Modelling the Mixing Function to Constrain Coseismic Hydrochemical Effects: An Example from the French Pyrénées

Groundwater coseismic transient anomalies are evidenced and characterized by modelling the mixing function F characteristic of the groundwater dynamics in the Ogeu (western French Pyrénées) seismic context. Investigations of water-rock interactions at Ogeu indicate that these mineral waters from sedimentary environments result from the mixing of deep waters with evaporitic signature with surficial karstic waters. A 3-year hydrochemical monitoring of Ogeu springwater evidences that using arbitrary thresholds constituted by the mean ± 1 or 2σ, as often performed in such studies, is not a suitable approach to characterize transient anomalies. Instead, we have used a mixing function F calculated with chemical elements, which display a conservative behavior not controlled by the precipitation of a mineral phase. F is processed with seismic energy release (E_s) and effective rainfalls (R). Linear impulse responses of F to E_s and R have been calculated. Rapid responses (10 days) to rainwater inputs are evidenced, consisting in the recharge of the shallow karstic reservoir by fresh water. Complex impulse response of F to microseismic activity is also evidenced. It consists in a 2-phase hydrologic signal, with an inflow of saline water in the shallow reservoir with a response delay of 10 days, followed by an inflow of karstic water with a response delay of 70 days, the amount being higher than the saline inflow. Such a process probably results from changes in volumetric strain with subsequent microfracturation transient episodes allowing short inflow of deep salted water in the aquifer. This study demonstrates that groundwater systems in such environments are unstable systems that are highly sensitive to both rainfall inputs and microseismic activity. Impulse responses calculation of F to E_s is shown to be a powerful tool to identify transient anomalies. Similar processing is suggested to be potentially efficient to detect precursors of earthquakes when long time-series (5 years at least) are available in areas with high seismicity.     

Local economic development: Theory, evidence, and implications for policy in Brazil

Local economic development policies have surged in Brazil over the past decade—a major shift in this regionally diverse country of 27 states, over 5000 municipalities, and the largest economy in Latin America. We review the stylized facts, expected patterns and policy recommendations from the foundational studies in regional and urban economics. We then provide a summary of a more recent stream of scholarship focused on local economic development (LED) studies in developed and developing countries that have surged in the last 20 years. Based on this review, we then systemize the findings emerging from studies focused on analyzing local economic development policies in Brazil recognizing the distinctive contributions emerging from both the empirical and the case studies literatures. We identify key lessons for (and from) the Brazilian experience and conclude that Brazil and Latin American countries need a new generation of studies that undertake more rigorous evaluations of these policy experiments. Finally, we recommend steps to advance such research.     

Seawater density variations in the North Atlantic and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation

Seawater property changes in the North Atlantic Ocean affect the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), which transports warm water northward from the upper ocean and contributes to the temperate climate of Europe, as well as influences climate globally. Previous observational studies have focused on salinity and freshwater variability in the sinking region of the North Atlantic, since it is believed that a freshening North Atlantic basin can slow down or halt the flow of the AMOC. Here we use available data to show the importance of how density patterns over the upper ocean of the North Atlantic affect the strength of the AMOC. For the long-term trend, the upper ocean of the subpolar North Atlantic is becoming cooler and fresher, whereas the subtropical North Atlantic is becoming warmer and saltier. On a multidecadal timescale, the upper ocean of the North Atlantic has generally been warmer and saltier since 1995. The heat and salt content in the subpolar North Atlantic lags that in the subtropical North Atlantic by about 8–9 years, suggesting a lower latitude origin for the temperature and salinity anomalies. Because of the opposite effects of temperature and salinity on density for both long-term trend and multidecadal timescales, these variations do not result in a density reduction in the subpolar North Atlantic for slowing down the AMOC. Indeed, the variations in the meridional density gradient between the subpolar and subtropical North Atlantic Ocean suggest that the AMOC has become stronger over the past five decades. These observed results are supported by and consistent with some oceanic reanalysis products.     

