Late Miocene–Pliocene eclogite facies metamorphism, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, SE Papua New Guinea

The D'Entrecasteaux Islands of south‐eastern Papua New Guinea are active metamorphic core complexes that formed within a region where the plate tectonic regime has transitioned from subduction to rifting. While rapid, post 4 Myr exhumation and cooling of amphibolite and greenschist facies rocks that constitute the footwall of the crustal scale detachment fault system have been previously documented on Fergusson and Goodenough Islands of the D'Entrecasteaux chain, the timing of eclogite facies metamorphism in rocks of the footwall was unknown. Recent work revealed that at least one of the eclogite bodies formed during the Pliocene. We present combined in situ ion microprobe U–Pb age analyses of zircon from five variably retrogressed eclogite samples from Fergusson and Goodenough Islands that document Late Miocene–Pliocene (8–2 Ma) eclogite formation on these islands. Textural relationships and zircon–garnet rare earth element partition coefficients indicate that U–Pb ages constrain zircon crystallization under eclogite facies conditions in all samples. Results suggest westward younging of eclogite facies metamorphism from Fergusson to Goodenough Island. Present‐day exposure of Late Miocene–Pliocene eclogites requires exhumation rates > 2.5 cm yr^?1.     

黄土丘陵沟壑区坡面尺度撂荒草地入渗特征影响因素试验研究

为研究黄土丘陵沟壑区多种因素对撂荒草地入渗特征的影响,采用野外自然降雨观测法,研究不同降雨特征（降雨量、平均雨强、降雨历时和最大30 min雨强（I₃₀））、土壤前期含水量、坡长（10 m、20 m、30 m、40 m和50 m）和植被盖度条件下土壤入渗特征差异,通过灰色关联度法判断影响撂荒草地入渗特征的主导因子。结果表明：①入渗量随降雨量、降雨历时和I₃₀增加而增大（R²>0.55,P<0.01）;入渗补给系数随降雨量、I₃₀和平均雨强增大而减小（R²>0.12,P<0.05）;平均入渗率随降雨强度、I₃₀增加而递增（R²>0.53,P<0.01）。②入渗量和平均入渗率随前期含水量增加而减少,入渗补给系数随之增加而增大（R²>0.13,P<0.05）。③入渗量、入渗补给系数和平均入渗率总体随坡长增加而增大（R²>0.56,P<0.01）,但在坡长30 m和40 m之间存在临界坡长。④在入渗效率较高的情况下,植被对土壤入渗的影响并不显著,降雨特征和坡长成为主导因子。     

非饱和土中水平入渗方程显式求解

在求解非饱和态土中水分入渗问题时,水力函数是体积含水率或者吸力的函数,致使其控制方程呈现出强非线性的特征,进而使得其求解变得十分困难。基于水分在土体介质中流动耗时取极值路径的选择这一假定,引入时间泛函,基于变分法原理将水平入渗问题转化为泛函极值问题。通过求解Euler–Lagrange方程,结合边界条件,得到非线性瞬态水平入渗问题的显式解析解。结合Brooks-Corey型水力函数,显式地求解出该类型非饱和态土的体积含水率发展分布规律。通过计算4种不同类型土体的水平入渗规律,将求解结果与已有结果以及数值结果进行对比,验证了该方法的有效性。结果表明:体积含水率分布与位置距离和湿润峰距离比值呈幂函数关系,指数取决于土-水特征曲线的形状参数;初始条件与边界条件会对体积含水率分布造成不同程度的影响。     

Fluid flow patterns and infiltration isograds in melilite marbles from the Bufa del Diente contact metamorphic aureole, north-east Mexico

