Martian Topography: Scaling, Craters, and High-Order Statistics

The high-order structure functions of Mars topography reveal three specific ranges of scales: (1) scaling range at small scales where the structure functions exhibit scaling behavior; (2) transition range where the structure functions continue to grow but do not reveal scaling; and (3) saturation range at large scales where the structure functions saturate. The scaling and saturation ranges are explored in detail in respect to scaling and intermittency. Analysis of the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data and computer simulations suggest that there are two potential contributors to the small-scale scaling: (i) scale-invariant surface formation; and (ii) effects of discrete morphological forms such as craters. The crater effect also provides an explanation for the large-scale intermittency revealed using the normalized structure functions within the saturation range, which cannot be explained by the ‘scale-invariant’ concept. Overall, the obtained results suggest that the “crater” contribution to the structure function behavior often dominates over the effect of the scale-invariant surface formation.     

Experimental pressure solution compaction of synthetic halite/calcite aggregates

Experimental observations are reported of weakening of sediment-like aggregates by addition of hard particles. Sieved mixtures of calcite and halite grains are experimentally compacted in drained pressure cells in the presence of a saturated aqueous solution. The individual halite grains deform easily by pressure solution creep whereas calcite grains act as hard objects and resist compaction. The fastest rate of compaction of the mixed aggregate is not obtained for a 100% halite aggregate but for a content of halite grains between 45% and 75%. We propose that this unusual compaction behavior reflects the competition between two mechanisms at the grain scale: intergranular pressure solution at grain contacts and grain boundary healing between halite grains that prevent further compaction.     

Provenance of Precambrian Fe- and Al-rich Metapelites in the Yenisey Ridge and Kuznetsk Alatau, Siberia： Geochemical Signatures

Major, trace and rare earth element contents of Fe- and Al-rich metapelites from the Korda （Yenisey Ridge） and Amar （Kuznetsk Alatau） formations were determined to examine the nature, origin and evolution of their protoliths. Results indicate that these rocks are the redeposited and metamorphosed products of Precambrian kaolinitic weathering crusts, while the geochemical distinctions between the studied metapelites are determined by different weathering conditions in the source area and tectonic settings. The protolith of the Korda Formation metapelites was produced by erosion products of the post-Archean granitoid rocks, which accumulated under humid climate conditions in shallow-water basins along the continental margin. The geochemical characteristics of the deeper primary deposits of the Amar Formation suggest that volcanogenic material of mafic composition derived from an island-arc environment had a major role in supplying the erosion zone. These results agree with lithofacies data and with the geodynamic reconstruction of the evolution of the Yenisey Ridge and Kuznetsk Alatau during the Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic, respectively. It was shown that REEs had limited mobility during contact metamorphism. The coherent mobility of REEs during collisional metamorphism may be attributed both to mineral reactions responsible for modal changes and to local chemical heterogeneity inherited from the initial protolith.     

Three-Dimensional Modeling of the Casing Effect in Onshore Controlled-Source Electromagnetic Surveys

The presence of steel-cased wells and other infrastructure causes a significant change in the electromagnetic fields that has to be taken into consideration in modeling and interpretation of field data. A realistic and accurate simulation requires the borehole casing to be incorporated into the modeling scheme, which is numerically challenging. Due to the huge conductivity contrast between the casing and surrounding media, a spatial discretization that provides accurate results at different spatial scales ranging from millimeters to hundreds of meters is required. In this paper, we present a full 3D frequency-domain electromagnetic modeling based on a parallel finite-difference algorithm considering the casing effect and investigate its applicability on the borehole-to-surface configuration of the Hontomín CO₂ storage site. To guarantee a robust solution of linear systems with highly ill-conditioned matrices caused by huge conductivity contrasts and multiple spatial scales in the model, we employ direct sparse solvers. Different scenarios are simulated in order to study the influence of the source position, conductivity model, and the effect of the steel casing on the measured data. Several approximations of the real hollow casing that allow for a large reduction in the number of elements in the resulting meshes are studied. A good agreement between the modeled responses and the real field data demonstrates the feasibility of simulating casing effects in complex geological areas. The steel casing of the well greatly increases the amplitude of the surface electromagnetic fields and thus improves the signal-to-noise ratio and the sensitivity to deep targets.     

