Deterministic Approach for the Seismic Microzonation of Bucharest

— The mapping of the seismic ground motion in Bucharest, due to the strong Vrancea earthquakes is carried out using a complex hybrid waveform modeling method which combines the modal summation technique, valid for laterally homogeneous anelastic media, with finite-differences technique, and optimizes the advantages of both methods. For recent earthquakes, it is possible to validate the modeling by comparing the synthetic seismograms with the records. We consider for our computations the frequency range from 0.05 to 1.0 Hz and control the synthetic signals against the accelerograms of the Magurele station, low-pass filtered with a cut-off frequency of 1.0 Hz of the 3 last major strong (M_w > 6) Vrancea earthquakes. Using the hybrid method with a double-couple seismic source approximation, scaled for the source dimensions and relatively simple regional (bedrock) and local structure models, we succeeded in reproducing the recorded ground motion in Bucharest at a satisfactory level for seismic engineering. Extending the modeling to the entire territory of the Bucharest area, we construct a new seismic microzonation map, where five different zones are identified by their characteristic response spectra.     

Decades of Drought, Years of Hunger: Archival Investigations of Multiple Year Droughts in Late Colonial Chihuahua

Unusually severe or prolonged drought ranks among the most devastating and calamitous of all extreme climate events, contributing to wildfires, crop failure, livestock death, food shortages and famine. The response of human activities and the natural environment to such historical weather perturbations provides a guide to where the most critical sensitivities to future climate changes may lie (McCarthy et al., 2001, ‘Climatic change 2001: Impact adaptation, and vulnerability’, from 3rd Assesment Report of IPCC). The reconstruction of regional climatic histories and investigations of the impacts of – and social response to – extreme droughts in history are thus of crucial significance if we are to understand and anticipate the potential repercussions of future events (Wigley, 1985, Nature 316, 106–107; Grove and Conterio, 1995, Clim. Change 30, 223). Chihuahua, in the arid Northwest of Mexico, is one of the most seriously and frequently drought affected regions of the country (Garcia, 2000, available at www.sequia.edu.mx/proyectos/vulnera.html). Prolonged drought in the 1930s, 1950s and 1990s contributed to water scarcity, harvest failure, illness, livestock disease, abandonment and water conflict and served to highlight the particular vulnerability of agrarian society in this region to climatic variability (Sandoval, 2003, Ingeneria Hidraulica en Mexico 18(2), 133–155). Recent investigations using tree ring analysis have identified several phases of such prolonged drought over the last seven centuries. In this paper we use archival documents to investigate the impacts of such periods in late colonial Chihuahua and to explore how society in the region responded to and coped with them.     

‘Splendid rains have fallen’: links between El Niño and rainfall variability in the Kalahari, 1840–1900

This study uses a range of published and unpublished historical documentary sources to explore the nature of rainfall variability in the Kalahari Desert and adjacent hardveld regions of central southern Africa during the seventeen Pacific El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) episodes that occurred between 1840 and 1900. Documentary data are used in two ways. First, maps of relative annual rainfall levels are presented for each of the 12 single-year and five protracted ENSO episodes during the period, in order to identify the associated inter-annual rainfall variations. These suggest that the relationship between ENSO episodes and rainfall variability identified for the twentieth century, whereby warm events are frequently preceded by wetter conditions during the austral summer prior to the event year and succeeded by drought in the following summer, has broadly held for much of the last 160 years. This is despite the long-term fluctuations in precipitation and temperature which are known to have occurred over this period. Droughts are identified following at least thirteen of the 17 single-year and protracted ENSO episodes. Pre-ENSO wetter periods are less common, with only nine of the ENSO episodes preceded by above-normal rainfall. Second, the documentary data are analyzed in detail in order to reveal any evidence for high resolution intra-annual variations in the seasonal distribution of rainfall during ENSO events. Seasonal sequences of rainfall/drought appear to have closely followed contemporary patterns, with heavy rainfall commonly occurring late in the pre-ENSO year or early in the ENSO year(s), and drought at the start of the post-ENSO year. This relationship can be seen to hold most strongly for single-year ENSO warm events and for the first year of protracted events, but rainfall conditions were more variable during the later years of protracted events.     

松辽盆地早白垩世火山岩地球化学特征及其构造意义

松辽盆地早白垩世发育基性岩类的橄榄玄武岩、玄武岩,中性岩类的玄武安山岩、安山岩、粗安岩,酸性岩类的粗面岩、粗面英安岩、英安岩和流纹岩。早白垩世火山岩都具有大离子亲石元素(LILE)、轻稀土元素(LREE)相对富集的特征,并具有较低的(~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr)_i值和较高的(~(143)Nd/~(144)Nd)_i值。基性岩类Ce/Nb=1.92～8.31,Th/Nb=0.08～0.44,(~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr)_i=0.7031～0.7047,ε_(Nd)(t)=+1.7～+5.2;中性岩类Ce/Nb=3.70～15.80,Th/Nb=0.34～2.58,(~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr)_i=0.7040～0.7054,ε_(Nd)(t)=0～+3.0;酸性岩类Ce/Nb=4.29～15.80,Th/Nb=0.11～1.02,(~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr)_i=0.7038～0.7066,ε_(Nd)(t)=+1.0～+3.3。基性岩类岩浆主要来自被富集了的亏损地幔源的部分熔融,受混染程度很小;中性岩类岩浆源于年轻地壳组分被来自亏损地幔岩浆的再次部分熔融;酸性岩类浆岩可能主要来自源于亏损地幔的初生地壳部分熔融,并受到了上地壳的混染。晚侏罗世-早白垩世,由于蒙古-鄂霍次克洋关闭引发强烈的挤压造山后,发生的岩石圈拆沉作用致使来自亏损地幔的岩浆熔融上涌导致岩石圈主动伸展拉张,地表则表现出大规模的裂谷断陷作用和大范围的火山活动。这个阶段的伸展拉张以主动拉张为主。     

