Geological characteristics of 2011 Japan tsunami sediments deposited along the coast of southwestern Mexico

The tsunami of 11th March 2011 was originated at the east coast of Japan and deposited ca.1 cm thick sediment layer along the coast of southwestern Mexico up to a maximum distance of 320 m from the beach. The sedimentological, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the sediments deposited during the tsunami (JT) are compared with the pre-tsunami sediments (PRT). JT sediments consist of dominant coarser fractions (>54% of medium to coarse sand), whereas PRT deposits comprise abundant finer fractions (>58% of fine sand). Assemblage of mafic and heavy minerals suggests similar provenance for both. The higher abundance and variation of heavy minerals along with higher concentrations of bromine (Br) and sodium (Na) in the JT deposits reveal the influence of high energy sea waves in transportation of heavy mineral rich coarse sediments onto the coastal lowlands.     

Balancing groundwater conservation and rural livelihoods under water and climate uncertainties: An integrated hydro-economic modeling framework

In arid countries worldwide, social conflicts between irrigation-based human development and the conservation of aquatic ecosystems are widespread and attract many public debates. This research focuses on the analysis of water and agricultural policies aimed at conserving groundwater resources and maintaining rural livelihoods in a basin in Spain's central arid region. Intensive groundwater mining for irrigation has caused overexploitation of the basin's large aquifer, the degradation of reputed wetlands and has given rise to notable social conflicts over the years. With the aim of tackling the multifaceted socio-ecological interactions of complex water systems, the methodology used in this study consists in a novel integration into a common platform of an economic optimization model and a hydrology model WEAP (Water Evaluation And Planning system). This robust tool is used to analyze the spatial and temporal effects of different water and agricultural policies under different climate scenarios. It permits the prediction of different climate and policy outcomes across farm types (water stress impacts and adaptation), at basin's level (aquifer recovery), and along the policies’ implementation horizon (short and long run). Results show that the region's current quota-based water policies may contribute to reduce water consumption in the farms but will not be able to recover the aquifer and will inflict income losses to the rural communities. This situation would worsen in case of drought. Economies of scale and technology are evidenced as larger farms with cropping diversification and those equipped with modern irrigation will better adapt to water stress conditions. However, the long-term sustainability of the aquifer and the maintenance of rural livelihoods will be attained only if additional policy measures are put in place such as the control of illegal abstractions and the establishing of a water bank. Within the policy domain, the research contributes to the new sustainable development strategy of the EU by concluding that, in water-scarce regions, effective integration of water and agricultural policies is essential for achieving the water protection objectives of the EU policies. Therefore, the design and enforcement of well-balanced region-specific polices is a major task faced by policy makers for achieving successful water management that will ensure nature protection and human development at tolerable social costs. From a methodological perspective, this research initiative contributes to better address hydrological questions as well as economic and social issues in complex water and human systems. Its integrated vision provides a valuable illustration to inform water policy and management decisions within contexts of water-related conflicts worldwide.     

A new hypothesis for the origin of the supposed giant snail Dinocochlea from the Wealden of Sussex, England

When first described in 1922, Dinocochlea ingens, an Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) fossil from the Wadhurst Clay Formation (Wealden) of Hastings in Sussex, England, was regarded as the steinkern of a huge gastropod over 2 m in length and claimed to be the largest gastropod ever to have lived. Most subsequent researchers have doubted the identity of D. ingens as a gastropod, usually believing it to be a pseudofossil, but no convincing explanation has been proposed for its origin. Restudy of the type material leads to the new hypothesis that Dinocochlea originated as a horizontal, corkscrew-shaped burrow resembling Helicodromites that acted as a nucleus for concretion growth. Sectioned specimens of Dinocochlea are filled with concentrically banded sediment interpreted to be growth rings of a concretion. Modification of a computer simulation designed to illustrate gastropod shell growth shows how the development of a concretion around a corkscrew-shaped burrow could lead to the morphology seen in Dinocochlea. The most likely tracemaker for Dinocochlea was a capitellid polychaete (‘threadworm’) with a body just a few mm in diameter.     

Concentration of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in sediment cores of Sundarban mangrove wetland, northeastern part of Bay of Bengal (India)

The paper presents the first comprehensive survey of congener profiles (12 congeners) of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in core sediment samples (<63 microm) covering seven sites in Sundarban mangrove wetland (India). Gas-chromatographic analyses were carried out in GC-Ms/Ms for tri- to hepta- brominated congeners. Results pointed out a non-homogenous contamination of the wetland with summation operator(12) PBDE values ranging from 0.08 to 29.03 ngg(-1), reflecting moderate to low contamination closely in conformity to other Asian aquatic environments. The general order of decreasing congener contribution to the total load was: BDE 47>99>100>154, similar to the distribution pattern worldwide. Although tetrabromodiphenyl ether BDE 47 was found in all samples followed by hexabromodiphenyl ether BDE-154, they were not necessarily the dominant congeners. No uniform temporal trend on PBDE levels was recorded probably due to particular hydrological characteristics of the wetland and/on non-homologous inputs from point sources (untreated municipal wastewater and local industries, electronic wastes from the dump sites, etc.) of these compounds. Because of the propensity of PBDEs to accumulate in various compartments of wildlife and human food webs, evaluation of biological tissues should be undertaken as a high priority.     

