Depositional and post‐depositional history of warm stage deposits at Knocknacran,Co. Monaghan,Ireland: implications for preservation of Irish last interglacial deposits

Organic‐rich deposits, uncovered during overburden removal from mantled gypsum karst at Knocknacran opencast gypsum mine, Co. Monaghan, are the best candidate to date for a last interglacial record in Ireland. The two till and organic‐rich deposits (preserved at different quarry elevations) were emplaced on to a Tertiary dolerite surface during high‐energy flood events and subsequently folded and faulted by movement towards sinkholes in underlying gypsum. Uranium–thorium disequilibrium dating suggests that the organic‐rich deposits in the upper section were hydrologically isolated at ca. 41 ka and those in the lower section at ca. 86 ka. Interpretation of the pollen content, although tentative because of the depositional and post‐depositional history of the material, suggests that the organic material originated in a warm stage possibly warmer than the post‐Eemian interstadials. The unusual setting of preservation may indicate that in situ, last interglacial deposits have generally been removed by erosion in Ireland. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of acid deposition on base cation cycling in a karstic-forested catchment： Evidence from strontium isotopes

Bedrock weathering and atmospheric deposition are the two primary sources of base cations （K^＋, Na^＋, Ca^2＋ and Mg^2＋） to forest ecosystems. Therefore, the key problem is to understand the relative inputs from these two sources and the cycling in the ecosystem. This study focuses on the effects of acid deposition on cation cycling in a small-forested karstic catchment in Guizhou Province. Sr isotope ratios were used as a tracer for understanding the transport process between the different cation pools： rock, soil, surface water, atmospheric deposition and plant. The samples of wet deposition, total deposition, throughfall, surface and ground waters, vegetation, and soil were monthly collected. The exchangeable Sr^2＋ and Ca^2＋ in soil samples were extracted by using 1 M ammonium acetate. The leaf-tissue samples were ashed at 550℃, and the residue was digested in ultrapure HClO4 and HNO3. All water samples were filtrated through 0.45 μm aperture filter paper. Base cation concentrations and Sr isotopic composition were analyzed for all the samples. The results show that acid deposition （average pH 4.9） frequently occurred in the studied region. Cation abundance follows an increasing manner from rainwater, throughfall, to surface water or ground water samples, suggesting that acid deposition at first eiuviates Ca^2＋ , Mg^2＋ and Sr^2＋ from leaf, then the exchangeable cations from soil, and at last cations accumulate in surface water or ground water.     

The changing role of hydrogeology in semi-arid southern and eastern Africa

Much of southern and eastern Africa is semi-arid and heavily groundwater dependent. Borehole drilling commenced over a hundred years ago with magnetic and electrical resistivity surveys for borehole siting being introduced from 1936. Formalised training of hydrogeologists led in the 1970s to an almost standard approach to hydrogeological investigation and a period of stability followed, during which some major investigations were carried out. A period of decentralisation and fragmentation has since taken place in many parts of southern and eastern Africa, and groundwater monitoring and management are inadequate in many countries. All but six of the 14 SADC (Southern African Development Community) member states reportedly have an adequate monitoring network in place. However, groundwater demand is increasing and hydrogeologists need to promote the use of appropriate methodologies as an essential part of tackling the severe issues now facing the water sector in the region.     

Temperature dependence of large-scale water-retention curves: a case study

A local-scale model for temperature-dependence of water-retention curves may be applicable to large scales. Consideration of this temperature dependence is important for modeling unsaturated flow and transport in the subsurface in numerous cases. Although significant progress has been made in understanding and modeling this temperature effect, almost all the previous studies have been limited to small scales (on the order of several centimeters). Numerical experiments were used to investigate the possibility of extending a local-scale model for the temperature-dependence of water retention curves to large scales (on the order of meters). Temperature effects on large-scale hydraulic properties are of interest in many practical applications. Numerical experiment results indicate that the local-scale model can indeed be applicable to large-scale problems for special porous media with high air entry values. A typical porous medium of this kind is the porous tuff matrix in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the proposed geologic disposal site for national high-level nuclear wastes. Whether this finding can approximately hold for general cases needs to be investigated in future studies.     

Identifying and quantifying urban recharge: a review

The sources of and pathways for groundwater recharge in urban areas are more numerous and complex than in rural environments. Buildings, roads, and other surface infrastructure combine with man-made drainage networks to change the pathways for precipitation. Some direct recharge is lost, but additional recharge can occur from storm drainage systems. Large amounts of water are imported into most cities for supply, distributed through underground pipes, and collected again in sewers or septic tanks. The leaks from these pipe networks often provide substantial recharge. Sources of recharge in urban areas are identified through piezometry, chemical signatures, and water balances. All three approaches have problems. Recharge is quantified either by individual components (direct recharge, water-mains leakage, septic tanks, etc.) or holistically. Working with individual components requires large amounts of data, much of which is uncertain and is likely to lead to large uncertainties in the final result. Recommended holistic approaches include the use of groundwater modelling and solute balances, where various types of data are integrated. Urban recharge remains an under-researched topic, with few high-quality case studies reported in the literature. Electronic Publication     

