Effects of heat/water flow interaction on compacted bentonite: Preliminary results

Compacted bentonite blocks have been heated and hydrated in a stainless steel cell in order to simulate, in the laboratory, the conditions of the clay barrier in a high-level radioactive waste repository. Temperature distributions at different times, rate of hydration, final water content and dry density have been measured. Some chemical parameters, as electrical conductivity in an aqueous extractable amorphous silica, have also been obtained. For the periods of time considered (up to 2500 h), the hydration process is not affected by the thermal gradient, the high suction of the bentonite being the critical factor in the initial water uptake of the clay barrier. A remarkable saline environment has been detected near the heater, due to salt migration towards dried areas. This phenomenon should be taken into account in further investigations of the mechanical and geochemical behaviour of the clay barrier.     

Segmentation and kinematics of the North America‐Caribbean plate boundary offshore Hispaniola

We explored the submarine portions of the Enriquillo–Plantain Garden Fault zone (EPGFZ) and the Septentrional–Oriente Fault zone (SOFZ) along the Northern Caribbean plate boundary using high‐resolution multibeam echo‐sounding and shallow seismic reflection. The bathymetric data shed light on poorly documented or previously unknown submarine fault zones running over 200 km between Haiti and Jamaica (EPGFZ) and 300 km between the Dominican Republic and Cuba (SOFZ). The primary plate‐boundary structures are a series of strike‐slip fault segments associated with pressure ridges, restraining bends, step overs and dogleg offsets indicating very active tectonics. Several distinct segments 50–100 km long cut across pre‐existing structures inherited from former tectonic regimes or bypass recent morphologies formed under the current strike‐slip regime. Along the most recent trace of the SOFZ, we measured a strike‐slip offset of 16.5 km, which indicates steady activity for the past ~1.8 Ma if its current GPS‐derived motion of 9.8 ± 2 mm a^?1 has remained stable during the entire Quaternary.     

Low-frequency sea-level fluctuations along the coasts of Namibia and South Africa

Summary. Sea-level records at nine ports along the coasts of Namibia and South Africa are used to establish the existence of coastal trapped disturbances in sea-level as a response to the passage of synoptic weather systems. Using spectral analysis the characteristics and spatial variability of the sea-level fluctuations are identified. The results of cross-correlation analyses performed on sea-level data at adjacent ports for two periods during 1982 are discussed in detail to examine the propagation of coastal trapped waves round the coast.     

Lensing, reddening and extinction effects of Mg ii absorbers from z= 0.4 to 2

Using a sample of almost 7000 strong Mg  ii absorbers with   W ₀ > 1 Å  and  0.4 < z < 2.2  detected in the SDSS DR4 data set, we investigate the gravitational lensing and dust extinction effects they induce on background quasars. After carefully quantifying several selection biases, we isolate the reddening effects as a function of redshift and absorber rest equivalent width, W ₀. We find the amount of dust to increase with cosmic time as  τ( z ) ∝ (1 + z )^−1.1±0.4  , following the evolution of cosmic star density or integrated star formation rate. We measure the reddening effects over a factor of 30 in E ( B − V ) and we find that  τ∝ ( W ₀)^1.9±0.1  , providing us with an important scaling for theoretical modelling of metal absorbers. We also measure the dust-to-metal ratio and find it similar to that of the Milky Way. In contrast to previous studies, we do not detect any gravitational magnification by Mg  ii systems. We measure the upper limit  μ < 1.10  and discuss the origin of the discrepancy. Finally, we estimate the fraction of absorbers missed due to extinction effects and show that it rises from 1 to 50 per cent in the range  1 < W ₀ < 6 Å  . We parametrize this effect and provide a correction for recovering the intrinsic  ∂ N /∂ W ₀  distribution.     

The roles of surface heat flux and ocean heat transport convergence in determining Atlantic Ocean temperature variability

The temperature variability of the Atlantic Ocean is investigated using an eddy-permitting (1/4°) global ocean model (ORCA-025) forced with historical surface meteorological fields from 1958 to 2001. The simulation of volume-averaged temperature and the vertical structure of the zonally averaged temperature trends are compared with those from observations. In regions with a high number of observations, in particular above a depth of 500 m and between 22° N and 65° N, the model simulation and the dataset are in good agreement. The relative contribution of variability in ocean heat transport (OHT) convergence and net surface heat flux to changes in ocean heat content is investigated with a focus on three regions: the subpolar and subtropical gyres and the tropics. The surface heat flux plays a relatively minor role in year-to-year changes in the subpolar and subtropical regions, but in the tropical North Atlantic, its role is of similar significance to the ocean heat transport convergence. The strongest signal during the study period is a cooling of the subpolar gyre between 1970 and 1990, which subsequently reversed as the mid-latitude OHT convergence transitioned from an anomalously weak to an anomalously strong state. We also explore whether model OHT anomalies can be linked to surface flux anomalies through a Hovmöller analysis of the Atlantic sector. At low latitudes, increased ocean heat gain coincides with anomalously strong northward transport, whereas at mid-high latitudes, reduced ocean heat loss is associated with anomalously weak heat transport.     

Climatic Warming in the Spanish Mediterranean: Natural Trend or Urban Effect

The evolution of the mean annual temperatures recordedin the major historical network of SpanishMediterranean observatories(36°N–45°/60°W–4°E)exhibits a significant warming trend. Analysis of thetrend is difficult and could be biased by non-climaticprocesses such as the urban effect and weather stationrelocation, which also need to be taken intoaccount.The present work examines the effects of non-climaticprocesses and shows that most of the temperature risecould be due to an urban effect. On correcting for theurban effect, the actual rise was found to be zero ornegligible. The assumption of temperature stability inthe Spanish Mediterranean should thereforenot be rejected.     

