Aftershocks series monitoring of the September 18, 2004 M = 4.6 earthquake at the western Pyrenees: A case of reservoir-triggered seismicity?

On September 18, 2004, a 4.6 mbLg earthquake was widely felt in the region around Pamplona, at the western Pyrenees. Preliminary locations reported an epicenter less than 20 km ESE of Pamplona and close to the Itoiz reservoir, which started impounding in January 2004. The area apparently lacks of significant seismic activity in recent times. After the main shock, which was preceded by series of foreshocks reaching magnitudes of 3.3 mbLg, a dense temporal network of 13 seismic stations was deployed there to monitor the aftershocks series and to constrain the hypocentral pattern. Aftershock determinations obtained with a double-difference algorithm define a narrow epicentral zone of less than 10 km², ESE–WNW oriented. The events are mainly concentrated between 3 and 9 km depth. Focal solutions were computed for the main event and 12 aftershocks including the highest secondary one of 3.8 mbLg. They show mainly normal faulting with some strike-slip component and one of the nodal planes oriented NW–SE and dipping to the NE. Cross-correlation techniques applied to detect and associate events with similar waveforms, provided up to 33 families relating the 67% of the 326 relocated aftershocks. Families show event clusters grouped by periods and migrating from NW to SE. Interestingly, the narrow epicentral zone inferred here is located less than 4 km away from the 111-m high Itoiz dam. These hypocentral results, and the correlation observed between fluctuations of the reservoir water level and the seismic activity, favour the explanation of this foreshock–aftershock series as a rapid response case of reservoir-triggered seismicity, burst by the first impoundment of the Itoiz reservoir. The region is folded and affected by shallow dipping thrusts, and the Itoiz reservoir is located on the hangingwall of a low angle southward verging thrust, which might be a case sensible to water level fluctuations. However, continued seismic monitoring in the coming years is mandatory in this area to infer more reliable seismotectonic and hazard assessments.     

Stratigraphic evolution of a fluvial–eolian succession: The example of the Upper Jurassic—Lower Cretaceous Guará and Botucatu formations, Paraná Basin, Southernmost Brazil

The Guará and Botucatu formations comprise an 80 to 120 m thick continental succession that crops out on the western portion of the Rio Grande do Sul State (Southernmost Brazil). The Guará Formation (Upper Jurassic) displays a well-defined facies shift along its outcrop belt. On its northern portion it is characterised by coarse-grained to conglomeratic sandstones with trough and planar cross-bedding, as well as low-angle lamination, which are interpreted to represent braided river deposits. Southwards these fluvial facies thin out and interfinger with fine- to medium-grained sandstones with large-scale cross-stratification and horizontal lamination, interpreted as eolian dune and eolian sand sheets deposits, respectively. The Botucatu Formation is characterised by large-scale cross-strata formed by successive climbing of eolian dunes, without interdune and/or fluvial accumulation (dry eolian system). The contact between the Guará and the Botucatu formations is delineated by a basin-wide deflation surface (supersurface). The abrupt change in the depositional conditions that took place across this supersurface suggests a major climate change, from semi-arid (Upper Jurassic) to hyper-arid (Lower Cretaceous) conditions. A rearrangement of the Paraná Basin depocenters is contemporaneous to this climate change, which seems to have changed from a more restrict accumulation area in the Guará Formation to a wider sedimentary context in the Botucatu Formation.     

Application of back-propagation networks in debris flow prediction

Debris flows have caused serious loss of human lives and a lot of damage to properties in Taiwan over the past decades. Moreover, debris flows have brought massive mud causing water pollution in reservoirs and resulted in water shortage for daily life locally and affected agricultural irrigation and industrial usages seriously. A number of methods for prediction of debris flows have been studied. However, the successful prediction ratio of debris flows cannot always maintain a stable and reliable level. The objective of this study is to present a stable and reliable analytical model for occurrence predictions of debris flows. This study proposes an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) model that was constructed by seven significant factors using back-propagation (BP) algorithm. These seven factors include (1) length of creek, (2) average slope, (3) effective watershed area, (4) shape coefficient, (5) median size of soil grain, (6) effective cumulative rainfall, and (7) effective rainfall intensity. A total of 178 potential cases of debris flows collected in eastern Taiwan were fed into the ANN model for training and testing. The average ratio of successful prediction reaching 93.82% demonstrates that the presented ANN model with seven significant factors can provide a stable and reliable result for the prediction of debris flows in hazard mitigation and guarding systems.     

Modeling the cyclic swelling pressure of mudrock using artificial neural networks

The stochastic nature of the cyclic swelling behavior of mudrock and its dependence on a large number of interdependent parameters was modeled using Time Delay Neural Networks (TDNNs). This method has facilitated predicting cyclic swelling pressure with an acceptable level of accuracy where developing a general mathematical model is almost impossible. A number of total pressure cells between shotcrete and concrete walls of the powerhouse cavern at Masjed–Soleiman Hydroelectric Powerhouse Project, South of Iran, where mudrock outcrops, confirmed a cyclic swelling pressure on the lining since 1999. In several locations, small cracks are generated which has raised doubts about long term stability of the powerhouse structure. This necessitated a study for predicting future swelling pressure. Considering the complexity of the interdependent parameters in this problem, TDNNs proved to be a powerful tool. The results of this modeling are presented in this paper.     