In the inner aureole of the Bufa del Diente alkali syenite (north-east Mexico), thin calcareous argillite bands horizontally embedded in impure marbles acted as contact-metamorphic aquifers for hypersaline brines of magmatic origin. Thick-bedded marbles were largely impervious. From 180 m up to the intrusion contact, argillites were completely decarbonated, resulting in melilite + wollastonite + phlogopite + perovskite-bearing parageneses. In marbles, this assemblage is confined to a narrow 7-12-m-wide infiltration zone adjacent to the contact. Up to this distance, calcite + wollastonite + diopside + alkali feldspar + titanite was stable, indicating that the fluid evolution in these marbles was internally buffered. Brine infiltration from the metaargillite aquifer into the marbles occurred perpendicular to the marble-metaargillite boundaries and was confined to a zone 4-6 cm wide above the boundaries. This is documented by the three reactions Cc + Di = Mel + CO₂, (1) Cc + Kfs + Di + H₂O = Phl + Wo + CO₂, (2) Cc + Ttn = Prv + Wo + CO₂, (3) Melilites (Ak_32-45Gh_13-32Sm_32-40 to Ak_52-72Gh_0-1Sm_28-48) occur as rims around diopsides and become continuously thicker towards the metaargillite beds. Fluid inclusion observations suggest that the infiltrating brine was hypersaline (NaCl + KCl_cq～ 65 wt%) and that the reactions took place at the water-rich side of the H₂O-CO₂-salts immiscibility field at about 600d? C (2, 3) and 660 to 680d? C (1) at P～ 1200 bar and X_co2～ 0.02. Mass balance calculations show that the amount of brine infiltrated from the aquifer into the marble was very low and decreased continuously with increasing distance from the boundary. The maximum width of brine infiltration was about 6 cm. This confirms that brine flow was largely parallel to the aquifer, not perpendicular to it. The CO₂ produced by the decarbonation reactions probably escaped as an immiscible low-density H₂O-CO₂ fluid of X_co2≤ 0.5 into overlying marble via grain-edge flow. The metaargillite-marble boundary acted as a semipermeable membrane 6 cm in thickness keeping back the brine in the aquifer and losing the in-situ produced low-density CO₂-rich fluid.     

滞后补给权函数：降雨补给潜水滞后性处理方法

本文分析了当前数值模型中处理降雨入渗补给潜水方法中存在的问题,提出一种能刻画滞后补给且使用方便的方法－滞后补给权函数法。     

Relations entre production organique et apports terrigènes dans les sédiments fluviatiles holocènes : observations et conclusions hétérodoxes

Accumulation of organic matter in fens of fluvial valleys is often related to a low terrigenous matter delivery and to palaeoenvironmental conditions inducing low mechanical erosion. These assumptions come from the interpretation of contents in organic (MO) and mineral (MM) matters in sediments, expressed in percents, and then exactly anticorrelated. Calculation of mass accumulation rates of MO $(T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MO}}})$ and MM $(T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MM}}})$, expressed in g?m^?2?yr^?1, shows that $T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MO}}}$ and $T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MM}}}$ generally are not anticorrelated and that high values of $T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MO}}}$ and $T_{{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{MM}}}$ could appear simultaneously. That expression of MO and MM accumulation makes it possible to precise the climatic and human impact on sedimentation. To cite this article: J.-J. Macaire et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Modelling landslides in unsaturated slopes subjected to rainfall infiltration using material point method

This paper presents a dynamic fully coupled formulation for saturated and unsaturated soils that undergo large deformations based on material point method. Governing equations are applied to porous material while considering it as a continuum in which the pores of the solid skeleton are filled with water and air. The accuracy of the developed method is tested with available experimental and numerical results. The developed method has been applied to investigate the failure and post‐failure behaviour of rapid landslides in unsaturated slopes subjected to rainfall infiltration using two different bedrock geometries that lie below the top soil. The models show different failure and post‐failure mechanisms depending on the bedrock geometry and highlight the negative effects of continuous rain infiltrations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The stability of a remediated bed in Hamilton Harbour,Lake Ontario,Canada

ABSTRACT In situ measurements of lakebed sediment erodibility were made on three sites in Hamilton Harbour, Lake Ontario, using the benthic flume Sea Carousel. Three methods of estimating the surface erosion threshold (τ_c(0)) from a Carousel time series were evaluated: the first method fits measures of bed strength to eroded depth (the failure envelope) and evaluates threshold as the surface intercept; the second method regresses mean erosion rate (E_m) with bed shear stress and solves for the floc erosion rate (E_f) to derive the threshold for E_m = E_f = 1 × 10^?5 kg m^?2 s^?1; the third method extrapolates a regression of suspended sediment concentration (S) and fluid transmitted bed shear stress (τ₀) to ambient concentrations. The first field site was undisturbed (C) and acted as a control; the second (W) was disturbed through ploughing and water injection as part of lakebed treatment, whereas the third site (OIP) was disturbed and injected with an oxidant used for remediation of contaminated sediment. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the three different methods of deriving erosion threshold; (2) to compare the physical behaviour of lacustrine sediments with their marine estuarine counterparts; and (3) to examine the effects of ploughing and chemical treatment of contaminated sediment on bed stability. Five deployments of Sea Carousel were carried out at the control site. Mean erosion thresholds for the three methods were: τ_c(0) = 0·5 (±0·06), 0·27 (±0·01) and 0·34 (±0·03) Pa respectively. Method 1 overpredicted bed strength as it was insensitive to effects in the surface 1–2 mm, and the fit of the failure envelope was also highly subjective. Method 2 exhibited a wide scatter in the data (low correlation coefficients), and definition of the baseline erosion rate (E_f) is largely arbitrary in the literature. Method 3 yielded stable (high correlation coefficients), reproducible and objective results and is thus recommended for evaluation of the erosion threshold. The results of this method correlated well with sediment bulk density and followed the same trend as marine counterparts from widely varying sites. Mass settling rates, expressed as a decay constant, k, of S(t), were strongly related to the maximum turbidity at the onset of settling (S_max) and were also in continuity with marine counterparts. Thus, it appears that differences in salinity had little effect on mass settling rates in the examples presented, and that biological activity dominated any effects normally attributable to changes in salinity. Bedload transport of eroded aggregates (2–4 mm in diameter) took place by rolling below a mean tangential flow velocity (U_y) of 0·32 ms^?1 and by saltation at higher velocities. Mass transport as bedload was a maximum at U_y = 0·4 ms^?1, although bedload never exceeded 1% of the suspended load. The proportion of material moving as bedload was greatest at the onset of erosion but decreased as flow competence increased. Given the low bulk density and strength of the lakebed sediment, the presence of a bedload component is notable. Bedload transport over eroding cohesive substrates should be greater in estuaries, where both sediment density and strength are usually higher. Significant differences between the ploughed and control sites were apparent in both the erosion rate and the friction coefficient (φ), and suggest that bed recovery after disruption is rapid (< 24 h). τ_c(0) increased linearly with time after ploughing and recovered to the control mean value within 3 days. The friction coefficient was reduced to zero by ploughing (diagnostic of fluidization), but increased linearly with time, regaining control values within 6 days. No long‐term reduction in bed strength due to remediation was apparent.     

