Computation of Large Anisotropic Seismic Heterogeneities (CLASH)

A general tomographic technique is designed in order (i) to operate in anisotropic media; (ii) to account for the uneven seismic sampling and (iii) to handle massive data sets in a reasonable computing time. One modus operandi to compute a 3-D body wave velocity model relies on surface wave phase velocity measurements. An intermediate step, shared by other approaches, consists in translating, for each period of a given mode branch, the phase velocities integrated along ray paths into local velocity perturbations. To this end, we develop a method, which accounts for the azimuthal anisotropy in its comprehensive form. The weakly non-linear forward problem allows to use a conjugate gradient optimization. The Earth's surface is regularly discretized and the partial derivatives are assigned to the individual grid points. Possible lack of lateral resolution, due to the inescapable uneven ray path coverage, is taken into account through the a priori covariances on parameters with laterally variable correlation lengths. This method allows to efficiently separate the 2ψ and the 4ψ anisotropic effects from the isotropic perturbations. Fundamental mode and overtone phase velocity maps, derived with real Rayleigh wave data sets, are presented and compared with previous maps. The isotropic models concur well with the results of Trampert & Woodhouse. Large 4ψ heterogeneities are located in the tectonically active regions and over the continental lithospheres such as North America, Antarctica or Australia. At various periods, a significant 4ψ signature is correlated with the Hawaii hotspot track. Finally, concurring with the conclusions of Trampert & Woodhouse, our phase velocity maps show that Rayleigh wave data sets do need both 2ψ and 4ψ anisotropic terms.     

Planation, bauxites and epeirogeny: One or two paleosurfaces on the West African margin?

Mapping of lateritic bauxites over the West African rifted margin and analysis of the geomorphic properties of these bauxites, combined with available geological data lead to a discussion of the presence of either two Meso-Cenozoic planation surfaces or a single Eocene surface to account for the morphotectonic and paleoclimatic evolution of the Guinean landforms. At large scale, two stepped bauxitic levels are documented. Ongoing or episodic uplift following Gondwana breakup and Meso-Cenozoic climate change are proposed to have allowed the formation and abandonment of an Early mid-Cretaceous surface today preserved as the higher bauxitic level, and the setting of an Eocene planation surface bearing a second generation of bauxites, making the lower bauxitic level. The single Eocene surface hypothesis requires that Paleogene bauxitization preserved large pre-existing relief to explain two stepped bauxitic levels of the same age. The two-surface hypothesis is favored because it would explain rebauxitization of alluvial pebbles of bauxites under the lower lateritic level.     

Spatio-temporal dynamics of land cover and land surface temperature in Ganges-Brahmaputra delta: A comparative analysis between India and Bangladesh

Land use and land cover (LULC) change in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta (GBD) poses significant challenges towards future environmental sustainability of the region and requires regional scale monitoring of key bio-physical variables and changes in their inter-relationship over space and time. Focusing on the southern part of the lower GBD region along the international border of India and Bangladesh, this study examined the spatio-temporal variability of LULC change and its relationship with Land Surface Temperature (LST). Furthermore, LULC-LST relationships were compared between Indian and Bangladesh part and its trend in and around big cities (with more than 1 million population) and towns (with more than 100,000 population) was investigated. Results showed that LST changes were predominantly driven by LULC changes on both sides of the border. Urban growth is the dominant form of LULC change, and the rate of land change was faster in 2005–2010 time period than 1989–2005. Over the period of 21 years, mean January LST decreased by approximately 1.83 °C in Indian part and 1.85 °C in the Bangladesh part. Areas that changed from to rural from agricultural experienced decrease in mean LST, whereas those areas that changed to urban from either agriculture or rural, experienced increase in mean LST. The relationship between LULC and LST are same on both sides of the Indo-Bangladesh border. In bigger cities like Kolkata (in India) and Khulna (in Bangladesh), there is a high spatial variability in relationship between LULC and LST compared to large towns. The LULC-LST relationship in large towns in India was influenced by proximity to Kolkata and coastal areas, whereas in Bangladesh no such influence was evident. The results and the data produced in this study are crucial for monitoring LULC changes, for developing spatial decision support system, and thus will be helpful to address the current challenges of land management in the GBD region. Changes in the LULC and LST are important indicators of GBD's environmental health and access its vulnerability and thus the present findings serve as baseline information for future studies seeking to examine the impact of differential policies on the LULC change in the region.     

COMPARING TRADITIONAL METHODS FOR SELECTING CLASS INTERVALS ON CHOROPLETH MAPS*

The most common goal when classing data for choropleth maps is to create homogeneous classes which contain similar data values. None of the four traditional data classing methods examined here (quartile, equal interval, standard deviation, and natural breaks) consistently generalized the experimental data sets into homogeneous classes. These methods were most accurate for data sets with specific distributional characteristics, but none classed all of any type of distribution accurately. Only the optimization method produced reliable and accurate results for all of the experimental data.