Long-term change in eelgrass distribution at Bahía San Quintín,Baja California,Mexico, using satellite imagery

Seagrasses are critically important components of many marine coastal and estuarine ecosystems, but are declining worldwide. Spatial change in distribution of eelgrass,Zostera marina L., was assessed at Bahía San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico, using a map to map comparison of data interpreted from a 1987 Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre multispectral satellite image and a 2000 Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapping image. Eelgrass comprised 49% and 43% of the areal extent of the bay in 1987 and 2000, respectively. Spatial extent of eelgrass was 13% less (−321 ha) in 2000 than in 1987 with most losses occurring in subtidal areas. Over the 13-yr study period, there was a 34% loss of submerged eelgrass (−457 ha) and a 13% (+136 ha) gain of intertidal eelgrass. Within the two types of intertidal eelgrass, the patchy cover class (<85% cover) expanded (+250 ha) and continuous cover class (≥85% cover) declined (−114 ha). Most eelgrass losses were likely the result of sediment loading and turbidity caused by a single flooding event in winter of 1992–1993. Recent large-scale agricultural development of adjacent uplands may have exacerbated the effects of the flood. Oyster farming was not associated with any detectable losses in eelgrass spatial extent, despite the increase in number of oyster racks from 57 to 484 over the study period.     

Effects of the Jessica oil spill on artisanal fisheries in the Galápagos

In contrast to local perceptions, the impact on the local Galápagos artisanal fishery of the 16 January 2001 grounding of the Jessica and subsequent oil spill was relatively minor. No significant changes in fishing effort, total fishing catches or catch-per-unit effort were detected after the spill based on analyses of fisheries monitoring data. Nevertheless, large boats tended to move away from sites near the path of the spill following the grounding in 2001, with no fishing recorded from the oil-affected regions of Floreana and southern Isabela in February 2001. The total fishing effort of small boats operating from the Jessica-grounding island of San Cristóbal also declined immediately after the spill, probably in part because such boats were used in clean up operations. During 2001, prices paid to fishers remained stable at levels higher than in 2000, with the notable anomaly that prices fell precipitously to 30% of previous levels during a 1-2 week period in early February 2001. Fish exports remained at similar levels for the years 2000 and 2001; however, as in the previous year, little fish product was exported from Galápagos in the month following the spill, with most fish product dried and stored for up to two months prior to transport to the continent.     

Tectonic control of the Tejo river fluvial incision during the late Cenozoic, in Ródão—central Portugal (Atlantic Iberian border)

Staircases of strath terraces and strongly incised valleys are the most typical landscape features of Portuguese rivers. This paper examines the incision achieved during the late Cenozoic in an area crossed by the Tejo river between the border with Spain and the small town of Gavião. In the more upstream reach of this area, the Tejo crosses the Ródão tectonic depression, where four levels of terraces are distinguished. During the late Cenozoic fluvial incision stage, the Ródão depression underwent less uplift than the adjacent areas along the river. This is reflected by the greater thicknesses and spatial extent of the terraces; terrace genesis was promoted by impoundment of alluvium behind a quartzitic ridge and the local presence of a soft substratum. Outside this tectonic depression, the Tejo has a narrow valley incised in the Hercynian basement, with some straight reaches that probably correspond to NE–SW and NNW–SSE faults, the terraces being nearly absent. Geomorphological evidence of tectonic displacements affecting the Ródão dissected terrace remnants is described. Geochronological dating of the two younger and lower terrace levels of this depression suggests a time-averaged incision rate for the Tejo in the Ródão area, of ca. 1.0 m/ka over the last 60 thousand years. A clear discrepancy exists between this rate and the 0.1 m/ka estimated for the longer period since the end of the Pliocene. Although episodes of valley incision may be conditioned by climate and base-level changes, they may also have been controlled by local factors such as movement of small fault-bounded blocks, lithology and structure. Regional crustal uplift is considered to be the main control of the episodes of valley incision identified for this large, long-lived river. A model is proposed in which successive regional uplift events—tectonic phases—essentially determined the long periods of rapid river downcutting that were punctuated by short periods of lateral erosion and later by some aggradation, producing strath terraces.     

Uncertainty Estimate in Resources Assessment: A Geostatistical Contribution

For many decades the mining industry regarded resources/reserves estimation and classification as a mere calculation requiring basic mathematical and geological knowledge. Most methods were based on geometrical procedures and spatial data distribution. Therefore, uncertainty associated with tonnages and grades either were ignored or mishandled, although various mining codes require a measure of confidence in the values reported. Traditional methods fail in reporting the level of confidence in the quantities and grades. Conversely, kriging is known to provide the best estimate and its associated variance. Among kriging methods, Ordinary Kriging (OK) probably is the most widely used one for mineral resource/reserve estimation, mainly because of its robustness and its facility in uncertainty assessment by using the kriging variance. It also is known that OK variance is unable to recognize local data variability, an important issue when heterogeneous mineral deposits with higher and poorer grade zones are being evaluated. Altenatively, stochastic simulation are used to build local or global uncertainty about a geological attribute respecting its statistical moments. This study investigates methods capable of incorporating uncertainty to the estimates of resources and reserves via OK and sequential gaussian and sequential indicator simulation The results showed that for the type of mineralization studied all methods classified the tonnages similarly. The methods are illustrated using an exploration drill hole data sets from a large Brazilian coal deposit.     