Investigation of a large collapse sinkhole affecting a multi-storey building by means of geophysics and the trenching technique (Zaragoza city,NE Spain)

An active sinkhole around 100 m long has been investigated in the city of Zaragoza (NE Spain). Subsidence activity on this depression, including the sudden occurrence of a collapse sinkhole 5 m across, led to the abandonment of a factory in the 1990s. At the present time, a building with 100 flats and shallow pad foundations partially built on the sinkhole, is affected by rapid differential settlement. The development of the sinkhole results from the karstification of the halite- and glauberite- bearing bedrock and the sagging and collapse of the overlying bedrock and alluvium, more than 30 m thick. GPR and electrical resistivity profiles have provided information on the distribution and geometry of the subsidence structure. The application of the trenching technique and geochronological methods (AMS and OSL dating) has allowed us to infer objective and practical data on the sinkhole including (1) Limits of the subsidence structure, (2) subsidence mechanisms, (3) cumulative subsidence (>408 cm), (4) subsidence rates on specific failure planes (>1.8 cm/year), (5) episodic displacement regime of some fault planes. The available information indicates that the progressive deformation recorded in the building will continue and might be punctuated by events of more rapid displacement. This work illustrates the practicality of the trenching technique for the study of sinkholes in mantled karst areas.     

白利雅盆地构造地貌解析及鲜水河断裂北西段水平滑移速率

白利雅盆地位于青藏高原东部,鲜水河断裂带北西段炉霍活断层与达曲活断层的斜接部位。通过野外实际考查,结合Google Earth地图发现白利雅盆地发育一系列的构造地貌:断层三角面、坡中槽、断错阶地、废弃河道、裂陷湖和阶地面变形。盆地发育的4级阶地是构造成因。废弃河道是新的断裂活动形成的新冲沟、新河道——达曲,其快速下切,废弃老河道,形成狭长的‘U’型沟谷。鲜水河断裂的北西段炉霍活断层切过T3河流阶地,说明其(白利雅以北)是在大约14.92kaB.P.以后形成的,可能预示着构造应力场的变化和白利雅盆地形成。对盆地4级阶地(T1,T2,T3和T4)的河流沉积物光释光(OSL)测年结果分别是 1.06±0.06kaB.P.,1.83±0.06kaB.P.,14.92±0.76kaB.P.和 42.48±2.35kaB.P.,代表了相应阶地的沉积年龄。这些结果与阶地前缘陡坎断错的距离计算显示,从42.48kaB.P.和14.92kaB.P.以来,断层走向平均移动速率分别为3.73mm/a和0.85mm/a,显示从中更新世晚期以来,鲜水河断裂带炉霍活断层水平滑移有减慢的趋势。在42.48~14.92kaB.P.,14.92~1.83kaB.P.和1.83~1.06kaB.P.,相邻阶地垂向隆升或河流下切的速率分别为0.14mm/a(T4~T3),4.66mm/a(T3~T2)和5.19mm/a(T2~T1),显示从中更新世晚期以来,阶地垂直隆升或河流下切有加快的趋势。