Importance of inherited rift margin structures in the early North Alpine Foreland Basin, Switzerland

The earliest evolution of the North Alpine Foreland Basin in Switzerland was characterized by deposition in small, structurally partitioned sub-basins during the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary, rather than in a single, large foredeep. These sub-basins, which were probably located between old rift margin fault-blocks reactivated during Alpine compression, were incorporated into the thrust wedge during thin-skinned deformation. In eastern Switzerland, the most external sub-basins with respect to the orogenic wedge (North Helvetic Flysch and Blattengrat units) have at their base an unconformity attributed to flexural forebulge erosion. More internal sub-basins (Sardona and Prättigau units) contain a conformable succession from the underlying passive margin stage and are dominated by deep-water sedimentation. In western Switzerland, both external sub-basins, now found in the Helvetic Diablerets and Wildhorn nappes, and deep-water internal sub-basins (Höchst-Meilleret Flysch, Neisen Flysch, Tarentaise Flysch) preserve a well-developed basal unconformity. Comparison of the eastern and western Swiss transects shows important intrabasinal lateral variations to be present. The western Swiss area was a topographic high for much of the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary; this is demonstrated by the increased chronostratigraphic gap at the karstified basal unconformity surface in western Switzerland. The strata onlapping this unconformity young to the west, suggesting that drowning of the emergent area was delayed compared with the east. In addition, reactivation and uplift of the rift margin structures occurred earlier in western Switzerland compared with eastern Switzerland. There is therefore strong evidence for lateral topographic gradients in the early foreland basin caused by differential amounts of tectonic reactivation of rift margin structures. In the early foreland basin-fill, these lateral variations are as important in determining depositional patterns as strike-normal changes across the basin.     

Analysis and interpretation of the aftershock sequence of the August 17, 1999, Izmit (Turkey) earthquake

A micro-seismic field experiment has been carried out in the Marmara Searegion. The analysis of the events before and after the August 17, 1999Izmit (Turkey) earthquake has been completed. 1446 events have beenwell located out of a total of 3165 recorded within the period from July15 to November 2, 1999. 67% of the aftershocks with magnitudegreater than 4 have occurred within the first 6 days after the main-shock. Earthquakes of the Izmit sequence are distributed in the first 15 km of theearth crust, but major events are located in between 5 km and 15 kmdepth. The seismicity pattern defines a rupture plane extending for about150 km in an E-W direction. The rupture is extremely linear butsegmented, and its complexity increases towards the western endmanifesting bifurcation. A stress analysis has been carried out both at thewestern end and all along the aftershock zone. 96 selected aftershocks,registered between August 21 and October 22, were chosen in order tocompute their focal mechanisms and obtain information about the stressregime after the Izmit earthquake. Strike-slip and normal faultingmechanisms are dominant. The numerous strike-slip mechanisms arecompatible with a dextral motion on an EW oriented vertical fault plane. The best stress tensor solution shows a regime in extension with awell-defined ₃ axis oriented approximately N35^°.     

Prediction of diffusion coefficients in porous media using tortuosity factors based on interfacial areas

Determination of aqueous phase diffusion coefficients of solutes through porous media is essential for understanding and modeling contaminant transport. Prediction of diffusion coefficients in both saturated and unsaturated zones requires knowledge of tortuosity and constrictivity factors. No methods are available for the direct measurement of these factors, which are empirical in their definition. In this paper, a new definition for the tortuosity factor is proposed, as the real to ideal interfacial area ratio. We define the tortuosity factor for saturated porous media (tau5) as the ratio S/S(o) (specific surface of real porous medium to that of an idealized capillary bundle). For unsaturated media, tortuosity factor (tau(a)) is defined as a(aw)/a(aw),o (ratio of the specific air-water interfacial area of real and the corresponding idealized porous medium). This tortuosity factor is suitably measured using sorptive tracers (e.g., nitrogen adsorption method) for saturated media and interfacial tracers for unsaturated media. A model based on this new definition of tortuosity factors, termed the interfacial area ratio (IAR) model, is presented for the prediction of diffusion coefficients as a function of the degree of water saturation. Diffusion coefficients and diffusive resistances measured in a number of saturated and unsaturated granular porous media, for solutes in dilute aqueous solutions, agree well with the predictions of the IAR model. A comparison of permeability of saturated sands estimated based on tau(s) and the same based on the Kozeny-Carman equation confirm the usefulness of the tau(s) parameter as a measure of tortuosity.     