Environmental changes in the Zirahuén Basin, Michoacán, Mexico, during the last 1000 years

Lago de Zirahuén (19° 26 N, 101° 44 W) lies within a montane basin in highland Michoacán, Mexico at 2075 m a.s.l. The lake basin has high recreational value and is promoted as a tourist attraction. Four short (<1 m), sediment–water interface cores were used to investigate Late Holocene environmental change. The cores span approximately the last 1000 years, based on ²¹⁰Pb dating, AMS ¹⁴C dating and tephrochronology. Cesium-137, Americium-241 and tephra layers from Volcan Paricutín (AD 1943–1952) and Volcan Jorullo (AD 1759–1774) provide independent age markers. Cores were analysed for diatoms, magnetic susceptibility and heavy metals (iron, lead, manganese, copper and zinc). Drier climate around 1000 years BP is tentatively inferred from the diatom assemblage and is concordant with other regional records. Increased soil erosion between ca. AD 1100 and AD 1550 may be associated with Pre-Hispanic settlement in the basin, but there is no archaeological evidence to support this. A period of catchment stability occurred during the early Colonial Period, ca. AD 1550–1750. The dramatic decline in the indigenous population following the Spanish Conquest in 1521 may have promoted vegetation recovery on the basin slopes. After the mid-18th century, a significant change in diatom species composition is observed along with an increase in soil erosion, as inferred from the magnetic susceptibility profile. Concentrations of copper and lead also increased. These changes are associated with the establishment of a copper smelting industry in the basin and increased Colonial agricultural development. Recently, tourist developments and commercial agriculture have impacted on the basin. The diatom flora has changed dramatically in the last 20 years, apparently in response to the onset of cultural eutrophication. The palaeoenvironmental evidence suggests that the lake is responding rapidly to land use intensification in the basin, which may have implications for future developments.     

现代海底烟囱中流体包裹体的研究

大洋中脊的海底块状硫化物矿床是当前地球科学的一个热点。因为他不仅具有经济效益,而且可以直接观测到这些矿床的形成过程。这些矿床均有许多黑烟囱和白烟囱。在这些烟囱中成矿流体不断地流过,并同时沉淀出Cu,Pb,Zn硫化物和脉石矿物。本研究的样品是取自北纬21°N的太平洋洋脊中现代大洋海底的Zn(Cu)型硫化物烟囱。对这些烟囱的矿物共生组合进行研究发现其矿物组合相当简单,分硫化物和脉石矿物两种。硫化物中以其含量多少排列为闪锌矿,黄铁矿,黄铜矿和磁黄铁矿。脉石矿物以硬石膏为主,见少量重晶石。在烟囱中这些硫化物和脉石矿物的分布是有分带性的。从外到内为硬石膏带,黄铁矿带,闪锌矿带。闪锌矿带向里可见到少量黄铜矿和磁黄铜矿,及硬石膏,但它们尚未构成一个带。烟囱的中心常常是空的,因为是原来的热液通道。 发现两类流体包裹体:一类为水溶液相包裹体。另一类为CH_4的包裹体。其均一温度是从180～265℃。最外面的硬石膏带,均一温度从180～245℃(平均212℃)。黄铁矿带均一温度从185～260℃(平均218℃)。闪锌矿带均一温度从190～265℃(平均229℃)。从平均的均一温度看似乎从边上到中心从212—218—229℃向上升,说明一个趋势,中间的温度较高,边上的较低。成矿溶液的盐度与海水相差不大,但略大於海水     

Narratives of nineteenth century drought in southern Africa in different historical source types

Climatic Change - Single- to multiple-year drought episodes posed significant challenges for agrarian communities across southern Africa during the nineteenth century and hence are widely recorded...     

Metallogeny of the Lannigou Sedimentary Rock-hosted Disseminated Gold Deposit in Southwestern Guizhou Province, China

The Lannigou deposit is a large-sized sedimentary rock-hosted disseminated gold （SRHDG） deposit located in the Youjiang Basin. It is hosted by the Middle Triassic turbidite. Wall rock alterations, including silicification, pyritization, arsenopyritization, carbonatization and argillization, commonly occur along fractures. PGE study demonstrates that either Permian basalts or Triassic ultrabasic intrnsives are unlikely to be the main source of gold mineralization. Coupled with the lack of other nmgmatic activity in the vicinity of the mining area, an amagmatic origin is proposed. Organic matter compositions and GC-MS analysis of the ores and host rocks show that the organics in the ores and the host rocks have a common source; the organic matter in the ores was mainly indigenous. The positive correlation between S2 and Au contents, along with the common occurrence of organic inclusions, suggest involvement of organic matter in the ore-forming process in terms of promoting Au leaching from the source rocks, making colloidal Au migration possible, as well as hydrocarbon reduction of sulphate. Geological and geochemical characteristics of the Lannigou deposit suggest that it was formed through circulation of meteoric water and probably less importantly organic bearing formation water driven by high geothermal gradient caused by late Yanshanian extension, which leached Au from the source bed, and then migrated as Au-bisnlfides and colloidal Au, culminating in deposition by reduction-adsorption and surface complexation of gold onto the growth surface of arsenlan pyrite.