An experiment-based assessment of the feasibility of the CO2 geological storage in unexploited coal beds in northern Spain

The storage of CO₂ in unused coal mines is a viable option for reducing emissions of CO₂, whose accumulation in the atmosphere is one of the main contributors to global warming. Understanding CO₂ behaviour and storage capacity of the coal is an important first step before injecting the CO₂. We used experimental equipment to extract coal from a mine and to obtain a representative sample of both its internal structure (in terms of cleats, macropores, mesopores and micropores) and occluded gases. Storage capacity was studied in terms of variations in gas pressure. The adsorption isotherm was experimentally obtained applying a procedure specifically designed to avoid altering the coal. An unused coal bed was selected to determine how much CO₂ it could adsorb and to study the feasibility of storing power plant CO₂ in this kind of mine.     

The pollen counts as bioindicator of meteorological trends and tool for assessing the status of endangered species: the case of Artemisia in Sierra Nevada (Spain)

This study sought to analyse the effects of climate change on Artemisia species growing in Sierra Nevada, a high mountain range in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, using pollen counts as a bioindicator. The study also examined the impact of Recovery Programmes implemented for the most endangered of these species. Analysis of historical Artemisia pollen-data series from 1992 to 2011 showed that flowering took place between late July and late September, but the trend towards higher summer temperatures detected over the series as a whole appeared to have delayed the start of flowering and brought forward the end of flowering, thus prompting a shortening of the season. A trend was also observed towards a delayed peak pollen period, together with a significant decline in the Annual Pollen Index, which was significantly influenced by rainfall over the months immediately prior to flowering. Recovery Programmes implemented for three species—Artemisia granatensis, A. alba subsp. nevadensis and A. umbelliformis—involved conservation measures including direct seeding and planting of seedlings. From the outset, these programmes led to a recovery of the Pollen Index, especially when using germinated seedlings, which adapted better than seeds to environmental conditions. In conclusion, pollen records proved to be a useful tool for assessing the status of endangered species.     

Changes of erosive rainfall for El Niño and La Niña years in the northern Andean highlands of Peru

Information related to rainfall erosivity in the Andes is scarce. This study was carried out to determine the characteristics of rainfall events at the La Encañada watershed, northern Peru, using daily rainfall data from the 1995 to 2000 period that included all the El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases. Three weather stations were installed within the study area, at the top, middle and bottom of the watershed. We analysed the total amount, duration, intensity, kinetic energy and probability of return of rainfall events. In general, 80% of the rainfall events at watershed level had an average rainfall intensity lower than 2.5 mm h^?1 and only 4% had an average intensity larger than 7.5 mm h^?1. Rainfall erosivity registered at the bottom of the watershed was slightly higher than in the rest of the area. The highest intensities were observed during an El Niño year whereas a La Niña year was characterized by the highest amount of total rainfall compared to the other ENSO phases and by the low intensity rain events. Simulations using the WEPP model estimated higher sediment yield and runoff for the bottom of the watershed during a La Niña year versus El Niño or Neutral years. Even when the analysed rainfall data was too limited to conclude erosion and runoff during any ENSO phase, the simulated results showed us the trend of the behaviour of rainfall erosivity under the ENSO phases at different locations.     

Toward reduction of artifacts in fused images

Most fusion satellite image methodologies at pixel-level introduce false spatial details, i.e. artifacts, in the resulting fused images. In many cases, these artifacts appears because image fusion methods do not consider the differences in roughness or textural characteristics between different land covers. They only consider the digital values associated with single pixels. This effect increases as the spatial resolution image increases. To minimize this problem, we propose a new paradigm based on local measurements of the fractal dimension (FD). Fractal dimension maps (FDMs) are generated for each of the source images (panchromatic and each band of the multi-spectral images) with the box-counting algorithm and by applying a windowing process. The average of source image FDMs, previously indexed between 0 and 1, has been used for discrimination of different land covers present in satellite images. This paradigm has been applied through the fusion methodology based on the discrete wavelet transform (DWT), using the à trous algorithm (WAT). Two different scenes registered by optical sensors on board FORMOSAT-2 and IKONOS satellites were used to study the behaviour of the proposed methodology. The implementation of this approach, using the WAT method, allows adapting the fusion process to the roughness and shape of the regions present in the image to be fused. This improves the quality of the fused images and their classification results when compared with the original WAT method.     

