Magnetotelluric characterization through the Ambargasta-Sumampa Range: The connection between the northern and southern trace of the Río de La Plata Craton – Pampean Terrane tectonic boundary

The South American Platform was part of the Western Gondwana, a collage of plates of different ages assembled in late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian times. The Transbrasiliano Lineament, a continental shear belt that transversely intersects this platform from NE to SW, has its southern expression in the tectonic boundary between the Río de La Plata Craton and the Pampean Terrane. Magnetotelluric long-period data in a W–E profile (29°30′ S) that crosses the Ambargasta-Sumampa Range and the Chaco-Pampean Plain were obtained to connect information of this mostly inferred tectonic boundary. A 2-D inversion model shows the Chacoparanense basin, Río Dulce lineament, Ambargasta-Sumampa Range and Salina de Ambargasta in the upper crust. At mid-to-lower crust and 40 km to the east of the Ambargasta-Sumampa Range, a discontinuity (500–2000 Ω m) of 20-km-wide separates two highly resistive blocks, the Río de La Plata Craton (6000–20,000 Ω m) in the east, and the Pampean Terrane (5000–20,000 Ω m) in the west. This discontinuity represents the tectonic boundary between both cratons and could be explained by the presence of graphite. The geometry of the Pampean Terrane suggests an east-dipping paleo-subduction. Our results are consistent with gravimetric and seismicity data of the study area. A more conductive feature beneath the range and the tectonic boundary was associated with the NE–SW dextral transpressive system evidenced by the mylonitic belts exposed in the Eastern Pampean Ranges. This belt represents a conjugate of the mega-shear Transbrasiliano Lineament and could be explained by fluid–rock interaction by shearing during hundreds of years. The eastern border of the Ambargasta-Sumampa Range extends the trace of the Transbrasiliano Lineament. The electrical Moho depth (40 km to the west and 35 km to the east) was identified by a high electrical contrast between the crust and upper mantle. The upper mantle shows a resistive structure beneath the Río de La Plata Craton that could have been originated by stationary delamination by the presence of hydrated lithosphere.     

Etablissement de la relation hauteur-débit de l'Amazone à Óbidos: méthode de la dénivelée normale à “géométrie variable”

Résumé

Cet article décrit la façon dont ont été calculés les débits journaliers de l'Amazone à Óbidos. La relation hauteur-débit est univoque en basses et moyennes eaux. En période de hautes eaux la dispersion des jaugeages par rapport à la courbe de tarage univoque amène à corriger les débits en fonction des niveaux à Santarém puis à Parintins. La méthode de la “dénivelée normale” n'étant pas bien adaptée pour Óbidos: elle a été remplacée par une “dénivelée à géométrie variable” fonction de la hauteur d'eau à Óbidos. En utilisant seulement la station de Santarém, l'application de cette nouvelle méthode ramène la dispersion à 3.0% sur la totalité de la courbe de tarage.     

Diary of fourthcoming events

Résumé

Le bassin versant du lac Ba Bê est complexe d'un point de vue physiographique. Les données y sont restreintes et le comportement hydrologique en est méconnu. L'objectif général de cet article est de caractériser le bilan hydrique de ce bassin versant à l'aide de la méthode de Thornthwaite &; Mather. Toute l'information nécessaire à cette modélisation est extraite de données climatologiques et de données physiographiques issues de la télédétection. Le calage, réalisé sur une année hydrologique, est caractérisé par un coefficient de Nash-Sutcliffe de 0.88. Les résultats indiquent que l'écoulement entrant annuellement dans le lac Ba Bê est de près de 800 mm, dont 82% se produisent durant la période estivale. Les écoulements mensuels sont sous-estimés durant la période hivernale et surestimés au cours de la saison estivale, tandis que les écoulements annuels sont simulés plus fidèlement. L'analyse de sensibilité a montré que ce modèle de bilan hydrique à deux paramètres demeure moins sensible au contenu maximal en eau (AWC) qu'à la fraction d'eau retenue dans le sol (λ) venant du surplus d'eau du mois précédent et prenant part au stockage souterrain.     

