Numerical modeling of storm surges in the coast of Mozambique: the cases of tropical cyclones Bonita (1996) and Lisette (1997)

The coast of Mozambique is often affected by storms, particularly tropical cyclones during summer or sometimes midlatitude systems in the southern part. Storm surges combined with high freshwater discharge can drive huge coastal floods, affecting both urban and rural areas. To improve the knowledge about the impact of storm surges in the coast of Mozambique, this study presents the first attempt to model this phenomenon through the implementation of the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) in the Southwestern Indian Ocean domain (SWIO; 2–32°S, 28–85°E) using a regular grid with 1/6° of spatial resolution and 36 sigma levels. The simulation was performed for the period 1979–2010, and the most interesting events of surges were related to tropical cyclones Bonita (1996) and Lisette (1997) that occurred in the Mozambique Channel. The results showed that the model represented well the amplitude and phase of principal lunar and solar tidal constituents, as well as it captured the spatial pattern and magnitudes of SST with slight positive bias in summer and negative bias in winter months. In terms of SSH, the model underestimated the presence of mesoscale eddies, mainly in the Mozambique Channel. Our results also showed that the atmospheric sea level pressure had a significant contribution to storm heights during the landfall of the tropical cyclones Bonita (1996) and Lisette (1997) in the coast of Mozambique contributing with about 20 and 16% of the total surge height for each case, respectively, surpassing the contribution of the tide-surge nonlinear interactions by a factor of 2.     

A frequency criterion for optimal node selection in smoothing with cubic splines

When smoothing a function with high‐frequency noise by means of optimal cubic splines, it is often not clear how to choose the number of nodes. The more nodes are used, the closer the smoothed function will follow the noisy one. In this work, we show that more nodes mean a better approximation of Fourier coefficients for higher frequencies. Thus, the number of nodes can be determined by specifying a frequency up to which all Fourier coefficients must be preserved and increasing the number of nodes until this criterion is met. A comparison of the corresponding smoothing results with those obtained by filtering using moving average and moving median filters of corresponding length and a low pass with corresponding high‐cut frequency shows that optimal cubic splines yield better results as they preserve not only the desired low‐frequency band but also important high‐frequency characteristics.     

Embryotoxicity of the antifouling biocide zinc pyrithione to sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) and mussel (Mytilus edulis)

The effects of the new antifouling compound zinc pyrithione (Zpt) on the embryonic development of sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) and mussel (Mytilus edulis) were investigated in laboratory toxicity tests. The median effective concentrations (EC50) were 7.7 nM for sea urchin embryos and 8 nM for mussel embryos. Toxic effects of Zpt on the larval growth of the sea urchin were detected at 0.5 nM. Predicted environmental concentrations of Zpt in pleasure craft harbours are higher than the predicted no effect concentrations for sea urchin and mussel embryos, indicating that Zpt may pose a threat to those species from exposure in the field.     

In situ U/Pb dating of impact‐produced zircons from the Vargeão Dome (Southern Brazil)

The Vargeão impact structure was formed in the Serra Geral basaltic and rhyodacitic to rhyolitic lava flows of southern Brazil, that belong to the Paraná‐Etendeka large igneous province. The Chapecó‐type rhyodacites contain small baddeleyite crystals recently dated at 134.3 (±0.8) Ma, which is regarded as the age of this acid volcanism coeval to the flood basalt eruption. Inside the impact structure, a brecciated rhyodacitic sample displays fine veinlets containing numerous lithic fragments in a former melt. This impact breccia contains newly formed zircons, either in the veins or at the contact between a vein and the volcanic matrix. The zircons are 10–50 μm in length, clear and nearly unzoned. In situ laser‐ablation dating of the zircons provides a concordant Early Aptian age of 123.0 ± 1.4 Ma that is regarded as the age of the impact event. As in situ age determination ensures the best possible selection of the analyzed mineral grains, the methodology employed in this study also represents a promising method for dating other impact structures.     