Analysis of Thomsen parameters for finely layered VTI media

Since the work of Postma and Backus, much has been learned about elastic constants in vertical transversely isotropic (VTI) media when the anisotropy is due to fine layering of isotropic elastic materials. Nevertheless, there has continued to be some uncertainty about the possible range of Thomsen's anisotropy parameters ε and δ for such media. We use both Monte Carlo studies and detailed analysis of Backus' equations for both two- and three-component layered media to establish the results presented. We show that ε lies in the range ?3/8 ε ½[〈v²_p〉〈v^?2_p〉?1], for finely layered media; smaller positive and all negative values of ε occur for media with large fluctuations in the Lamé parameter λ in the component layers. We show that δ can also be either positive or negative, and that for constant density media, sign (δ) = sign (〈v^?2_p〉 ? 〈v^?2_s〉〈v²_s/v²_p〉). Monte Carlo simulations show that among all theoretically possible random media, positive and negative δ are equally likely in finely layered media. (Of course, the δs associated with real earth materials may span some smaller subset of those that are theoretically possible, but answering this important question is beyond our present scope.) Layered media having large fluctuations in λ are those most likely to have positive δ. This is somewhat surprising since ε is often negative or a small positive number for such media, and we have the general constraint that ε ? δ > 0 for layered VTI media. Since Gassmann's results for fluid-saturated porous media show that the mechanical effects of fluids influence only the Lamé parameter λ, not the shear modulus μ, these results suggest that small positive δ occurring together with small positive ε (but somewhat larger than δ) may be indicative of changing fluid content in a layered earth.     

Present-day Horizontal Mobility in the Serbian Part of the Pannonian Basin; Inferences from the Geometric Analysis of Deformations

In tectonically complex environments, such as the Pannonian Basin surrounded by the Alps–Dinarides and Carpathians orogens, monitoring of recent deformations represents very challenging matter. Efficient quantification of active continental deformations demands the use of a multidisciplinary approach, including neotectonic, seismotectonic and geodetic methods. The present-day tectonic mobility in the Pannonian Basin is predominantly controlled by the northward movement of the Adria micro-plate, which has produced compressional stresses that were party accommodated by the Alps-Dinarides thrust belt and partly transferred towards its hinterland. Influence of thus induced stresses on the recent strain field, deformations and tectonic mobility in the southern segment of the Pannonian Basin has been investigated using GPS measurements of the horizontal mobility in the Vojvodina area (northern Serbia).     

Ocean-atmosphere CO2 exchange: An accessible lab simulation for considering biological effects

Phytoplankton is considered a key component mediating the ocean-atmospheric exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Lab simulations which model biological responses to atmospheric change are difficult to translate into natural settings owing in part to the vertical migration of phytoplankton. In the sea this vertical migration acts to regulate actual carbon dioxide consumption. To capture some critical properties of this vertical material transfer, we monitored the effects of atmospheric CO₂ on dense suspensions of bioconvecting microorganisms. Bioconvection refers to the spontaneous patterns of circulation which arise among such upwardly swimming cells as alga, protozoa, zoospore and large bacteria. Gravity, phototaxis and chemotaxis have all been implicated as affecting pattern-forming ability. The ability of a biologically active suspension to detect atmospheric changes offers a unique method to quantify organism adjustment and vertical migration. With increasing CO₂, bioconvection patterns in alga (P. parva) and protozoa (T. pyriformis) lose their robustness, and surface cell populations retreat from the highest CO₂ regions. Cell movement (both percent motile and mean velocity) generally diminishes. A general program of image analysis yields statistically significant variations in macroscopic migration patterns; both fractal dimension and various crystallographic parameters correlate strongly with carbon dioxide content.     

A multi-proxy approach for revealing recent climatic changes in the Russian Altai

For the first time we present a multi-proxy data set for the Russian Altai, consisting of Siberian larch tree-ring width (TRW), latewood density (MXD), δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O in cellulose chronologies obtained for the period 1779–2007 and cell wall thickness (CWT) for 1900–2008. All of these parameters agree well between each other in the high-frequency variability, while the low-frequency climate information shows systematic differences. The correlation analysis with temperature and precipitation data from the closest weather station and gridded data revealed that annual TRW, MXD, CWT, and δ¹³C data contain a strong summer temperature signal, while δ¹⁸O in cellulose represents a mixed summer and winter temperature and precipitation signal. The temperature and precipitation reconstructions from the Belukha ice core and Teletskoe lake sediments were used to investigate the correspondence of different independent proxies. Low frequency patterns in TRW and δ¹³C chronologies are consistent with temperature reconstructions from nearby Belukha ice core and Teletskoe lake sediments showing a pronounced warming trend in the last century. Their combination could be used for the regional temperature reconstruction. The long-term δ¹⁸O trend agrees with the precipitation reconstruction from the Teletskoe lake sediment indicating more humid conditions during the twentieth century. Therefore, these two proxies could be combined for the precipitation reconstruction.     

Analysis of microsecond- and submicrosecond-scale electric field pulses produced by cloud and ground lightning discharges

We examined microsecond- and submicrosecond-scale pulses in electric field records of cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning discharges acquired in summer 2006, in Gainesville, Florida. A total of 12 cloud and 12 ground flashes were analyzed in detail, with the electric field record length being 96 or 200 ms and sampling interval being 4 or 10 ns. The majority of pulses in both cloud and ground discharges analyzed in this study were associated with the initial breakdown process and were relatively small in amplitude and duration. The typical durations were an order of magnitude smaller than tens of microseconds characteristic of “classical” preliminary breakdown pulses. We estimated that 26% of the pulses in the 12 cloud discharges and 22% of the pulses in the 12 cloud-to-ground discharges had total durations less that 1 µs.