Standardization of a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector and its use on environments for Geology teaching in a Brazilian university     

Eder Queiroz Barbosa  Daniel Marcos Bonotto  Gabrielle Roveratti 《Environmental Earth Sciences》2018,77(3):113

This paper describes analytical protocols adopted for calibrating a portable gamma rays spectrometer using a 2? × 2? NaI(Tl) scintillation detector for performing exploration and environmental surveys. The steps involved the determination of counting times with good accuracy, calibration in energy and concentration, and data conversion to effective dose (Ed) for monitoring the radioactivity levels in the air, for indoor and outdoor environments. The χ² test was applied to the counting rate data acquired for ten different readings, allowing determine the greater accuracy among them. Some standards yielded values above of the detection limit for calibrating the K, eU, and eTh windows, whereas empirical equations provided satisfactory results. The count rates in these windows were obtained in selected environments related to Geology teaching activities in a Brazilian university. Then, they were converted to Ed, showing the applicability of the adopted procedures for environmental surveys. The radiological monitoring showed two sites exhibiting Ed values above the WHO guideline reference value of 1 mSv/year. The first was in a minerals and rocks museum and the second in a deposit (litoteca) dedicated to the rocks storage. Thus, the members of the public are only occasionally exposed to the natural gamma radiation there. Additionally, the Ed values are much lower than the recommended limit of 20 mSv/year for occupationally exposed individuals.  相似文献   

Robust system size reduction of discrete fracture networks: a multi-fidelity method that preserves transport characteristics     

Shriram Srinivasan  Jeffrey Hyman  Satish Karra  Daniel O’Malley  Hari Viswanathan  Gowri Srinivasan 《Computational Geosciences》2018,22(6):1515-1526

We propose a multi-fidelity system reduction technique that uses weighted graphs paired with three-dimensional discrete fracture network (DFN) modelling for efficient simulation of subsurface flow and transport in fractured media. DFN models are used to simulate flow and transport in subsurface fractured rock with low-permeability. One method to alleviate the heavy computational overhead associated with these simulations is to reduce the size of the DFN using a graph representation of it to identify the primary flow sub-network and only simulate flow and transport thereon. The first of these methods used unweighted graphs constructed solely on DFN topology and could be used for accurate predictions of first-passage times. However, these techniques perform poorly when predicting later stages of the mass breakthrough. We utilize a weighted-graph representation of the DFN where edge weights are based on hydrological parameters in the DFN that allows us to exploit the kinematic quantities derivable a posteriori from the flow solution obtained on the graph representation of the DFN to perform system reduction and predict the later stages of the breakthrough curve with high fidelity. We also propose and demonstrate the use of an adaptive pruning algorithm with error control that produces a pruned DFN sub-network whose predicted mass breakthrough agrees with the original DFN within a user-specified tolerance. The method allows for the level of accuracy to be a user-controlled parameter.  相似文献   

Rock Glaciers in the Patagonian Andes: An Inventory for the Monte San Lorenzo (Cerro Cochrane) Massif, 47° S          下载免费PDF全文

Daniel Falaschi  Takeo Tadono  Mariano Masiokas 《Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography》2015,97(4):769-777

Although rock glaciers in the Central and Desert Andes of Argentina and Chile have been previously studied in detail, much less attention has been paid to the occurrence of these permafrost forms in Patagonia. Recently, however, the establishment of the Argentinean Glacier Inventory program, which intends to inventory and monitor all ice masses along the Argentinean Andes, has started a large amount of new geocryological research. The project is designed to provide reliable and worldwide comparable results, supported by well established technical procedures and background information. Presented here is the first rock glacier inventory of the Monte San Lorenzo (Cerro Cochrane) region in the southern Patagonian Andes. A total of 130 intact (9.86 km²) and 47 fossil (1.45 km²) landforms were inventoried using two 2.5 m resolution ALOS Panchromatic Remote‐sensing Instruments for Stereo Mapping images. Since the Argentinean federal initiative described above legally protects all rock glaciers in the country as water reserves, and due to the little scientific knowledge concerning rock glaciers in the vast majority of the Patagonian Andes, this inventory provides an important basis for political decision‐making and opens further geocryological research avenues for the Patagonian region in general.  相似文献   

A combined study of radar facies,lithofacies and three‐dimensional architecture of an alpine alluvial fan (Illgraben fan,Switzerland)          下载免费PDF全文

