New Zealand’s National Landslide Database

A New Zealand Landslide Database has been developed to hold all of New Zealand’s landslide data and provide factual data for use in landslide hazard and risk assessment, including a probabilistic landslide hazard model for New Zealand, which is currently being developed by GNS Science. Design of a national Landslide Database for New Zealand required consideration of existing landslide data stored in a variety of digital formats and future data yet to be collected. Pre-existing landslide datasets were developed and populated with data reflecting the needs of the landslide or hazard project, and the database structures of the time. Bringing these data into a single database required a new structure capable of containing landslide information at a variety of scales and accuracy, with many different attributes. A unified data model was developed to enable the landslide database to be a repository for New Zealand landslides, irrespective of scale and method of capture. Along with landslide locations, the database may contain information on the timing of landslide events, the type of landslide, the triggering event, volume and area data, and impacts (consequences) for each landslide when this information is available. Information from contributing datasets include a variety of sources including aerial photograph interpretation, field reconnaissance and media accounts. There are currently 22,575 landslide records in the database that include point locations, polygons of landslide source and deposit areas, and linear landslide features. Access to all landslide data is provided with a web application accessible via the Internet. This web application has been developed in-house and is based on open-source software such as the underlying relational database (PostGIS) and the map generating Web Map Server (GeoServer). Future work is to develop automated data-upload routines and mobile applications to allow people to report landslides, adopting a consistent framework.     

Fractal dimension of pore space in carbonate samples from Tushka area (Egypt)

To investigate inhomogeneous and porous structures in nature, the concept of fractal dimension was established. This paper briefly introduces the definition and measurement methods of fractal dimension. Three different methods including mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and nitrogen adsorption (BET) were applied to determine the fractal dimensions of the pore space of eight carbonate rock samples taken from West Tushka area, Egypt. In the case of fractal behavior, the capillary pressure P _c and cumulative fraction V _c resulting from MICP are linearly related with a slope of D-3 in a double logarithmic plot with D being the value of fractal dimension. For NMR, the cumulative intensity fraction V _c and relaxation time T ₂ show a linear relation with a slope of 3-D in a double logarithmic plot. Fractal dimension can also be determined by the specific surface area S _por derived from nitrogen adsorption measurements and the effective hydraulic radius. The fractal dimension D shows a linear relation with the logarithm of S _por . The fractal dimension is also used in models of permeability prediction. To consider a more comprehensive data set, another 34 carbonate samples taken from the same study area were integrated in the discussion on BET method and permeability prediction. Most of the 42 rock samples show a good agreement between measured permeability and predicted permeability if the mean surface fractal dimension for each facies is used.     

Calibrated, late Quaternary age indices using clast rubification and soil development on alluvial surfaces in Pilot Knob Valley, Mojave Desert, southeastern California

The orange coating (varnish) that forms on the undersides (ventral sides) of clasts in desert pavements constitutes a potential relative-age indicator. Using Munsell color notation, we semiquantified the color of the orange, ventral varnish on the undersides of clasts from 15 different alluvial fan and terrace surfaces of various ages ranging from less than 500 to about 25,000 yr. All of the surfaces studied are located along the central portion of the left-lateral Garlock fault, in the Mojave Desert of southern California. The amount of left-lateral offset may be used to determine the relative ages of the surfaces. The previously published slip rate of the fault may also be used to estimate the absolute age of each surface. The color of the ventral varnish is strongly correlated with surface age and appears to be a more reliable age-indicator than the percentage coverage of dorsal varnish. Soil development indices also were not as strongly correlated with age, as were the colors of the ventral varnish. In particular, rubification appears to be more useful than soils for distinguishing relative ages among Holocene surfaces. Humidity sensors indicated that the undersides of clasts condensed moisture nightly for a period of several days to over a week after each rain. These frequent wet-dry cycles may be responsible for the rapid development of clast rubification on Holocene surfaces.     

Flood insurance: the challenge of the uninsured

Increasing concern about flooding and its potentially socially-devastating effects has reinforced the need for an effective mechanism to deal with the recovery of losses from these events. This paper highlights the problem of uninsurance in the UK and the potentially growing number of people who do not have flood insurance. A dual challenge of uninsurance is emerging: those who have been traditionally excluded from insurance cover due to price and a new phenomenon, those who live in high-risk areas who may become cost-prohibited through the introduction of risk-related premiums.     

