Water determination in iron oxyhydroxides and iron ores by Karl Fischer titration

Protohematite (Fe_2?x/3(OH) _x O_3?x 1 ≤ x < 0.5) and hydrohematite (Fe_2?x/3(OH) _x O_3?x 0.5 ≤ x < 0) are iron-defective phases containing hydroxyl groups in their structures. These species were described in prior studies mainly with the aid of X-ray diffraction and Infrared spectroscopy. The existence of these phases in soils might have influence in redox processes, and they were considered as a possible water reservoir in Martian soils. In this study, we have used for the first time the Karl Fischer titration method to determine the amount of water released after heating several synthetic samples of goethite, hematite and natural iron ores at 105, 400, 600 and 900 °C. It was found that heating at 105 °C did not remove all moisture from the samples, and higher temperatures were necessary to completely remove all the absorbed water. The water contents determined at 400, 600 and 900 °C were found to be the same within the experimental errors, suggesting the inexistence of both protohematite and hydrohematite in the investigated samples. Therefore, the above-mentioned effects of these phases in soils might have to be reevaluated.     

Redundancy and diversity of functional reef fish groups of the Mexican Eastern Pacific

Coral reefs are in crisis worldwide. Fish play a key role in the resilience of reefs because most of the biomass of the ecosystem flows through them. Evidence indicates that the response to stressors will vary markedly depending on the resilience of the ecosystem. In order to assess the functional groups of reef fishes, morphometric and ecomorphological analyses were carried out on the shape and diet of 117 reef fish species from the Mexican Eastern Pacific (MEP) from 23°N to 15°N, spanning the years 2009–2012. Six trophic groups were identified and subdivided into 19 functional groups: (A) detritus and plants consumers, three morphologies; (B) plants and zoobenthos consumers, four morphologies; (C) zoobenthos consumers, two morphologies; (D) zoobenthos and zooplankton consumers, three morphologies; (E) zooplankton and nekton consumers, three morphologies; and (F) nekton consumers, four morphologies. Our main conclusions are: (i) fish communities of the MEP have a high degree of ecological redundancy; (ii) fish diversity is not related to the coral cover; and (iii) the combination of using both morphology and diet produce a more effective classification of functional groups. Future studies such as these will allow a deeper understanding of environment and it will help illuminate the effects of fish morphology and diet on population structure.     

Spatial variability of phytoplankton absorption coefficients and pigments off Baja California during November 2002

We have estimated the spatial variability of phytoplankton specific absorption coefficients (a* _ph ) in the water column of the California Current System during November 2002, taking into account the variability in pigment composition and phytoplankton community structure and size. Oligotrophic conditions (surface Chl < 0.2 mg m⁻³) dominated offshore, while mesotrophic conditions (surface Chl 0.2 to 2.0 mg m⁻³) where found inshore. The specific absorption coefficient at 440 [a* _ph (440)] ranged from 0.025–0.281 m²mg⁻¹ while at 675 nm [a* _ph (675)] it varied between 0.014 and 0.087 m²mg⁻¹. The implementation of a size index based on HPLC data showed the community structure was dominated by picoplankton. This would reduce the package effect in the variability of a* _ph (675). Normalized a _ph curves were classified in two groups according to their shape, separating all spectra with peaks between 440 and 550 nm as the second group. Most samples in the first group were from surface layers, while the second group were from the deep chlorophyll maximum or deeper. Accessory photoprotective pigments (APP) tended to decrease with depth and accessory photosynthetic pigments (APS) to increase, indicating the importance of photoprotective mechanisms in surface layers and adaptation to low light at depth. Samples with higher ratios of APP:APS (>0.4) were considered as phytoplankton adapted to high irradiances, and lower ratios (<0.26) as adapted to low irradiances. We found a good relationship between APP:APS and a* _ph (440) for the deeper layer (DCM and below), but no clear evidence of the factors causing the variability of a* _ph (440) in the upper layer.     

Reloca Slide: an ~24 km3 submarine mass‐wasting event in response to over‐steepening and failure of the central Chilean continental slope

Reloca Slide is the relict of an ~24‐km³ submarine slope collapse at the base of the convergent continental margin of central Chile. Bathymetric and seismic data show that directly to the north and south of the slide the lower continental slope is steep (~10°), the deformation front is shifted landwards by 10–15 km, and the frontal accretionary prism is uplifted. In contrast, ~80 km to the north the lower continental margin presents a lower slope angle of about 4° and a wide frontal accretionary prism. We propose that high effective basal friction conditions at the base of the accretionary prism favoured basal accretion of sediment and over‐steepening of the continental slope, producing massive submarine mass wasting in the Reloca region. This area also spatially correlates with a zone of low coseismic slip of the 2010 Maule megathrust earthquake, which is consistent with high basal frictional coefficients.     