Daniel Franke  Jens Hornung  Matthias Hinderer 《Sedimentology》2015,62(1):57-86

Alluvial fans serve as useful archives that record the history of depositional and erosional processes in mountainous regions and thus can reveal the environmental controls that influenced their development. Economically, they play an important role as groundwater reservoirs as well as host rocks for hydrocarbons in deeply buried systems. The interpretation of these archives and the evaluation of their reservoir architecture, however, are problematic because marked heterogeneity in the distribution of sedimentary facies makes correlation difficult. This problem is compounded because the accumulated sedimentary deposits of modern unconsolidated fan systems tend to be poorly exposed and few such systems have been the focus of investigation using high‐resolution subsurface analytical techniques. To overcome this limitation of standard outcrop–analogue studies, a geophysical survey of an alpine alluvial fan was performed using ground‐penetrating radar to devise a scaled three‐dimensional subsurface model. Radar facies were classified and calibrated to lithofacies within a fan system that provided outcropping walls and these were used to derive a three‐dimensional model of the sedimentary architecture and identify evolutionary fan stages. The Illgraben fan in the Swiss Alps was selected as a case study and a network of ca 60 km sections of ground‐penetrating radar was surveyed. Seven radar facies types could be distinguished, which were grouped into debris‐flow deposits and stream‐flow deposits. Assemblages of these radar facies types show three depositional units, which are separated by continuous, fan‐wide reflectors; they were interpreted as palaeo‐surfaces corresponding to episodes of sediment starvation that affected the entire fan. An overall upward decline in the proportion of debris‐flow deposits from ca 50% to 15% and a corresponding increase in stream‐flow deposits were identified. The uppermost depositional unit is bounded at its base by a significant incision surface up to 700 m wide, which was subsequently filled up mostly by stream‐flow deposits. The pronounced palaeo‐surfaces and depositional trends suggest that allocyclic controls governed the evolution of the Illgraben fan, making this fan a valuable archive from which to reconstruct past sediment fluxes and environmental change in the Alps. The results of the integrated outcrop–geophysical approach encourage similar future studies on fans to retrieve their depositional history as well as their potential reservoir properties.  相似文献   

Recurrent spring‐fed rivers in a Middle to Late Pleistocene semi‐arid grassland: Implications for environments of early humans in the Lake Victoria Basin,Kenya          下载免费PDF全文

Emily J. Beverly  Steven G. Driese  Daniel J. Peppe  Cara R. Johnson  Lauren A. Michel  J. Tyler Faith  Christian A. Tryon  Warren D. Sharp 《Sedimentology》2015,62(6):1611-1635

The effect of changing palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment on human evolution during the Pleistocene is debated, but hampered by few East African records directly associated with archaeological sites prior to the Last Glacial Maximum. Middle to Late Pleistocene deposits on the shoreline of eastern Lake Victoria preserve abundant vertebrate fossils and Middle Stone Age arte‐facts associated with riverine tufas at the base of the deposits, which are ideal for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. New data from tufas identified on Rusinga Island and on the mainland near Karungu, Kenya are provided from outcrop, thin sections, mineralogical, stable isotopic and U‐series dating analyses. Tufa is identified in four sites: Nyamita (94·0 ± 3·3 and 111·4 ± 4·2 ka); Kisaaka, Aringo (455 ± 45 ka); and Obware. The age ranges of these tufa deposits demonstrate that spring‐fed rivers were a recurrent, variably preserved feature on the Pleistocene landscape for ca 360 kyr. Poor sorting of clastic facies from all sites indicates flashy, ephemeral discharge, but these facies are commonly associated with barrage tufas, paludal environments with δ¹³C values of ca 10‰ indicative of C₃ plants and fossil Hippopotamus, all of which indicate a perennial water source. Other tufa deposits from Nyamita, Obware and Aringo have a mixed C₃/C₄ signature consistent with a semi‐arid C₄ grassland surrounding these spring‐fed rivers. The δ¹⁸O values of tufa from Nyamita are on average ca 1‰ more negative than calcite precipitated from modern rainfall in the region, suggesting greater contribution of depleted monsoonal input, similar to the Last Glacial Maximum. Microdebitage and surface‐collected artefacts indicate that early modern humans were utilizing these spring‐fed rivers. The presence of spring?fed rivers would have afforded animals a reliable water source, sustaining a diverse plant and animal community in an otherwise arid environment.  相似文献   

Evaluation of aquifer protective capacity of overburden unit and soil corrosivity in Makurdi,Benue state,Nigeria, using electrical resistivity method     

Obiora  Daniel N  Ajala  Adeolu E  Ibuot  Johnson C 《Journal of Earth System Science》2015,124(1):125-135

Journal of Earth System Science - This paper presents result of 30 vertical electrical soundings carried out in Makurdi, Benue state capital, north–central Nigeria to evaluate aquifer...  相似文献   

Slushflows: science and planning considerations for an expanding hazard     

Grace Relf  James M. Kendra  Robert M. Schwartz  Daniel J. Leathers  Delphis F. Levia 《Natural Hazards》2015,78(1):333-354

Slushflows are natural hazards that pose considerable danger to communities across the globe. These events are characterized by the rapid mass movement of water-inundated snow downslope, and they cause economic damage as well as fatalities in many different climates and regions. As the global climate changes and human populations and industries potentially expand to higher latitudes, it will be important to fully understand the slushflow hazard since an anticipated increase in the frequency of rain-on-snow events and an earlier spring thaw would likely increase the probability of slushflows. This article: (1) summarizes the factors that favor the development of slushflows; (2) discusses the hazard management implications of slushflows; (3) examines the policies employed to prevent and mitigate slushflow damage; and (4) sets out the need for modifications in hazard management systems. Conclusions drawn hope to address future research needs in an effort to create policies that better suit the needs of at-risk communities.  相似文献   