DmpIRFs and DmpST:DAMPE instrument response functions and science tools for gamma-ray data analysis

Observing GeV gamma-rays is an important goal of the DArk Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE)for indirect dark matter searching and high energy astrophysics. In this work, we present a set of accurate instrument response functions for DAMPE(DmpIRFs) including the effective area, point-spread function and energy dispersion, which are crucial for gamma-ray data analysis based on statistics from simulation data. A dedicated software named DmpST is developed to facilitate the scientific analyses of DAMPE gamma-ray data. Considering the limited number of photons and angular resolution of DAMPE, the maximum likelihood method is adopted in DmpST to better disentangle different source components. The basic mathematics and framework regarding this software are also introduced in this paper.     

Mineral equilibrium constraints on the feasibility of diffusive H2O-fluxed melting in the continental crust

Generation of granitic melt is believed to occur predominantly by melting through the breakdown of hydrous minerals. However, melting due to the influx of H₂O has been recognized in anatectic amphibolite facies tonalitic grey gneisses, metagreywackes and low-P metapelites, and has consequently been proposed as an alternative mechanism for the generation of granitic melt. Melting induced by H₂O addition is recognized from voluminous melt production at relatively low temperature, where hydrous minerals are stable and anhydrous minerals are preferentially consumed during melting. Mineral equilibrium modelling to determine the P–T conditions, melt volumes, melting reactions and viable H₂O sources reveals that the process is not restricted to specific compositions or P–T conditions, although lower pressure and lithologies with a low hydrous mineral content are more favourable. Melting reactions in all lithologies primarily consume quartz and feldspars to yield 5–6 mol.% melt for each mol.% of H₂O added. remains constant at ~0.70 to 0.77 during progressive melting as long as alkali feldspar is present. Once alkali feldspar is exhausted, plagioclase becomes the main reactant, producing more tonalitic melt compositions with gradually higher . Our results demonstrate that, at the site of melting, melting is driven by diffusion of H₂O into the target rock along chemical potential gradients, rather than the advective flow of a mechanically distinct water-rich fluid phase. Melting will initiate and proceed as long as a gradient exists between the H₂O source and target lithology. Our calculations show that an ordinary magma, such as an I-type magma with typical H₂O content, has a high enough to be a viable H₂O source, allowing diffusive H₂O-fluxed melting to produce melt proportions and fertility comparable to that of dehydration melting. However, high degrees of partial melting require a considerable amount of H₂O, which necessitates a continuously advecting H₂O source such as a magma conduit or melt-bearing shear zone. A magmatic H₂O source at emplacement level will undergo a similar amount of crystallization as the melt fraction produced in the target rock such that there will be no net melt production. Considering that shear-zone hosted magma conduits are localized features, diffusive H₂O-fluxed melting is likely to only be viable in a small fraction of the anatectic orogenic crust. Although it may play an important role in locally raising melt volumes and modifying magma chemistry through mingling and hybridization, it does not appear to, of itself, be able to generate significant volumes of granitic melt.     

Radiation-induced defects in euclase: formation of O<Superscript>−</Superscript> hole and Ti<Superscript>3+</Superscript> electron centers

Irradiation techniques are often applied to gem minerals for color enhancement purposes. Natural green, blue and colorless specimens of rare gemological quality euclase, BeAlSiO₄(OH), from Brazil were irradiated with gamma rays in the dose range from 10 to 500 kGy. Although the colors of the different specimens were not strongly influenced, two different irradiation-induced paramagnetic defect centers were found by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The first one is an O⁻ hole center interacting with one Al neighbor and the second is a Ti³⁺ electron center. The EPR angular rotation patterns of both irradiation-induced defects were measured and analyzed. The results suggest that O⁻ hole centers are formed by dissociation of the hydroxyl ions, similar as in topaz crystals. In euclase the OH⁻ ions interconnect distorted Al octahedra and Be tetrahedra in O₅ positions. During irradiation, the electrons are captured by titanium ions (Ti⁴⁺ + e⁻), leading to the formation of paramagnetic Ti³⁺ ions. From the EPR rotation patterns it is clear that these ions substitute for Al ions. The spin Hamiltonian parameters of the irradiation-induced defects are analyzed and compared to similar defect centers in other mineral specimens. Thermal annealing experiments show that the O⁻ hole centers and Ti³⁺ electron centers are directly connected through the radiation process.     