Extreme rainfalls in SE South America

Heavy rainfall trends in a region of south-eastern South America during 1959–2002 were discussed using daily data of 52 meteorological stations of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Changes in intensity and frequency were both studied with different statistical tests and approaches to check the significance of trends of single and regional aggregated rainfall series. There were predominant positive trends in the annual maximum rainfalls, as well as a remarkable increment in the frequency of heavy rainfalls over thresholds ranging from 50 to 150 mm. However, significant positive trends were not shown in the series of annual maximums and shown only in 15% to 30% of the series of frequencies over thresholds. This lack of significance is due to the high variability of heavy rainfalls in space and time, which makes difficult their capture by single rain gauges. Thus, when the assessment of the heavy rainfall indicators of intensity and frequency were conducted at the regional and sub-regional level, it showed significant trends, both in intensity and frequency over thresholds, with a clearer signal in central and eastern Argentina between 30° and 40° S.     

Unraveling complex hydrogeological processes in Andean basins in south‐central Chile: An integrated assessment to understand hydrological dissimilarity

Groundwater storage, drainage, and interbasin water exchange are common hydrological processes but often difficult to quantify due to a lack of local observations. We present a study of three volcanic mountainous watersheds located in south‐central Chile (~36.9 ° S) in the Chillán volcanic complex (Chillán, Renegado, and Diguillín river basins). These are neighboring basins that are similar with respect to the metrics normally available for characterization everywhere (e.g., precipitation, temperature, and land cover). In a hydrological sense, similar (proportional) behavior would be expected if these catchments would be characterized with this general information. However, these watersheds show dissimilar behavior when analyzed in detail. The surface water balance does not fit for any of these watersheds individually; however, the water balance of the whole system can be explained by likely interbasin water exchanges. The Renegado river basin has an average annual runoff per unit of area on the order of 60–65% less than those of the Diguillín and Chillán rivers, which is contradictory to the hydrological similarity among the basins. To understand the main processes that control streamflow generation, two analyses were performed: (a) basin metrics (land cover, geologic, topographic, and climatological maps) and hydro‐meteorological data analyses and (b) a water balance model approach. The analyses contribute to a plausible explanation for the hydrogeological processes in the system. The soils, topography, and geology of the Chillán–Renegado–Diguillín system favor the infiltration and groundwater movements from the Renegado river basin, mainly to the neighboring Diguillín basin. The interbasin water exchanges affect hydrological similarity and explain the differences observed in the hydrological processes of these three apparently similar volcanic basins. The results highlight the complexity of hydrological processes in volcanic mountainous systems and suggest that a simple watershed classification approach based on widely available data is insufficient. Simple local analyses such as specific flow analysis with a review of the geology and morphology can contribute to a better understanding of the hydrology of volcanic mountainous areas.     

Zero-offset P–S energy in horizontally layered media

The existence of non‐zero reflectivity for zero‐offset PS waves in horizontally layered media is discussed. Field measurements have suggested the occurrence of this phenomenon. We show that, in some cases, if anisotropy is considered in the problem, this reflectivity can be predicted. By using an approximated formulation to determine the coefficient of reflection in arbitrarily anisotropic media, it is clear that, for some elastic arrangements of the subsurface, reflected energy is associated with the converted wave resulting from normal P‐wave incidence.     

The structure of the eastern border of the Andes in north-western Argentina

In the eastern border area of the Andes of north-western Argentina two structural units are represented: the Cordillera Oriental and the Sierras Subandinas.The Cordillera Oriental represents a structural unit of faulted blocks strongly uplifted in relation to the Sierras Subandinas. In the Cordillera Oriental, the metamorphic basement has been partially folded together with the sedimentary cover. In some cases the cover has been detached away from its substratum and folded independently of it.It was generally accepted that the Sierras Subandinas coincide with big asymmetrical anticlines produced in the cover rocks by tilting of rigid basement blocks. The detailed geological mapping of the region situated between the parallels 24° 45 and 26° latitude south and the meridians 64° 30 and 66° west has provided data that permit to modify considerably this scheme.The existence of important strike-slip faults running highly oblique to the main regional structural pattern and controlling the shape of the Sierras Subandinas folds has been verified. These highly oblique faults with strike-slip movements, that affect the whole region, are probably ancient lineaments reactivated during Andean diastrophism in Upper Pliocene to Early Pleistocene time.

