 86 ka, as evidenced by the higher sedimentation rates compared with the northern core (20 cm/ka vs. 5 cm/ka), continuously darker sediment colour, and higher TOC values (0.6–0.9 vs. 0.25 wt% not including sapropels). During sapropels S1 and S3, present in both cores, the influence of the River Nile became more widespread, reaching as far as Cyprus. Yet, the influence of the River Nile remained stronger in the south, as evident by the higher TOC values in the southern core throughout the entire 90 ka period and the longer duration of S1 in the southern core. An anomalous low δ¹⁸O interval that is not recorded in western Mediterranean occurred between 58 and 49 ka in the Levantine Basin and is more developed in the northern core. This period correlates with D-O interstadial 14 and maximum northern hemisphere insolation during the lastglacial cycle, suggesting that the warming mainly impacted the northern Levant.The Eastern Mediterranean Sea and land area was considerably warmer than the western Mediterranean throughout the LGM – Holocene transition, and the δ¹⁸O_{G. ruber} drop of 4.5‰ is significantly greater than the 3‰ shift found for the western Mediterranean δ¹⁸O_{G. bulloides}, both differences reflecting an increased continental effect from the western to eastern Mediterranean. Comparison between the marine and the land δ¹⁸O records suggests that the origin of rain over the land is composed of mixed signal from the southern and northern Levantine Basin. The study of Δδ¹⁸O_sea–land variations demonstrates that various factors have influenced the sea–land relationship during the last 90 ka. The ‘amount effect’ has an important influence on rainfall δ¹⁸O during interglacial periods (particularly sapropel periods), whereas during glacial periods, increased land distances and elevation differences arising from decrease in sea level may have brought about decrease in δ¹⁸O of rainfall due to Rayleigh distillation processes. These influences were superimposed on those of sea surface water δ¹⁸O changes brought about by continental ice melting, and the strong effects felt in the southern Levantine Basin of the high River Nile input during periods of enhanced monsoonal activity.