Single-crystal structure and Raman spectroscopy of synthetic titanite analog CaAlSiO<Subscript>4</Subscript>F     

Hannes Krüger  Daniel M. Többens  Peter Tropper  Udo Haefeker  Volker Kahlenberg  Martin R. Fuchs  Vincent Olieric  Ulrike Troitzsch 《Mineralogy and Petrology》2015,109(5):631-641

Synthetic CaAlSiO₄F, the Al-F analog of titanite, has been investigated using single-crystal synchrotron diffraction experiments at Beamline X06DA (Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland) and Raman spectroscopy. The presented structural model with 40 parameters was refined against 506 unique reflections to a final R _{o b s} of 0.026 (space group A2/a, a = 6.9120(11), b = 8.5010(10), c = 6.435(2) Å, β = 114.670(11)°, and Z = 4) and exhibits less distorted coordination polyhedra than earlier models from powder data. Vibrational spectra were calculated in harmonic approximation at the Γ point from fully relaxed energy optimisations of the crystal structure, using 3D-periodic density functional theory with Gaussian basis sets and the software CRYSTAL06. The lattice parameters of the fully relaxed structure were in good agreement with the experimental values, with the calculated values 0.8 ± 0.4 % too large; the monoclinic angle was calculated 0.4° too large. The agreement of the calculated Raman frequencies with the observed ones was very good, with standard deviation ±3 cm^?1 and maximum deviations of ±7 cm^?1. Furthermore, a detailed discussion of the atomic displacements associated with each Raman mode is given.  相似文献   

The hydrology of glacier-bed overdeepenings: Sediment transport mechanics,drainage system morphology,and geomorphological implications     

Darrel A. Swift  Guy D. Tallentire  Daniel Farinotti  Simon J. Cook  William J. Higson  Robert G. Bryant 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2021,46(11):2264-2278

Evacuation of basal sediment by subglacial drainage is an important mediator of rates of glacial erosion and glacier flow. Glacial erosion patterns can produce closed basins (i.e., overdeepenings) in glacier beds, thereby introducing adverse bed gradients that are hypothesized to reduce drainage system efficiency and thus favour basal sediment accumulation. To establish how the presence of a terminal overdeepening might mediate seasonal drainage system evolution and glacial sediment export, we measured suspended sediment transport from Findelengletscher, Switzerland during late August and early September 2016. Analyses of these data demonstrate poor hydraulic efficiency of drainage pathways in the terminus region but high sediment availability. Specifically, the rate of increase of sediment concentration with discharge was found to be significantly lower than that anticipated if channelized flow paths were present. Sediment availability to these flow paths was also higher than would be anticipated for discrete bedrock-floored subglacial channels. Our findings indicate that subglacial drainage in the terminal region of Findelengletscher is dominated by distributed flow where entrainment capacity increases only marginally with discharge, but flow has extensive access to an abundant sediment store. This high availability maintains sediment connectivity between the glacial and proglacial realm and means daily sediment yield is unusually high relative to yields exhibited by similar Alpine glaciers. We present a conceptual model illustrating the potential influence of ice-bed morphology on subglacial drainage evolution and sediment evacuation mechanics, patterns and yields, and recommend that bed morphology should be an explicit consideration when monitoring and evaluating glaciated basin sediment export rates.  相似文献   

Woody buffer effects on water temperature: The role of spatial configuration and daily temperature fluctuations     

Jochem Kail  Martin Palt  Armin Lorenz  Daniel Hering 《水文研究》2021,35(1):e14008

Water temperature is a key driver for riverine biota and strongly depends on shading by woody riparian vegetation in summer. While the general effects of shading on daily maximum water temperature T_max are well understood, knowledge gaps on the role of the spatial configuration still exist. In this study, the effect of riparian buffer length, width, and canopy cover (percentage of buffer area covered by woody vegetation) on T_max was investigated during summer baseflow using data measured in seven small lowland streams in western Germany (wetted width 0.8–3.7 m). The effect of buffer length on T_max differed between downstream cooling and heating: T_max approached cooler equilibrium conditions after a distance of 0.4 km (~45 min travel-time) downstream of a sharp increase in canopy cover. In contrast, T_max continued to rise downstream of a sharp decrease in canopy cover along the whole 1.6 km stream length investigated. The effect of woody vegetation on T_max depended on buffer width, with changes in canopy cover in a 10 m wide buffer being a better predictor for changes in T_max compared to a 30 m buffer. The effect of woody vegetation on T_max was linearly related to canopy cover but also depended on daily temperature range T_range, which itself was governed by cloudiness, upstream canopy cover, and season. The derived empirical relationship indicated that T_max was reduced by −4.6°C and increased by +2.7°C downstream of a change from unshaded to fully shaded conditions and vice versa. This maximum effect was predicted for a 10 m wide buffer at sunny days in early summer, in streams with large diel fluctuations (large T_range). Therefore, even narrow woody riparian buffers may substantially reduce the increase in T_max due to climate change, especially in small shallow headwater streams with low baseflow discharge and large daily temperature fluctuations.  相似文献