Seismic and field evidence for selective inversion of Cretaceous normal faults, Salta rift, northwest Argentina

Northwestern Argentina was the site of the continental Salta rift in Cretaceous to Paleogene time. The Salta rift had a complex geometry with several subbasins of different trends and subsidence patterns surrounding a central high. Fault trends in the rift were extremely variable. There is evidence of normal and/or transfer faults trending N, NE, E and SE. It is not clear if all these faults were active at the same time, indicating a poorly defined extension direction, or if they formed in different, non-coaxial extension phases. In either case, their trends were very likely influenced by preexisting fault systems. Beginning in early Eocene time, the rift basins were superseded by Andean foreland basins and later became caught in the Andean thrust deformation propagating eastward, resulting in the inversion of rift faults. Due to their different orientations, not all faults were equally prone to reactivation as thrusts. N to NNE trending faults were apparently most strongly inverted, probably often to a degree where the traces of their normal fault origin have become obliterated. We present seismic evidence of moderately inverted N trending faults in the Tres Cruces basin and field examples of preserved E trending normal faults. However, reactivation sometimes also affects faults trending approximately parallel to the main Neogene shortening direction, indicating short-term deviations from the general pattern of Neogene thrust deformation. These pulses of orogen-parallel contraction may be linked to the intermittent activity of oblique transfer zones.     

Sediment hosted lead–zinc deposits of the Neoproterozoic Bambuí Group and correlative sequences, São Francisco Craton, Brazil: A review and a possible metallogenic evolution model

The Proterozoic sediment-hosted Zn–(Pb) sulfide and non-sulfide deposits of the São Francisco Craton, Brazil, are partially syn-diagenetic and epigenetic and were probably formed during extensional events. The majority of the deposits occur within shallow water dolomites. The Pb isotopic data of sulfides are relatively homogeneous for individual deposits and plot above the upper crust evolution curve of the Plumbotectonic model. Some of the deposits are characterized by highly radiogenic lead (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ≥ 21) originating from the highly radioactive crust of the São Francisco Craton. Pb and S isotopic data suggest the sources of metal and sulfur for the deposits to be the basement rocks and seawater sulfates in the sediments, respectively. The relatively high temperatures of formation (100 to 250 °C) and moderate salinity (3% to 20% NaCl equiv.) of the primary fluid inclusions in the sphalerite crystals suggest the participation of basinal mineralizing fluids in ore formation. The steep paleo-geothermal gradient generated by the radioactively enriched basement rocks probably assisted in heating up the circulating mineralizing fluids.     

Calibration of Four Species of Tillandsia as Air Pollution Biomonitors

Many organisms have been used as bioindicators of atmospheric contamination, with moss and lichen species being the most common. However, studies using epiphytic vascular species of Tillandsia have shown a good correlation between the presence of pollutants and the bioindicator's response. Therefore, the aim of our investigation was to calibrate and compare the response of four Tillandsia species of Argentina to ascertain whether they could be used as atmospheric contamination biomonitors. For this, we analysed the correlation between the levels of heavy metals in total atmospheric deposition samples and: a) their rate of enrichment; b) the physiological response of the plant samples. Tillandsia samples collected from a non contaminated area in the province of Córdoba were transplanted to four areas in the capital city with different sources of pollution (industrial or traffic emissions). They were exposed for a period of 3 to 6 months after which the concentrations of Pb, Ni, Fe, Zn, Cu and S as well as the physiological parameters of foliar damage were determined. Simultaneously samples of total atmospheric deposition were also taken.The highest level of metal enrichment was found in T. capillaris followed by T. tricholepis, T. permutata and T. retorta. Also, the use of a foliar damage index proved to be effective and could be a useful tool to evaluate different levels of atmospheric quality in these species. The rate of heavy metal deposition was higher in the industrial area for all metals except for Zn whose values were higher in areas with high levels of traffic.     

Evaluation of residual drift demands in regular multi‐storey frames for performance‐based seismic assessment

This paper summarizes results of a comprehensive analytical study aimed at evaluating the amplitude and heightwise distribution of residual drift demands in multi‐storey moment‐resisting frames after earthquake excitation. For that purpose, a family of 12 one‐bay two‐dimensional generic frame models was subjected to an ensemble of 40 ground motions scaled to different intensities. In this investigation, an inelastic ground motion intensity measure was employed to scale each record, which allowed reducing the record‐to‐record variability in the estimation of residual drift demands. The results were statistically processed in order to evaluate the influence of ground motion intensity, number of stories, period of vibration, frame mechanism, system overstrength, and hysteretic behaviour on central tendency of residual drift demands. In addition, a special emphasis was given to evaluate the uncertainty in the estimation of residual drift demands. Results of incremental dynamic analyses indicate that the amplitude and heightwise distribution of residual drift demands strongly depends on the frame mechanism, the heightwise system structural overstrength and the component hysteretic behaviour. An important conclusion for performance‐based assessment is that the evaluation of residual drift demands involves significantly larger levels of uncertainty (i.e. record‐to‐record variability) than that of maximum drift demands, which suggests that this variability and corresponding uncertainty should be explicitly taken into account when estimating residual drift demands during performance‐based seismic assessment of frame buildings. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.