An Investigation of Cross-Borehole Ground Penetrating Radar Measurements for Characterizing the 2D Moisture Content Distribution in the Vadose Zone

The use of cross-borehole ground penetrating radar (GPR) imaging for determining g the two dimensional (2D) in situ moisture content distribution within the vadose zone is being investigated. The ultimate goal is to use the GPR images as input to a 2D hydrologic inversion scheme for recovering the van Genuchten parameters governing unsaturated ,hydraulic flow. Initial experiments conducted on synthetic data have shown that at least in theory, cross-borehole GPR measurements can provide realistic estimates of the spatial variation in moisture content that are needed for this type of hydrologic inversion scheme. However, the method can not recover exact values of moisture content due to the break down of the empirical expression often employed to convert GPR velocity images to moisture content, and to the smearing nature of the imaging algorithm. To test the applicability of this method in a real world environment cross- borehole GPR measurements were made at a hydrologic/geophysical vadose zone test site in Socorro, New Mexico. Results show that the GPR images compare well with the uncalibrated borehole neutron log data. GPR data acquisition will continue once an infiltration test has started, and the results from these measurements will be employed in a 2D hydrologic inverse scheme

Teasing Apart Impacts of Human Activity and Regional Drought on Madagascar's Large Vertebrate Fauna: Insights From New Excavations at Tsimanampesotse and Antsirafaly

Madagascar experienced a major faunal turnover near the end of the first millenium CE that particularly affected terrestrial, large-bodied vertebrate species. Teasing apart the relative impacts of people and climate on this event requires a focus on regional records with good chronological control. These records may document coeval changes in rainfall, faunal composition, and human activities. Here we present new paleontological and paleoclimatological data from southwestern Madagascar, the driest part of the island today. We collected over 1500 subfossil bones from deposits at a coastal site called Antsirafaly and from both flooded and dry cave deposits at Tsimanampesotse National Park. We built a chronology of Late Holocene changes in faunal assemblages based on 65 radiocarbon-dated specimens and subfossil associations. We collected stalagmites primarily within Tsimanampesotse but also at two additional locations in southern Madagascar. These provided information regarding hydroclimate variability over the past 120,000 years. Prior research has supported a primary role for drought (rather than humans) in triggering faunal turnover at Tsimanampesotse. This is based on evidence of: (1) a large freshwater ecosystem west of what is now the hypersaline Lake Tsimanampesotse, which supported freshwater mollusks and waterfowl (including animals that could not survive on resources offered by the hypersaline lake today); (2) abundant now-extinct terrestrial vertebrates; (3) regional decline or disappearance of certain tree species; and (4) scant local human presence. Our new data allow us to document the hydroclimate of the subarid southwest during the Holocene, as well as shifts in faunal composition (including local extirpations, large-vertebrate population collapse, and the appearance of introduced species). These records affirm that climate alone cannot have produced the observed vertebrate turnover in the southwest. Human activity, including the introduction of cattle, as well as associated changes in habitat exploitation, also played an important role

3D EM imaging from a single borehole; a numerical feasibility study

Often the drilling of an oil well is followed by a logging process to characterize the region immediately surrounding the well bore. The electromagnetic (EM) induction tool, which provides the formation resistivity, is among the most frequently run logs. A preliminary study has been conducted to analyze the feasibility of three dimensional (3D) electromagnetic (EM) imaging from a single borehole. The logging tool consists of a vertical magnetic dipole source and multiple 3 component magnetic field receivers offset at different distances from the source. Synthetic data calculated with a 3D finite difference code demonstrate that the phase of the horizontal magnetic fields provides the critical information on the three dimensionality of the medium. A 3D inversion algorithm is then employed to demonstrate the plausibility of 3D inversion using 3 component magnetic field data. Finally, problems associated with introducing biased noise into the horizontal components of the field through misalignment of the logging tool is discussed