Effects of Forest Fires on Flood Frequency Curves in a Mediterranean Catchment/Effets d'incendies de forêt sur les courbes de fréquence de crue dans un bassin versant Méditerranéen

Abstract

The effect of land-use change on the flood frequency curve (FFC) in a natural catchment is analysed. To achieve this, a simple methodology for the derivation of FFCs in land-use change scenarios is proposed. The adopted methodology, using a stochastic model in Monte Carlo simulation of FFCs, was found to provide a useful framework for detecting changes in flood magnitudes in both pre- and post-fire conditions. In particular, the importance of the antecedent soil moisture condition in the determination of the flood frequency distribution was analysed. The analysis of FFCs for pre- and post-fire conditions shows an increase in the average value of Curve Number and a decrease in the catchment time lag. The derivation of FFCs shows a clear increase in flood quantiles. For the post-fire conditions, the FFC exhibits higher quantiles of the peak discharges showing a reduction in frequency of occurrence. This variation is more significant for low-return period quantiles than for high-return period quantiles. The results of the catchment studies reported here support the hypothesis that the hydrological response of the watershed changes as a result of fire, especially during the first years following a fire event.     

Surface and subsurface water balance estimation by the groundwater recharge model and a 3-D two-phase flow model/Estimation de bilan hydrologique de surface et de subsurface à l’aide de modèles de recharge de nappe et d’écoulement diphasique 3-D

Abstract

Abstract Land development often results in adverse environmental impact for surface and subsurface water systems. For areas close to the coast, land changes may also result in seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers. Due to this, it is important to evaluate potential adverse effects in advance of any land development. For evaluation purposes a combined groundwater recharge model is proposed with a quasi three-dimensional unconfined groundwater flow equation. The catchment water balance for a planned new campus area of Kyushu University in southern Japan, was selected as a case study to test the model approach. Since most of the study area is covered with forest, the proposed groundwater recharge model considers rainfall interception by forest canopy. The results show that simulated groundwater and surface runoff agree well with observations. It is also shown that actual evapotranspiration, including rainfall interception by forest canopy, is well represented in the proposed simulation model. Several hydrological components such as direct surface runoff rate, groundwater spring flow rate to a ground depression, trans-basin groundwater flow etc., were also investigated.     

Calibration of a semi-distributed model for conjunctive simulation of surface and groundwater flows / Calage d’un modèle semi-distribué pour la simulation conjointe d’écoulements superficiels et souterrains

Abstract

Abstract A hydrological simulation model was developed for conjunctive representation of surface and groundwater processes. It comprises a conceptual soil moisture accounting module, based on an enhanced version of the Thornthwaite model for the soil moisture reservoir, a Darcian multi-cell groundwater flow module and a module for partitioning water abstractions among water resources. The resulting integrated scheme is highly flexible in the choice of time (i.e. monthly to daily) and space scales (catchment scale, aquifer scale). Model calibration involved successive phases of manual and automatic sessions. For the latter, an innovative optimization method called evolutionary annealing-simplex algorithm is devised. The objective function involves weighted goodness-of-fit criteria for multiple variables with different observation periods, as well as penalty terms for restricting unrealistic water storage trends and deviations from observed intermittency of spring flows. Checks of the unmeasured catchment responses through manually changing parameter bounds guided choosing final parameter sets. The model is applied to the particularly complex Boeoticos Kephisos basin, Greece, where it accurately reproduced the main basin response, i.e. the runoff at its outlet, and also other important components. Emphasis is put on the principle of parsimony which resulted in a computationally effective modelling. This is crucial since the model is to be integrated within a stochastic simulation framework.     

