Recharge and salinization in the Madrid Basin

The purpose of this work was to reinvestigate the existing hydrogeological conceptual model of the basin of Madrid, Spain. A cumulative chemical isotopic diagram which enabled the distinction between different groups of water as well as calculation of the mode of their blending was used for this investigation. It was found that the groups of discharge were lighter in their isotopic composition than that of recharge. The previous explanation of this fact, backed by carbon-14 dating, was the long residence time due to flow lines going down to depths of more than 1000 m. This flow model assumes homogenous conditions to these depths. This assumption can not be supported by evidence from deep wells. Thus a modified model is suggested which maintains homogenous conditions only to about 300 m and a deep confined aquifer below containing paleowater. The higher degree of depletion of this water has been explained by a colder climate on top of an altitude effect. Another interesting observation was the correlation between the isotopic composition of the rains, the month of the rain event and the composition of the recharge group groundwater. It could be seen that the winter rains resemble the groundwater composition, which shows that practically all the spring and summer rains were evapotranspirated.     

Late Holocene relative sea level rise and the Neoglacial history of the Greenland ice sheet

In West Greenland, early and mid Holocene relative sea level (RSL) fall was replaced by late Holocene RSL rise during the Neoglacial, after 4–3 cal. ka BP (thousand calibrated years before present). Here we present the results of an isolation basin RSL study completed near to the coastal town of Sisimiut, in central West Greenland. RSL fell from 14 m above sea level at 5.7 cal. ka BP to reach a lowstand of ?4.0 m at 2.3–1.2 cal. ka BP, before rising by an equivalent amount to present. Differences in the timing and magnitude of the RSL lowstand between this and other sites in West and South Greenland record the varied interplay of local and non‐Greenland RSL processes, notably the reloading of the Earth's crust caused by a Neoglacial expansion of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) and the subsidence associated with the collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet forebulge. This means that the timing of the sea level lowstand cannot be used to infer directly when the GIS advanced during the Neoglacial. The rise in Late Holocene RSL is contrary to recently reported bedrock uplift in the Sisimiut area, based on repeat GPS surveys. This indicates that a belt of peripheral subsidence around the current ice sheet margin was more extensive in the late Holocene, and that there has been a switch from subsidence to uplift at some point in the last thousand years or so. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Natural radioactivity in sediment of Wei River,China

The concentrations of natural radionuclides in sediment of Wei River of China were measured using γ-ray spectrometry with the aim of estimating the radiation hazard as establishing a database for radioactivity levels of river sediment of China. The activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in sediment samples ranged from 10.4 to 39.9 Bq kg⁻¹, 15.3 to 54.8 Bq kg⁻¹ and 514.8 to 1,175.5 Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. The concentrations of these radionuclides were compared with the typical world values and the average activities of Chinese soil and Shaanxi soil. Radium equivalent activity (Ra_eq), external hazard index (H _ex) and representative level index (I _γr) were calculated for the samples to assess the radiation hazards arising due to the use of these sediment samples in the construction of dwellings. All the sediment samples have Ra_eq lower than the limit of 370 Bq kg⁻¹, H _ex less than unity and I _γr close to 1 Bq kg⁻¹. The overall mean outdoor terrestrial gamma dose rate is 64.8 nGy h⁻¹ and the corresponding outdoor annual effective dose is 0.079 mSv. None of the studied location is considered a radiological risk and sediment can be safely used in construction.     

Oligocene sequence stratigraphy and basin development in the Danish North Sea sector based on log interpretations

Five sequences are defined in the Oligocene succession of the Danish North Sea sector. Two of the sequences, 4.1a and 4.3, have been identified onshore Denmark.Two types of prograding lowstand deposits are recognized. Sand-dominated deposits occur proximally, comprising sharp-based forced regressive deposits covered with prograding low-stand deposits. Clay-dominated prograding lowstand deposits occur distally in the sequences. The highstand deposits are proximally represented by thick prograding sandy deposits and distally by thin and condensed intervals.The main sediment input direction was from the north and the northeast. A succession oif lithofacies, from shallow marine facies dominated by sand to outer shelf facies dominated by clay, is mapped in each of the sequences. An overall southward progradation of the shoreline took place during the Oligocene, interrupted only by minor shoreline retreats.     