Institutional dimensions of climate change adaptation: insights from the Philippines

Understanding the institutional dimensions of climate change adaptation (CCA) is critical to the adaptation process. The institutional changes that follow the introduction of a CCA measure affect certain areas of governance, including social, political, policy, and other domains that are already exposed to prevailing institutions. Thus, understanding CCA necessitates analysis of the interplays between and among institutions that exist within a hierarchical structure, as well as the examination of how institutions across different scales define the challenges in CCA implementation. This article contributes to this discussion by investigating the challenges in mainstreaming CCA into local land use planning in Albay, Philippines. It applies a four-stage mixed methodology and uses a modified Institutional Analysis and Development framework as its primary analytical guide. Its findings imply that: (1) mainstreaming CCA is a multi-scale, multi-setting endeavour; (2) mainstreaming CCA operationalization involves networks of interacting institutions and institutional arrangements; and (3) addressing the challenges in mainstreaming needs extensive institutional transformations that reach across the various institutional settings within these networks.

POLICY RELEVANCE

This article advocates that, in designing strategies to address the challenges in mainstreaming CCA, analysts, planners, and policy makers must understand that the challenges exist within a network of institutional settings, and that these challenges encompass a chain of institutional interactions or interplays within this network. Accordingly, overcoming these challenges necessitates broad institutional reforms that go beyond the institutional setting where CCA is to be mainstreamed. Moreover, this article suggests that CCA policy making and analysis must focus on the vertical, horizontal, and network linkages and relationships created by institutional arrangements, as well as on the interplays facilitated by these arrangements. More importantly, there is a need to determine whether the institutional interplays between and among existing and planned institutions are complementary, counterproductive, conflicting, overlapping, neutral, or coexisting. Such knowledge will assist policy makers and analysts to understand the existing and potential barriers to, as well as identify opportunities for, adaptation. Consequently, the solutions to address the barriers, and the strategies that can take advantage of the opportunities, can be formulated effectively.     

The late thermal history of the Ronda area, southern Spain

The Betic–Rif belt, in the western Mediterranean, experienced a pre-Alpine history and was later extensively reworked by major Alpine tectonics. There is abundant data showing that the Betic chain suffered very high cooling rates during its Alpine history, constrained mainly by geochronology using various isotopic systems and by palaeontological age determinations. In the westernmost part of the chain the high closure-temperature isotopic systems recorded Miocene high-grade metamorphism in the country rocks. In order to constrain the later stages of cooling, fission-track analysis has been applied to both zircon and apatite. The results point to extremely high rates of cooling (400 °C/Ma) between 21 and 19 Ma. Rates slowed to 100 °C/Ma for the time period 19 to about 12 Ma. The fission-track analysis also confirms the existence of an extensional tectonic stage between 19 and 17 Ma.     

Detection of Cyclic Patterns Using Wavelets: An Example Study in the Ormskirk Sandstone, Irish Sea

This study shows how wavelet analysis can be used on well log and drill core data to identify cyclicity in sedimentary sequences. Three possible methods for determining wavelength were investigated: the Morlet wavelet, the Fourier transform, and the semivariogram. When applied to several hypothetical signals similar to those observed in petrophysical measurements in hydrocarbon reservoirs, all three methods could identify the presence of cyclicity. Only the wavelet scalogram, however, gave a clear indication of when the cyclic element was present and where frequency changes occurred in the signal. To illustrate the wavelet analysis, we processed well log and core data from a well in the Ormskirk Sandstone and determined the wavelet coefficients for each zone and the wavelengths of the strongest cyclicities. The cyclicities observed corresponded well with sedimentary features of the formation (e.g., channels and channel sets). Also, ratios of the cyclicity wavelengths corresponded with ratios of the Milankovitch precession, obliquity, and eccentricity periods. This result is in agreement with other investigators, who have proposed that Milankovitch-driven climate changes exercised an important control on Ormskirk Sandstone deposition.     

The influence of halokinesis on prograding clinoforms: Insights from the Tiddlybanken Basin,Norwegian Barents Sea

Although the trajectory and geometry of clinoforms in different types of basins have been described in many studies, few studies discuss the influence of halokinesis on clinoforms in salt-related basins. In this study, we analyse the Lower Cretaceous clinoforms in the Tiddlybanken Basin, Norwegian Barents Sea to evaluate the impact of salt mobilization on the geometry and trajectory of clinoforms as well as its implications on sediment partitioning. To accomplish this objective, we use a multidisciplinary approach consisting of seismic and well-interpretation, 3D structural restoration, and forward stratigraphic modelling. The results show that salt mobilization affects prograding clinoforms by: (a) causing lateral variations in progradation rates, resulting in complex palaeogeography, (b) increasing slope angles, which affect the equilibrium of the clinoform profile and can trigger slope-readjustment processes and (c) producing lateral and temporal variations in accommodation space, leading to different clinoform trajectories, stacking patterns and reservoir distribution along the basin. Forward stratigraphic modelling shows that in salt-related basins and other tectonically active basins, the isolated use of conventional methods for clinoform analysis might lead to potential interpretation pitfalls such as misinterpretation of trajectories and overestimation of foreset angles, which can have negative consequences for exploration models.