Multi-layer perceptrons with Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm for suspended sediment concentration prediction and estimation / Prévision et estimation de la concentration en matières en suspension avec des perceptrons multi-couches et l’algorithme d’apprentissage de Levenberg-Marquardt

Abstract

Abstract The prediction and estimation of suspended sediment concentration are investigated by using multi-layer perceptrons (MLP). The fastest MLP training algorithm, that is the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, is used for optimization of the network weights for data from two stations on the Tongue River in Montana, USA. The first part of the study deals with prediction and estimation of upstream and down-stream station sediment data, separately, and the second part focuses on the estimation of downstream suspended sediment data by using data from both stations. In each case, the MLP test results are compared to those of generalized regression neural networks (GRNN), radial basis function (RBF) and multi-linear regression (MLR) for the best-input combinations. Based on the comparisons, it was found that the MLP generally gives better suspended sediment concentration estimates than the other neural network techniques and the conventional statistical method (MLR). However, for the estimation of maximum sediment peak, the RBF was mostly found to be better than the MLP and the other techniques. The results also indicate that the RBF and GRNN may provide better performance than the MLP in the estimation of the total sediment load.     

An investigation of lag times for rainfall–runoff–sediment yield events in small river basins / Une analyse des temps de réponse d'événements pluie–débit–transport solide au sein de petits bassins versants

Abstract

River basin lag time (LAG), defined as the elapsed time between the occurrence of the centroids of the effective rainfall intensity pattern and the storm runoff hydrograph, is an important factor in determining the time to peak and the peak value of the instantaneous unit hydrograph, IUH. In the procedure of predicting a sedimentgraph (suspended sediment load as a function of time), the equivalent parameter is the lag time for the sedimentgraph (LAG_s ), which is defined as the elapsed time between the occurrence of the centroids of sediment production during a storm event and the observed sedimentgraph at the gauging station. Results of analyses of rainfall, runoff and suspended sediment concentration event data collected from five small Carpathian basins in Poland and from a 2.31-ha agricultural basin, in central Illinois, USA have shown that LAG_s was, in the majority of cases, smaller than LAG, and that a significant linear relationship exists between LAG_s and LAG.     

Changes in concentration–discharge regression parameters due to coal mining and reclamation activities / Changements dans les paramètres de régression entre concentration et débit,causés par l’exploitation minière de charbon et des activités de reconversion

Abstract

Abstract Assessment of the impacts of mining and reclamation, and design of management practices to reduce chemical loads in stream channels, require knowledge of changing hydrological conditions and of changing sources and rates of release of chemicals into stream waters. One simple method for evaluating these impacts is to combine flow duration curves with regression relations between surface-water chemical concentrations (C) and instantaneous discharge (Q). However, little is known regarding the drainage basin-scale effects of mining and reclaiming drainage basins on regression relations. These effects were assessed on three small experimental drainage basins in Ohio subjected to surface mining for coal. Comparisons were made between regression parameter changes for natural/undisturbed conditions, land disturbances caused by mining and reclamation, incomplete reclamation, and the final condition of the reclaimed drainage basins. Regression analysis used a total of 5047 laboratory analyses of 36 constituents. Of 429 regressions, 153 (36%) were statistically significant. Knowledge of changes in regression parameters is important because regressions supply information on the rate of release and supply of chemical constituents in mined and reclaimed drainage basins. Duration curves of concentration and loads can be constructed using these regressions with flow–duration curves to give estimates of the percentage of time that concentrations and loads are exceeded during different phases of disturbance. This study assessed the changes in regression relations due to mining coal seams and reclamation activities for 36 chemical constituents, two mining methods, three reclamation practices and three distinct geologic settings.     

Investigation of the rainfall variability in central Tunisia / Investigations sur la variabilité pluviométrique en Tunisie centrale

Abstract

The decrease in runoff of the Merguellil basin, Tunisia recorded during the decade 1989–1998 led to the study of several time series derived from daily rainfall. It was found that variability characteristics related to daily rainfall greater than 30 mm are significantly different among successive time periods. In addition, the probability distributions of these rains, recorded at different raingauge sites, are significantly different between the period 1976–1989 and the prior and posterior observation periods. Furthermore, the surface covered by daily rains greater than 30 mm decreased between 1976 and 1989. It was also noted that the probability distributions of the surfaces covered changed significantly after 1976. The combination of human action and pluviometric variability (rainfall increase in the period 1989–1998, notably the increase in the number of days of rainfall greater than 30 mm) may explain the decrease in runoff of Merguellil Wadi.