Analysis of channel transmission losses in a dryland river reach in north‐eastern Brazil using streamflow series,groundwater level series and multi‐temporal satellite data

Scarcity of hydrological data, especially streamflow discharge and groundwater level series, restricts the understanding of channel transmission losses (TL) in drylands. Furthermore, the lack of information on spatial river dynamics encompasses high uncertainty on TL analysis in large rivers. The objective of this study was to combine the information from streamflow and groundwater level series with multi‐temporal satellite data to derive a hydrological concept of TL for a reach of the Middle Jaguaribe River (MJR) in semi‐arid north‐eastern Brazil. Based on this analysis, we proposed strategies for its modelling and simulation. TL take place in an alluvium, where river and groundwater can be considered to be hydraulically connected. Most losses certainly infiltrated only through streambed and levees and not through the flood plains, as could be shown by satellite image analysis. TL events whose input river flows were smaller than a threshold did not reach the outlet of the MJR. TL events whose input flows were higher than this threshold reached the outlet losing on average 30% of their input. During the dry seasons (DS) and at the beginning of rainy seasons (DS/BRS), no river flow is expected for pre‐events, and events have vertical infiltration into the alluvium. At the middle and the end of the rainy seasons (MRS/ERS), river flow sustained by base flow occurs before/after events, and lateral infiltration into the alluvium plays a major role. Thus, the MJR shifts from being a losing river at DS/BRS to become a losing/gaining (mostly losing) river at MRS/ERS. A model of this system has to include the coupling of river and groundwater flow processes linked by a leakage approach. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crustal growth of the central-eastern Paleoproterozoic domain,SW Amazonian craton: Juvenile accretion vs. reworking

The Trans-Amazonian cycle was an important rock-forming event in South America, generating voluminous juvenile and reworked fractions of continental crust. The Bacajá domain, in the southern sector of the Maroni-Itacaiúnas Province in the Amazonian craton, is an example of the Trans-Amazonian terranes adjacent to the Archean Carajás block. Zircon Pb-evaporation and whole-rock Sm–Nd analyses were carried out on representative samples of six lithological units, and allowed the proposal of a comprehensive tectonic-magmatic evolutionary sequence for the central and eastern parts of this domain, from the Neoarchean to the Rhyacian. Gneisses with ages of ca. 2.67 and 2.44 Ga are the oldest rocks recorded in the region, and probably represent remnants of island and continental arcs. The Três Palmeiras succession, emplaced between 2.36 and 2.34 Ga, hosts gold deposits and represents the first record of Siderian supracrustal rocks in the Amazonian craton. It was probably part of an island arc/ocean floor accreted to a craton margin. Rhyacian granitogenesis lasted for ca. 140 My (2.22–2.08 Ga), marking different stages of the Trans-Amazonian cycle. The first stage is represented by continental arc granitoids formed by melting of Archean crust at 2.22–2.18 Ga. The second is characterized by the production of juvenile material between 2.16 and 2.13 Ga. The third and final stage at ca. 2.08 Ga is represented by a large volume of granitoids originated from either juvenile material or reworked crust during compressive stresses. Nd isotopes reveal that juvenile rocks dominated in the northern part of the domain, whereas those formed from reworked crust predominate in the south. The present-day configuration of the Bacajá domain results from collision against the Archean Carajás block at the end of the Trans-Amazonian cycle.     

Vegetation response to rainfall seasonality and interannual variability in tropical dry forests

Projected changes in rainfall seasonality and interannual variability are expected to have severe impacts on arid and semi‐arid tropical vegetation, which is characterized by a fine‐tuned adaptation to extreme rainfall seasonality. To study the response of these ecosystems and the related changes in hydrological processes to changes in the amount and seasonality of rainfall, we focused on the caatinga biome, the typical seasonally dry forest in semi‐arid Northeast Brazil. We selected four sites across a gradient of rainfall amount and seasonality and analysed daily rainfall and biweekly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data for hydrological years 2000 to 2014. Rainfall seasonal and interannual statistics were characterized by recently proposed metrics describing duration, timing and intensity of the wet season and compared to similar metrics of NDVI time series. The results show that the caatinga tends to have a more stable response with longer and less variable growing seasons (3.1 ± 0.1 months) compared to the duration wet seasons (2.0 ± 0.5 months). The ecosystem ability to buffer the interannual variability of rainfall is also evidenced by the stability in the timing of the growing season compared to the wet season, which results in variable delays (ranging from 0 to 2 months) between the peak of the rainfall season and the production of leaves by the ecosystem. The analyses show that the shape and size of the related hysteresis loops in the rainfall–NDVI relations are linked to the buffering effects of soil moisture and plant growth dynamics. Finally, model projections of vegetation response to different rainfall scenarios reveal the existence of a maximum in ecosystem productivity at intermediate levels of rainfall seasonality, suggesting a possible trade‐off in the effects of intensity (i.e. amount) and duration of the wet season on vegetation growth and related soil moisture dynamics and transpiration rates. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Innovative Post Grouting Technique for Soil Nails

This study presents an innovative technique of executing soil nails called sectorized post grouting (SPG). The most utilized technique of soil nail grouting is gravity grouting, with the literature reporting advances in pressurized grouting. Although obtaining higher pullout resistance of soil nails, pressurized grouting, mostly done in single-stage grouting, does not compensate for exudation and its use in higher nail lengths is difficult. Thus, a technique has been developed that compensates for exudation, with easier application in lengthier nails. The technique was qualitatively assessed to evaluate its surface roughness and later applied in seven real soil nailing works, where it could be quantitatively assessed. The results show that sectorized post-grouted nails obtained greater pullout resistances than gravity grouted and single-stage grouted nails. Although similar improvement was found in tube-à-manchette (TAM) grouted nails, this method presents lower economic efficiency than sectorized post grouting. The pullout resistance results obtained in this study can be utilized in future soil nailing works executed utilizing SPG.

     

Behaviour of Instrumented Hollow Auger Pile Groups in Sandy Soil

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Hollow auger piles are a new solution technique being used more often in recent years as a foundation for buildings of 15 floors or less in the coastal...