Search results for "Geophysic"
showing 10 items of 2684 documents
Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs): II. Stabilization mechanisms
2003
Abstract. Mechanisms by which subvisible cirrus clouds (SVCs) might contribute to dehydration close to the tropical tropopause are not well understood. Recently Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs) with optical depths around 10-4 have been detected in the western Indian ocean. These clouds cover thousands of square kilometers as 200-300 m thick distinct and homogeneous layer just below the tropical tropopause. In their condensed phase UTTCs contain only 1-5% of the total water, and essentially no nitric acid. A new cloud stabilization mechanism is required to explain this small fraction of the condensed water content in the clouds and their small vertical thickness. This work sugges…
The transport history of two Saharan dust events archived in an Alpine ice core
2005
Mineral dust from the Saharan desert can be transported across the Mediterranean towards the Alpine region several times a year. When coinciding with snowfall, the dust can be deposited on Alpine glaciers and then appears as yellow or red layers in ice cores. Two such significant dust events were identified in an ice core drilled at the high-accumulation site Piz Zupó in the Swiss Alps (46°22' N, 9°55' E, 3850 m a.s.l.). From stable oxygen isotopes and major ion concentrations, the events were approximately dated as October and March 2000. In order to link the dust record in the ice core to the meteorological situation that led to the dust events, a novel methodology based on b…
Magma-derived gas influx and water-rock interactions in the volcanic aquifer of Mt. Vesuvius, Italy
2002
We report in this paper a systematic investigation of the chemical and isotopic composition of groundwaters flowing in the volcanic aquifer of Mt. Vesuvius during its current phase of dormancy, including the first data on dissolved helium isotope composition and tritium content. The relevant results on dissolved He and C presented in this paper reveal that an extensive interaction between rising magmatic volatiles and groundwaters currently takes place at Vesuvius.Vesuvius groundwaters are dilute (mean TDS ∼ 2800 mg/L) hypothermal fluids ( mean T = 17.7°C) with a prevalent alkaline-bicarbonate composition. Calcium-bicarbonate groundwaters normally occur on the surrounding Campanian Plain, l…
Isotope geochemistry of Pantelleria volcanic fluids, Sicily Channel rift: a mantle volatile end-member for volcanism in southern Europe
2000
Chemical and isotopic ratio (He, C, H and O) analysis of hydrothermal manifestations on Pantelleria island, the southernmost active volcano in Italy, provides us with the first data upon mantle degassing through the Sicily Channel rift zone, south of the African–European collision plate boundary. We find that Pantelleria fluids contain a CO2–He-rich gas component of mantle magmatic derivation which, at shallow depth, variably interacts with a main thermal (∼100°C) aquifer of mixed marine–meteoric water. The measured 3He/4He ratios and δ13C of both the free gases (4.5–7.3 Ra and −5.8 to −4.2‰, respectively) and dissolved helium and carbon in waters (1.0–6.3 Ra and −7.1 to −0.9‰), together wi…
Landslide monitoring using multi-temporal terrestrial laser scanning(TLS) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in the high Arctic,Ny-Ålesund
2019
International audience; The acceleration of climate-induced changes in high arctic environments is evident and lead to a wide range ofprocesses (e.g. glacier retreat, landslide activity). Recent studies (Bernard et al. 2014) provide evidence that, thestability of the talus covered slopes is reducing and thus landslides are occurring more frequently on the slopessurrounding the Austre Lovénbreen glacier.The Austre Lovénbreen glacier basin is a relatively small arctic glacier basin located at 79◦N, Ny-Ålesund(Svalbard) and geologically is part of the Kongsvegen Group, which is composed of the Nielsenfjellet, Steenfjelletand the Bogegga Formation. This study focusses on the quantitative and sp…
Hirnantian glacial and deglacial record in SW Djado Basin (NE Niger).
2007
Pluridisciplinary fieldwork highlights features generated by an extended ice-sheet in the Djado Basin during the Hirnantian. Two glacial palaeovalley systems associated with glacial pavements and separated by thin glaciomarine interstadial series are revealed. Rigid glacial pavements characterised by abrasion erosion are differentiated from soft glacial pavements characterised by soft-bed deformation. Glacial pavements are associated with subglacial bedforms such as megaflutes, flutes and meltwater channels. They are also associated with clastic dykes and glaciotectonic structures such as deformed flutes, subglacial folds and duplex structures. This record demonstrates that ice was warm-bas…
Evaluation of the local site effects in the upper and middle Aterno valley
2009
In the months following the April 6th, 2009, L’Aquila earthquake, several Italian and foreign research institutions installed dozens of seismic stations to monitor more than 100 localities with the aim of studying the local site effects in the epicentral area (upper and middle Aterno valley). The stations (accelerometers and velocimeters) have been deployed inside or very close to the inhabited areas. Among the investigated sites there are Onna, where almost the totality of the buildings collapsed, and the historic centre of L’Aquila, both towns suffering many casualties. The preliminary results for the examined sites show an extreme variability of ground motion and significant amplificatio…
How does shear zone nucleate? An example from the Suretta nappe (Swiss Eastern Alps)
2016
In order to address the question of the processes involved during shear zone nucleation, we present a petro-structural analysis of millimetre-scale shear zones within the Roffna rhyolite (Suretta nappe, Eastern central Alps). Field and microscopic evidences show that ductile deformation is localized along discrete fractures that represent the initial stage of shear zone nucleation. During incipient brittle deformation, a syn-kinematic metamorphic assemblage of white mica + biotite + epidote + quartz precipitated at ca. 8.5 ± 1 kbar and 480 ± 50 °C that represent the metamorphic peak conditions of the nappe stacking in the continental accretionary wedge during Tertiary Alpine subduction. The…
Seismotectonic implications of the south chile ridge subduction beneath the patagonian andes
2021
International audience; The South Chile ridge (SCR) intersects the Patagonian trench around 46° 09’S, forming the triple junction among the Antarctic, Nazca, and South America plates. Subduction of the SCR since ~18 Ma produced the opening of a slab window beneath Patagonia and a noticeable magmatic gap in the cordillera, profuse volcanism, and topographic uplift in the retroarc. To study seismicity distribution and present‐day stress resulting from this particular framework, we analyze databases of seismic events and earthquake focal mechanisms. Our study finds that clusters of intraplate crustal seismic events are disrupted by a ~450‐470 km seismicity gap above the slab window. Calculated…
First Early Permian Paleomagnetic Pole for the Yili Block and its Implications for Late Paleozoic Postorogenic Kinematic Evolution of the SW Central …
2018
International audience; We conducted a paleomagnetic study on the Early Permian volcanic and sedimentary rocks, and the Neoproterozoic mafic dikes in the Yili Block, NW China. Magnetite and hematite were proven to be the principal magnetic remanence carriers. Demagnetizations revealed stable characteristic remanence magnetizations with a sole reversed magnetic polarity. The magnetic remanence of only the Early Permian strata turned out to be primary based on positive fold tests; meanwhile, the magnetic remanence age of the mafic dikes is ambiguous. Accordingly, the first Early Permian paleomagnetic pole for the Yili Block is calculated at λ = 81.5°N, φ = 256.5°E, N = 11, and A95 = 10.9°. Co…