Phénomènes karstiques fossiles et actuels au sein des formations métamorphiques silico-alumineuses de la nappe pan-africaine de Yaoundé (Sud-Cameroun)Fossil and present-time karstic phenomena in silico-aluminous metamorphic formations of the Pan-African nappe of Yaoundé (South-Cameroon)

Numerous karstic features have been recognised in the non-carbonaceous micaschists and gneisses of the Yaoundé Pan-African nappe, south of Cameroon. It is shown that their formation was controlled by the structural features of the rocks. The wells and the pipes in the bedrock outcrops point out a current karstification process, resulting from the plagioclase dissolution by the acid rain waters. Hill wall alveoli and caves, of pre-Miocene age, are exhumed features that were done by dissolution in the aquiferous underground. To cite this article: J.-P. Vicat et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 545–550.     

高密度电法勘探在岩溶查找中的应用

介绍了武汉市汤逊湖污水处理厂厂址的地质概况和地球物理特征，以及高密度电法勘探的施工方案，分析了视电阻率异常特征，并说明了其异常验证情况。高密度电法勘探结果表明该区存在溶洞，为施工提供了决策依据，建议在有溶洞的地段采取相应措施，以防止工程建设后发生地质灾害。     

ON BIO-EFFECTS ON KARST LANDSCAPE IN JIUZHAIGOU CONSERVATION, SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA—WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO A MICROMORPHOLOFICAL APPROACH

1.ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈｏｎｂｉｏｋａｒｓｔｓｔｒｅｔｃｈｆｒｏｍｎｉｎｅｔｅｅｎｔｈｃｅｎｔｕｒｙ,ｙｅｔｏｎｌｙｒｅｃｅｎｔｌｙ,ｍｏｒｅｅｆｆｉｃｉｅｎｔａｎｄｓｙｓｔｅｍａｔｉｃｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈｈａｓｂｅｅｎｐｕｔｆｏｒｗａｒｄｗｉｔｈｔｈｅａｐｐｅａｒａｎｃｅｏｆｒｅｌａｔｅｄｓｐｅｃｉａｌｔｅｒｍｉｎｏｌｏｇｙａｎｄｄｅｔａｉｌｅｄｒｅｖｉｅｗｓ[3,11,30,3638],ａｎｄｉｔｓｅｅｍｓｔｈａｔｔｈｅｒｅｉｓｓｔｉｌｌｌａｃｋｏｆｂｉｏｋａｒｓｔｉｎａｌｐｉｎｅｅｎｖｉｒｏ…     

APPROACH TO KARST SOLUTION PROCESS RESPONSES ON CLIMATE

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＳｏｌｕｔｉｏｎａｓａｋａｒｓｔｇｅｏｍｏｒｐｈｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｐｒｏｃｅｓｓｉｎｌａｎｄｆｏｒｍｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔｈａｓｌｏｎｇｂｅｅｎｒｅｃｏｇｎｉｚｅｄ.Ｓｉｎｃｅｔｈｅｋａｒｓｔｐｒｏｃｅｓｓｅｓａｒｅａｌｍｏｓｔｅｎｔｉｒｅｌｙｓｏｌｕｔｉｏｎ,ｔｈｏｕｇｈｋａｒｓｔｌａｎｄｆｏｒｍｓａｒｅｎｏｔｏｎｌｙｃａｕｓｅｄｂｙｓｏｌｕｔｉｏｎｂｕｔａｌｓｏｂｙｅｒｏｓｉｏｎ,ｔｈｅｃｉｒｃｕｌａｔｉｏｎａｎｄｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌｃｏｍｐｏｓｉｔｉｏｎｓｏｆｋａｒｓｔｕｎ…     

Geostatistical regionalization of glacial aquitard thickness in northwestern Germany, based on fuzzy kriging

In many instances hydrogeological parameters obtained by conventional methods for selected localities within an aquifer or an aquitard are not sufficient for adequate regionalization at the scale of the entire layer. Here, we demonstrate an application of the fuzzy kriging method in regionalization of hydrogeological data, in which the set of conventional, crisp values is supplemented by imprecise information subjectively estimated by an expert. It is believed that such an approach eventually may reflect the real-world conditions more closely than a traditional crisp-value approach, because the former does not impose exactness artificially on phenomena which are diffuse by their nature. Spatial interpolation was done for the thickness of one of the major aquitards (till and glaciolacustrine clay) in northwestern Germany. The dataset consists of 329 crisp values from boreholes supplemented by 172 imprecise values defined as fuzzy numbers. It is demonstrated that the reliability of regionalization was higher, compared to regionalization performed with the crisp dataset only. Fuzzy kriging was performed with FUZZEKS (Fuzzy Evaluation and Kriging System) developed at the Ecosystem Research Center at the University of Kiel.