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Zusammenfassung Im östlichen Grenzgebiet der Anden im nordwestlichen Argentinien liegen zwei strukturell unterschiedliche Einheiten vor, die Cordillera Oriental und die subandinen Sierren (Sierras Subandinas).Die Cordillera Oriental besteht aus Leistenschollen eines leicht metamorphisierten Sockels. Sie ist als Ganzes im Verhältnis zu den subandinen Sierren stark herausgehoben worden. In der Cordillera Oriental wurde dieser Sockel zum Teil zusammen mit seinen sedimentären Deckschichten verfaltet, zum Teil wurden sie aber auch von ihrem Unterlager abgeschert und unabhängig von ihm gefaltet.Bisher wurde allgemein angenommen, daß die subandinen Sierren aus großen assymmetrischen Falten aufgebaut werden, die in den Deckschichten durch Kippung starrer Blöcke im tieferen Untergrund hervorgerufen wurden. Die genaue geokartographische Aufnahme eines Gebietes zwischen den Breitenkreisen 24° 45 und 26° südl. Breite und den Längenkreisen 64° 30 und 66° westl. Länge erbrachte Daten, die es erlauben, diese Vorstellung erheblich zu modifizieren.Weit durchhaltende Seitenverschiebungen, die die übergeordneten Strukturen des gesamten Gebietes schräg durchziehen und die Gestalt der Falten in den Sierren erheblich beeinflussen, wurden nachgewiesen. Sie stellen wahrscheinlich alte, präandine Lineamente dar, die während der Anden-Orogenese im Jungtertiär bis Altpleistozän reaktiviert Wurden.

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Resumen En el borde oriental de los Andes del Noroeste Argentino están representadas dos unidades estructurales: la Cordillera Oriental y las Sierras Subandinas.La Cordillera Oriental es una unidad constituida por bloques fallados y, en conjunto, elevada con respecto a las Sierras Subandinas. En la Cordillera Oriental el basamento metamórfico ha sido parcialmente plegado junto con la cobertura sedimentaria. En algunos casos lo cobertura ha sido despegada de su substrato y plegada independientemente.En general se aceptaba que las Sierras Subandinas coincidian con grandes anticlinales asimétricos producidos en la cobertura sedimentaria por el basculamiento de bloques rígidos de basamento situados en el subsuelo. La cartografía geológica-estructural detallada de la región comprendida por los paralelos 24° 45 y 26° S y los meridianos 64° 30 y 66° W ha proporcionado datos que permiten modificar considerablemente este esquema.Se ha comprobado la existencia de importantes fallas transcurrentes, fuertemente oblicuas con respecto a la estructura regional, que han tenido profunda influencia sobre la forma de los pliegues subandinos. Estas fallas oblicuas son probablemente lineamientos antiguos en los que el diastrofismo Andico (Plioceno-Pleistoceno) ha producido considerables desplazamientos paralelos al rumbo de los mismos.

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Résumé Dans la bordure orientale des Andes du Nord-ouest de l'Argentine, deux unités structurales différentes sont présentes: les Sierras subandines et la Cordillère orientale.La Cordillère orientale est composée d'un socle faiblement métamorphique faillé en blocs fortement surélevés par rapport aux Sierras subandines. Dans la Cordillère orientale, ce socle métamorphique a été en partie plissé avec sa couverture sédimentaire; mais parfois celle-ci a été décolée de son substratum et plissé indépendentement.Jusqu'à présent, on admettait que les Sierras subandines sont constituées de grands anticlinaux assymétriques produits dans la couverture par l'ascension de blocs faillés du socle. La cartographie géologico-structurale detaillée de la région comprise entre les parallèles 24° 45 et 26° de latitude sud et les méridiens 64° 30 et 60° ouest conduit à modifier considérablement ce schéma.D'importants décrochements très obliques par rapport à la direction de la structure régionale et qui ont fortement influencé la forme des plis subandins sont probablement des accidents anciens rajeunis pendant le diastrophisme andin au cours du Pliocène supérieur et du Pléistocène inférieur.

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The Effect of Key Parameters on the Strength of a Dispersive Soil Stabilized with Sustainable Binders

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Dispersive soils are susceptible to phenomena of internal and external erosion when in contact with relatively pure water due to its particle’s...