黄河三角洲地貌环境体系

黄河三角洲是由三角洲上部冲积平原一下部冲积海积平原（超潮滩）─周边潮滩三个区带的地貌系列构成．它们之间形成三条地貌环境岸线，是一个复杂而统一的陆上─潮滩堆积地貌体系．该体系研究对三角洲发育．环境及其开发利用有一定理论和实践意义．     

Upstream dams and downstream clams: growth rates of bivalve mollusks unveil impact of river management on estuarine ecosystems (Colorado River Delta, Mexico)

We studied how the extensive diversion of Colorado River water, induced by dams and agricultural activities of the last 70 years, affected the growth rates of two abundant bivalve mollusk species (Chione cortezi and Chione fluctifraga) in the northern Gulf of California. Shells alive on the delta today (‘Post-dam’ shells) grow 5.8–27.9% faster than shells alive prior to the construction of dams (‘Pre-dam’ shells). This increase in annual shell production is linked to the currently sharply reduced freshwater influx to the Colorado River estuary. Before the upstream river management, lower salinity retarded growth rates in these bivalves. Intra-annual growth rates were 50% lower during spring and early summer, when river flow was at its maximum. Growth rates in Chione today are largely controlled by temperature and nutrients; prior to the construction of dams and the diversion of the Colorado River flow, seasonal changes in salinity played an important role in regulating calcification rates.Our study employs sclerochronological (growth increment analysis) and geochemical techniques to assess the impact of reduced freshwater influx on bivalve growth rates in the Colorado River estuary. A combination of both techniques provides an excellent tool to evaluate the impact of river management in areas where no pre-impact studies were made.     

珠江三角洲地质灾害的模糊综合评价

珠江三角洲地质灾害种类的多样性与其所处的复杂地质环境和多变的气候条件密切相关。文章选用了地震活动、活动断裂、地壳升降运动、软土地基、地面塌陷以及冲、淤积等６个主要因素作为评价指标，并用模糊数学方法对珠江三角洲内１７个小区作了计算，结果表明该区大部分地区属于轻灾害区，只有滨海沿岸地区属于较重灾害区。     

风暴期间黄河水下三角洲波浪变形

为确定适用黄河三角洲的波动理论，对黄河三角洲风暴期间及前后波浪连续观测资料进行了处理，将其投在komar波浪理论分区图中后，分析了风暴期间黄河水下三角洲波浪的波形特征，发现站位所在地适合的波浪理论主要为艾里波和斯托克斯波，风暴期间波浪变形，还存在少量超过极限波陡线的波浪，通过比较常见的极限波陡线，看出Miche曲线比较适合该研究区。     

准噶尔盆地中部III 区块原油中25-降藿烷分布特征与成因意义

通过对准噶尔盆地中部Ш区块原油或油砂抽提物的饱和烃气相色谱-质谱分析,研究了原油或油砂抽提物中25-降藿烷的分布规律.结果表明,不同井区或同一口井不同深度(层位)的原油25-降藿烷的相对含量存在比较明显的差别,表明其所遭受的生物降解程度有所差异,沿构造带从南到北,同一油层中原油的生物降解程度增强,比如位于构造北部(构造部位相对较高)的永1井、永3井侏罗系原油25-降藿烷丰度较高,表明生物降解比较明显,而位于南部(构造低部位)的永6井白垩系和侏罗系油层中的原油均无明显的生物降解现象;同一口井随深度增大生物降解作用将弱,如永2井浅部白垩系油层的原油降解较严重,而深部西山窑组的原油降解作用则不明显.根据原油生物降解的特征,结合车-莫古隆起调整对研究区油气成藏的影响,讨论了原油生物降解差异分布的成因机制.     

Giant ancient landslide in the Alma water gap (Crimean Mountains,Ukraine): notes to the predisposition,structure, and chronology

Large-scale ancient landslides of the area of more than 5 km² and volume exceeding 200 × 10⁶ m³ are characteristic features of the valleys incised in the northern periphery of the Crimean Mountains (Ukraine). The largely affected area is located in the outermost cuesta range of the Crimean Mountains which consists of rigid Sarmatian limestones overlying weak Middle Miocene and Upper Palaeogene deposits. A giant landslide arose in the Alma water gap as a reflection of several coincident preparatory factors such as suitable bedrock stratification, smectite-rich bedrock exposed to swelling activity, presence of faults parallel to the valley trend, and river capture event which preceded the landslide event. The occurrence of such ancient megaslides is particularly interesting in the area which is characterized by low precipitation (<500 mm/year) and weak contemporary seismicity. It probably reflects a more dynamic environment in humid phases of the Holocene; however, seismic triggering along the Mesozoic suture zone cannot be rejected. Compressional features such as gravitational folds in the central and distal parts of the landslide, which probably correlate with the whole landslide genesis or its significant reactivation, arose, according to the radiocarbon dating, during the Holocene climatic optimum in the Atlantic period. The slope deformation has been relatively quiescent since that time, except minor historic reactivization which took place in the frontal part of the landslide. We suppose that the studied landslide could be classified as a transitional type of slope deformation with some signs of spreading and translational block slides.