The Southern Region of Peru Earthquake of June 23rd, 2001

The western border of South America is one of the most important seismogenic regions in the world. In this region the most damaging earthquake ever recorded occurred. In June 23rd, 2001, another very strong earthquake (Mw = 8.1–8.2) occurred and produced death and damages in the whole southern region of Peru. This earthquake was originated by a friction process between Nazca and South American plates and affected an area of about 300 km × 120 km defined by the distribution of more than 220 aftershocks recorded by a local seismic network that operated 20 days. The epicenter of the main shock was localized in the northwestern extremity of the aftershock area, which suggests that the rupture propagated towards the SE direction. The modeling of P-wave for teleseismic distances permitted to define a focal mechanism of reverse type with NW-SE oriented nodal planes and a possible fault plane moving beneath almost horizontally in NE direction. The source time function (STF) suggests a complex process of rupture during 85 sec with 2 successive sources. The second one of greater size, and located approximately 100–120 km toward the SE direction was estimated to have a rupture velocity of about 2 km/sec on a 28°-dipping plane to the SE (N135°). A second event happened 45 sec after the first one with an epicenter 130km farther to the SE and a complex STF. This event and the second source of the main shock caused a Tsunami with waves from 7 to 8 meters that propagated almost orthogonally to the coast line, by affecting mainly the Camaná area.Three of all the aftershocks presented magnitudes greater or equal to Mw = 6.6, two of them occurred in front of the cities of Ilo and Mollendo (June 26th and July 7th) with focal mechanisms similar to the main seismic event. The aftershock of July 5th shows a normal mechanism at a depth of 75 km, and is therefore most likely located within the subducting Nazca plate and not in the coupling. The aftershocks of June 26th (Mw = 6.6) and July 5th (Mw = 6.6) show simple short duration STF. The aftershock of July 7th (Mw = 7.5) with 27-second duration suggests a complex process of energy release with the possible occurrence of a secondary shock with lower focal depth and focal mechanism of inverse type with a great lateral component. Simple and composed focal mechanisms were elaborated for the aftershocks and all have similar characteristics to the main earthquake.The earthquake of June 23rd caused major damages in the whole southern Peru. The damage in towns of Arequipa, Moquegua allow to consider maximum intensities from 6 to 7 (MSK79). In Alto de la Alianza and Ciudad Nueva zones from Tacna, the maximum intensity was of 7⁻ (MSK79).     

Detrital provenance of the Grenvillian Oaxacan Complex,southern Mexico: a zircon perspective

The Oaxacan Complex is the largest exposure of Grenvillian-age rocks in Mexico, constituting the backbone of the Oaxaquia microcontinent. Whereas the main rock-forming events were previously established at 1,150–1,200 Ma (charnockite–syenite–gabbros), 1,020 Ma (AMCG suite), 990 Ma (granulite-facies metamorphism), and ca. 970 Ma post-tectonic pegmatites, no data are yet available to establish provenance links with other Grenville-age terranes. In this work, we studied detrital zircons belonging to 12 samples, all metamorphosed under granulite facies but variably affected by retrogression. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry U–Pb geochronology was employed on selected zircons to determine their crystallization age and geochemistry. The results of the analysis of about 100 crystals per sample show that the studied zircons range between ca. 940 and 1,400 Ma, with only three samples having zircons between 1,400 and 1,600 Ma, and only one showing older zircons up to ca. 1,775 Ma. Whereas some of the slightly discordant (1–5 %) zircons in several samples show ages younger than the granulite metamorphism (probably as a result of Pb loss), and thus a disturbed geochemical pattern (abnormal enrichment in LREE, decreasing HREE), a few metamorphic zircons show flat and depleted HREE patterns, contrasting with the igneous pattern of older zircons (positive Ce anomaly, negative Eu anomaly, enriched HREE pattern). The main distributions observed using the kernel density estimator diagrams fall in the range 975–995 Ma (six samples), 1,100 Ma (four samples) and 1,120–1,170 Ma (six samples). Only the southernmost sample shows a marked peak at ca. 1,400 Ma. The application of the Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K–S) statistical test to the studied samples and particularly the comparison of obtained P values yield interesting similarities. Overall, two sample groups show internal similarities, i.e., they may belong to the same source area, whereas only one sample is dissimilar, failing to pass the K–S test. Comparison of these data with the timing of comparable events in the Sveconorwegian orogens, the Sunsas and Rondonia-San Ignacio belts of Amazonia, and some of the Precambrian massifs cropping out in the Andes help to constrain possible Mesoproterozoic conjugate margins of Oaxaquia.