Identifying the Representative Elementary Volume for Permeability in Heterolithic Deposits Using Numerical Rock Models

Using a range of realistic 3D numerical lithofacies (dm-scale) models of ripple laminated sandstone intercalated with mudstone we evaluate how single-phase permeability varies as a function of sample support. The models represent a range of mudstone content which is typical for tidal deposits. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of flow barriers (i.e. mudstone) is not random, but governed by sedimentological rules giving a variable anisotropy ratio as a function of mudstone content. Both vertical and horizontal permeability are found to vary at small sample volumes, but these fluctuations reduce as the sample volume increases. The vertical permeability increases while the horizontal permeability is nearly constant as a function of sample support for small mudstone contents. For higher mudstone content, the horizontal permeability decreases while the vertical permeability is nearly constant as a function of sample support. We propose a criterion, based on a normalised standard deviation, to determine the Representative Elementary Volume (REV). The size of the REV is dependent on both the property measured (vertical and horizontal permeability) and the correlation lengths of the lithological elements (i.e. lithofacies). Based on this we identify three flow upscaling regimes that each require a different method for upscaling: (1) layered systems where the arithmetic and harmonic averages are appropriate, (2) systems close to the percolation threshold where a percolation model should be used, and (3) discontinuous systems where an effective medium method provides the best estimate of permeability. The work gives, by using numerical experiments on a range of heterogeneous systems, a new insight in determination of the REV for permeability at the lithofacies scale and its relation to sedimentological parameters.     

The Global Stratotype Section and Point （GSSP） for the base of the Holocene Series/Epoch （Quaternary System/Period） in the NGRIP ice core

The Greenland ice core from NorthGRIP （NGRIP） contains a proxy climate record across the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary of unprecedented clarity and resolution. Analysis of an array of physical and chemical parameters within the ice enables the base of the Holocene, as reflected in the first signs of climatic warming at the end of the Younger Dryas/Greenland Stadial 1 cold phase, to be located with a high degree of precision.     

Population growth and its spatial distribution as factors in the deforestation of Nang Rong, Thailand

Frontiers constitute a major source of global land cover change hot spots, with forests and grasslands being converted into agricultural uses. As such, frontiers provide an opportunity to see how people manipulate the land and their lives in the context of social, cultural and environmental constraints. This paper examines frontier settlement and land cover change in Nang Rong district, Northeast Thailand for the last half century. It uses a Cellular Automata (CA) model to explore the land cover consequences of alternative patterns of settlement in a setting where people establish dwelling units in nucleated villages and work agricultural plots that surround villages. Forested land around the center of a village is converted into agricultural uses in an inverse relationship to the distance from the village center, but frequently modified by biophysical conditions. Land at the center of the village may be reforested after the village is established as a source of shade as well as fruit and other products. Model variation in land cover change is more sensitive to the spatial reach of village households than their temporal reach, suggesting the important role that technology plays in how villagers travel to their fields (walking versus motorized transit).     

The geology of Amalthea

Recent developments in image processing, modelling and mapping techniques have been used to produce a revised shape model of Amalthea, a new map of the satellite and improved interpretations of the geology of the satellite. The global shape is influenced by the presence of several very large craters. Several major valleys, probably related to one or more of the largest craters, cross the surface. Bright spots may consist of fresh crater ejecta derived from shallow bedrock at ridges or crater rims rather than recent mass wasting deposits or exposed bedrock.     

A Perspective on the Evolution of Geoanalytical Techniques for Silicate Rocks

Progress in geochemical research is greatly influenced by developments in analytical technology and in this paper, the development of geoanalytical techniques over the last fifty years is reviewed, based in part on a previous study (Potts et al. 1993). From an evaluation of trends in techniques used for the bulk analysis of silicate rocks during recent years, the important future role of XRF and ICP-MS is apparent. However, it is concluded that the techniques that will be the most important in influencing progress in geochemical research in the future will be those based on microbeam analytical techniques. These techniques are increasingly capable of making the full spectrum of analytical measurements, traditionally undertaken on bulk samples, but on a microprobe scale to spatial resolutions that currently vary from sub-μm to about 50 μm. One way of evaluating future developments is to ask what might happen to various categories of techniques if key parameters such as sensitivity and detection limits were improved by, say, two orders of magnitude. Some suggestions are made describing the possible consequences of such an enhancement in analytical performance.     

Solar center-to-limb infrared intensity from the Halogen Occultation Experiment

Data from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) provide the first opportunity to examine solar center-to-limb relative intensity measured exoatmospherically at wavelengths from 2.4 to 10 m. The data were obtained from limb-to-limb scans across the solar equator on days of very low activity in May 1994. Coefficients for a function describing limb darkening are obtained at eight infrared wavelengths using a nonlinear least-squares fitting technique. Relative intensities produced by the limb-darkening functions are precise to 0.1% (2). From the limb-darkening coefficients, it is possible to calculate temperature information about the photosphere. At each of the eight HALOE wavelengths, the brightness temperature from the flux, T _b ^disk(), and the temperature as a function of monochromatic optical depth, T(), are determined and normalized using Kondratyev et al. (1965) and calibrated Pierce (1954) central intensity measurements. The two temperature quantities are compared with the predictions of Vernazza, Avrett, and Loeser's (1976) model M, and in general there is good agreement. The largest differences occur between 2.4 and 3 m and suggest that the central intensities used in this spectral region are low.