Early Cretaceous U–Pb zircon ages for the Copiapó plutonic complex and implications for the IOCG mineralization at Candelaria, Atacama Region, Chile

Four of the major plutons in the vicinity of the Candelaria mine (470 Mt at 0.95% Cu, 0.22 g/t Au, 3.1 g/t Ag) and a dike–sill system exposed in the Candelaria open pit have been dated with the U–Pb zircon method. The new geochronological data indicate that dacite magmatism around 123 Ma preceded the crystallization of hornblende diorite (Khd) at 118 ± 1 Ma, quartz–monzonite porphyry (Kqm) at 116.3 ± 0.4 Ma, monzodiorite (Kmd) at 115.5 ± 0.4 Ma, and tonalite (Kt) at 110.7 ± 0.4 Ma. The new ages of the plutons are consistent with field relationships regarding the relative timing of emplacement. Plutonism temporally overlaps with the iron oxide Cu–Au mineralization (Re–Os molybdenite ages at ∼115 Ma) and silicate alteration (ages mainly from 114 to 116 and 110 to 112 Ma) in the Candelaria–Punta del Cobre district. The dated dacite porphyry and hornblende diorite intrusions preceded the ore formation. A genetic link of the metallic mineralization with the quartz–monzonite porphyry and/or the monzodiorite is likely. Both of these metaluminous, shoshonitic (high-K) intrusions could have provided energy and contributed fluids, metals, and sulfur to the hydrothermal system that caused the iron oxide Cu–Au mineralization. The age of the tonalite at 110.7 Ma falls in the same range as the late alteration at 110 to 112 Ma. Tonalite emplacement may have sustained existing or driven newly developed hydrothermal cells that caused this late alteration or modified ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and K/Ar systematic in some areas.     

Deformability characteristics of brazilian laterites

This paper summarizes the resilient and permanent deformation characteristics of laterite gravels, determined by cyclic loading in triaxial tests of compacted specimens. A study of laterite pavements was carried out on eight paved road sections in the state of Mato Grosso. Also reported is the influence of fine sand admixture, specimen size and soaking in two laterite samples from Roraima and Rondônia in the North of Brazil. The experimental relationships of resilient moduli against applied stresses are interpreted empirically for models what may be incorporated in a structural analysis of full depth of laterite pavement.     

鄂尔多斯盆地北部底河道砂岩型铀矿地质特征

鄂尔多斯盆地北部直罗组中的铀矿,是典型的产于河道中的砂岩铀矿,该矿床发育较好的卷状矿体。通过对该铀矿地质特征的研究,认识到发育卷状矿体的底河道砂岩型铀矿必须具备两大条件:其一是成矿砂体条件,即砂体要有较好的成层性、连通性和渗透性;其二是地层结构条件,即砂体必须存在较好的上、下隔水岩层。就砂体而言,河流相辫状沉积砂体是形成卷状矿体的主要砂体,并且以具有从辫状河向曲流河完整演化的辫状沉积砂体较好。砂体的上、下隔水岩层则有多种表现形式:下隔水层可由不透水的基岩或湖相沉积泥岩等构成;上隔水层由不透水的湖相泥岩、曲流沉积地层或岩浆岩等构成。在层间氧化作用过程上,存在纵横两个方向的氧化,即存在与河道方向一致的纵向氧化和与河道垂直的横向氧化,两种氧化作用成矿常叠加形成复杂的矿体类型;在矿化赋存的部位上,铀砂体通常发育在基底之上或不同建造之间;在古气候演变上,成矿作用发生在干旱气候条件下,或由潮湿向干旱的气候转变阶段。     

藏南地区金和锑矿床(点)类型及其时空分布特征

本文首次对藏南地区金和锑矿床(点)地质特征、成因类型和空间分布特点进行了总结，对金和锑成矿作用与中新生代构造一岩浆活动的关系进行了论证，对区域地壳演化过程中金和锑成矿动力学机制进行了讨论。该区的金和锑矿床(点)可按容矿围岩划分为：①变质岩为主要容矿围岩矿床(点)，包括金和金一锑矿床(点)；②沉积岩为主要容矿围岩矿床(点)，包括金、锑、金一锑和锑多金属矿床(点)；③火山岩为主要容矿围岩矿床(点)，以金一银矿床为代表。根据金和锑矿床(点)空间分布特点和地质特点，将本区划分为4个矿化集中区：拉昂错一马攸木一帕羊金矿化集中区(A)，然勒金和锑矿化集中区(B)，洛扎一措美锑矿化集中区(C)和邛多江金一锑矿化集中区(D)。各矿化集中区内大多数金和锑矿床(点)与燕山晚期～喜马拉雅早期富碱火成岩具密切时空分布关系，它们是古板块对接碰撞期和碰撞期后大规模构造一岩浆活动的产物。近东西向挤压性和南北向张性断裂交汇部位以及富碱火成岩发育区是寻找金和锑矿床(点)的有利场所。     

新疆卡拉麦里金矿带成矿规律及找矿预测

新疆卡拉麦里成矿带内地层较全、构造发育、岩浆活动频繁，志留系、泥盆系和石炭系在带内广泛发育，为本区主要含金地层．卡拉麦里深断裂严格控制区内侵入岩、次一级构造和矿产分布，构成岩浆侵入的主要通道，与此有关的次一级断层和裂隙则构成良好的赋存空间．卡拉麦里深大断裂纵贯全区，金成矿地质条件优越，沿走向Au异常、金矿床(点)成群成带分布，最后确定了7个金找矿远景区．     

滇西龙川江盆地铀矿化特征

龙川江盆地是滇西主要的铀矿赋矿盆地之一,现已探明一批砂岩型铀矿床。本文根据野外地质调查及室内系列编图,运用水成铀矿成矿理论,对龙川江盆地的基本特征及铀矿化特征进行了讨论,认为铀矿床主要分布于西部斜坡带,赋存于冲积扇沉积体系砂体中,且与潜水层间氧化带关系密切。