A nonhomogeneous Poisson process geostatistical model

This paper introduces a new geostatistical model for counting data under a space-time approach using nonhomogeneous Poisson processes, where the random intensity process has an additive formulation with two components: a Gaussian spatial component and a component accounting for the temporal effect. Inferences of interest for the proposed model are obtained under the Bayesian paradigm. To illustrate the usefulness of the proposed model, we first develop a simulation study to test the efficacy of the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method to generate samples for the joint posterior distribution of the model’s parameters. This study shows that the convergence of the MCMC algorithm used to simulate samples for the joint posterior distribution of interest is easily obtained for different scenarios. As a second illustration, the proposed model is applied to a real data set related to ozone air pollution collected in 22 monitoring stations in Mexico City in the 2010 year. The proposed geostatistical model has good performance in the data analysis, in terms of fit to the data and in the identification of the regions with the highest pollution levels, that is, the southwest, the central and the northwest regions of Mexico City.     

Modern Vegetation and Pollen Relationships in Four Southwestern Atlantic Coastal Lagoons

Pollen studies and their relationship with modern vegetation facilitate paleoecological reconstructions while changes in pollen abundance are indicators of environmental fluctuations. We analyzed the relationships between recent pollen deposits in the sediments of four Uruguayan coastal lagoons and catchment vegetation and analyzed the temporal dynamics of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). We mapped terrestrial vegetation, sampled SAV biomass, and analyzed the pollen record in each lagoon. The sediment samples represented the last 49–76 years of deposition, and most vegetation types were well represented in the pollen records. Pollen of Chenopodiaceae, proposed as indicators of saltmarshes, decreased in the surface samples of all lagoons, possibly due to the salinity reduction promoted by precipitation changes in the region. Pollen of SAV was found in all lagoons but with gaps in the record, and a submerged vegetated phase was recorded. Simultaneous botanical and pollen analyses better captured the large fluctuations of SAV in coastal lagoons.     

Fluid heterogeneities and hornblende stability in interlayered graphitic and nongraphitic schists (Tauern Window,Eastern Alps)

The assemblage hornblende+white mica occurs in graphite-free schists at two localities in the southwest corner of the Tauern Window, Eastern Alps. In interbedded graphitic layers (1 mm to 1 m thick), however, hornblende is typically replaced by pseudomorphs of biotite+plagioclase +epidote±chlorite+staurolite in the presence of white mica. Garnets adjacent to these pseudomorphs have pronounced growth discontinuities near their rims, in contrast to the continuously zoned garnets in nongraphitic layers. These observations imply that reactions of the type hbl+white micagar+bio+plag+epid±chl±staur +H₂O occurred in the graphitic samples, but that hbl+white mica remained stable in graphite-free layers.Calculation of the equilibrium constants for solid phases in five dehydration equilibria at locality 1 indicates thata(H₂O) in the nongraphitic layers was 6 to 11 times greater thana(H₂O) in the graphitic layers. Similar calculations involving six dehydration equilibria at locality 2 show no difference ina(H₂O) between layers at the conditions of final equilibration. Initial differences in fluid composition maintained between the graphitic and nongraphitic layers caused the hbl+white mica reaction to occur at differentP-T conditions in different horizons of the schists.These data indicate that systematic differences in fluid composition were generated during metamorphism of the interlayered graphitic and non-graphitic schists but were subsequently homogenized at locality 2. The heterogeneities could initially have been produced while the rocks were in theP-T field of CO₂-H₂O immiscibility. Development of a penetrative, layer-parallel shear foliation at this time would have prevented subsequent mixing of the fluids across layers after temperatures exceeded the consolute temperature in the CO₂-H₂O system. Late-stage homogenization of fluids at locality 2 is thought to reflect loss of the buffer capacity of the mineral assemblage in response to total consumption of hornblende.