Hydrous pyrolysis of New Albany and Phosphoria Shales: production kinetics of carboxylic acids and light hydrocarbons and interactions between the inorganic and organic chemical systems

Hydrous pyrolysis in flexible gold-bag autoclaves was used to study the production of carboxylic acids and light hydrocarbons from two marine type IIb source rocks (New Albany and Phosphoria Shales). Kerogen pyrolysis produced significant amounts of the monocarboxylic acids (acetic > propionic > butyric). The gases were dominated by CO₂ and methane, in that order, and progressively smaller amounts of the alkanes (ethane > propane > butane > pentane). Kinetic analyses of production rates for the New Albany Shale suggest mean activation energies (E) of 51-54 kcal/mol for both the light hydrocarbons and acids. Pressure had little effect on measured production rates for either shale over the pressure range investigated. Chemical thermodynamic speciation modeling suggests that in these experiments metal-organic acid anion complexation had little impact on aluminum speciation/solubility, but was important with respect to the alkaline earths.     

Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Network

Information included in this summary is based on more detailed reports published in the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 32, no. 3, March 2007 (on the Internet at ). Edited by scientists at the Smithsonian, this bulletin includes reports provided by a worldwide network of correspondents. The reports contain the names and contact information for all sources. Please note that these reports are preliminary and subject to change as events are studied in more detail. The Global Volcanism Program welcomes further reports of current volcanism, seismic unrest, monitoring data, and field observations.     

Mineshaft imaging using surface and crosshole 3D electrical resistivity tomography: A case history from the East Pennine Coalfield, UK

Hidden mineshafts located in urban areas are a significant problem across much of the industrialized world. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is a technique that can detect and characterize hidden mine entries by exploiting resistivity contrasts between the shaft and surrounding materials, resulting from either compositional or structural differences. A case study is presented in which both surface and crosshole 3D ERT surveys are used to image a hidden backfilled mineshaft at a built environment site, situated on Carboniferous Lower Coal Measures strata in the UK.Backfilled shafts generally present the greatest challenge for detection using geophysical methods, as contrasts between the fill and bedrock are typically low compared to air or water-filled conditions. Nevertheless, the shaft in this case was identified by both the surface and crosshole 3D surveys. The shaft appeared as a strongly resistive anomaly relative to background materials, which we interpreted as resulting from the disturbed fabric of the fill materials rather than any significant compositional differences. The study highlighted the respective strengths and weaknesses of the surface and crosshole ERT methodologies for this type of problem. The surface survey, which covered a non-rectangular area to accommodate irregular boundaries and other physical obstructions, provided a relatively rapid means of investigating the study site. However, this method had a limited depth of investigation and was constrained in its coverage by the locations of buildings. By contrast, the 3D crosshole method was able to image the shaft to the level of the deepest borehole electrodes. Although crosshole ERT is too expensive to be used for large-scale mineshaft surveys, this study clearly demonstrates its suitability for targeted investigations where surface methods cannot be deployed, such as scanning beneath surface structures or in situations where it is essential for resolution to be maintained with depth.     

Effects of watershed and estuarine characteristics on the abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation in Chesapeake Bay subestuaries

Watershed land use can affect submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) by elevating nutrient and sediment loading to estuaries. We analyzed the effects of watershed use and estuarine characteristics on the spatial variation of SAV abundance among 101 shallow subestuaries of Chesapeake Bay during 1984–2003. Areas of these subestuaries range from 0.1 to 101 km², and their associated local watershed areas range from 6 to 1664 km². Watershed land cover ranges from 6% to 81% forest, 1% to 64% cropland, 2% to 38% grassland, and 0.3% to 89% developed land. Landscape analyses were applied to develop a number of subestuary metrics (such as subestuary area, mouth width, elongation ratio, fractal dimension of shoreline, and the ratio of local watershed area to subestuary area) and watershed metrics (such as watershed area). Using mapped data from aerial SAV surveys, we calculated SAV coverage for each subestuary in each year during 1984–2003 as a proportion of potential SAV habitat (the area < 2 m deep). The variation in SAV abundance among subestuaries was strongly linked with subestuary and watershed characteristics. A regression tree model indicated that 60% of the variance in SAV abundance could be explained by subestuary fractal dimension, mean tidal range, local watershed dominant land cover, watershed to subestuary area ratio, and mean wave height. Similar explanatory powers were found in wet and dry years, but different independent variables were used. Repeated measures ANOVA with multiple-mean comparison showed that SAV abundance declined with the dominant watershed land cover in the order: forested, mixed-undisturbed, or mixed-developed > mixed-agricultural > agricultural > developed. Change-point analyses indicated strong threshold responses of SAV abundance to point source total nitrogen and phosphorus inputs, the ratio of local watershed area to subestuary area, and septic system density in the local watershed.