Evolución tectónica de la cuenca de Cañadón Asfalto (zona del Valle Medio del Río Chubut)

La Formacion Canadon Asfalto es un conjunto de depositos volcanicos, bioquimicos, piroclasticos y epiclasticos que aflora en la zona central y norte de la Provincia de Chubut, pero que fueron descritos inicialmente en la region del Valle Medio del rio Chubut. Las principales incognitas sobre esta unidad se planteaban sobre la geometria, extension y genesis de la cuenca que la albergo, asi como sobre los esfuerzos posteriores que la habrian deformado. El estudio de campo en detalle de la estratigrafia, distribucion, geometria, discontinuidades, y elementos tectonicos que controlaron la depositacion de la Formacion Canadon Asfalto (sensu lato) demostro que bajo este nombre se han considerado distintas unidades litoestratigraficas que deberian en realidad formar parte de formaciones distintas (Formaciones Canadon Calcareo, Estratos de Almada, etc.). Sin embargo por motivos conceptuales y de simplicidad, se decidio mantener el nombre generico de Formacion Canadon Asfalto y adoptar una nomenclatura descriptiva, evitando crear nombres formales nuevos. Los estudios estructurales y tectosedimentarios presentados en esta tesis doctoral permitieron reconocer que la clasica Formacion Asfalto representaba, ademas, el registro de etapas diferentes dentro de la evolucion de cuencas de hemigraben. Estas cuencas se desarrollaron como depocentros aislados sobre un area mas extensa que la conocida hasta el momento, habiendose encontrado numerosos afloramientos previamente mal asignados desde el punto de vista temporal, pero que en realidad pertenecen al mismo gran evento. Se definio entonces la existencia de un sistema de rift elongado en direccion noroeste que se desarrollo desde el Jurasico Medio hasta el Cretacico Temprano, constituido por un conjunto de hemigrabenes vinculados entre si por zonas de acomodacion, que recibe el nombre de Cuenca de Canadon Asfalto. Estos resultados se integraron a la evolucion tectonica de la parte sur del continente americano teniendo en cuenta su relacion temporal y espacial, en especial con la orientacion de los esfuerzos, de la apertura del Mar de Weddell. Esfuerzos compresivos durante el Neogeno de orientacion principal oeste-este provocaron la inversion tectonica parcial de la cuenca, principalmente en su borde occidental. La actitud diferencial que ha tenido la fracturacion preexistente frente a esta compresion regional, se justifica a partir de la orientacion de esas fallas ante al esfuerzo maximo compresivo (sigma 1). De esa manera, se produjo la reactivacion de esos planos de falla previos con desplazamiento inverso u oblicuo o su no reactivacion.The Canadon Asfalto Formation is a succession of volcanic, biochemical, pyroclastic and epiclastic deposits which are exposed in the central and northern regions of the province of Chubut. These sequences were only originally described in the region of the Middle Valley of the Chubut River. The main uncertainties over this unit, before the present studies, were its geometry, distribution, and genesis of the basin, which controlled its deposition, as well as the stress field that later deformed its sediments. The detail field studies on the stratigraphy, distribution, geometry, discontinuities, and tectonic elements that constrain the deposition of the Canadon Asfalto Formation (sensu lato) showed that under this denomination have been grouped different litostratigraphic units, which could be considered as independent formations such as Canadon Calcareo Formation, the Almada beds, and so on. However, based on conceptual and simplicity reasons it was decided to keep Canadon Asfalto Formation as a generic name and to adopt a descriptive nomenclature avoiding creating new formal names. The structural and tectosedimentary studies in this doctoral thesis allowed recognizing that the classic Canadon Asfalto Formation represented a record of different stages in the evolution of a rift system that was controlled by halfgraben basins. These basins were developed as isolated depocentres over a more extensive area that was previously known. Several outcrops have been identified, whose ages were wrongly interpreted, and were part of a single great event. This reconsideration allowed defining a rift system a with a north-western trend that occurred between the Middle Jurassic up to the Early Cretaceous, formed by a series of halfgrabens linked among them by accommodation zones, which have received the name of Canadon Asfalto Basin. These results have been integrated to the tectonic evolution of the southern part of South American continent, and based on the temporal and space distribution, it was related to the main orientation of the stress field during the opening of the Weddell sea in Middle Jurassic times. Compressive stresses during the Neogene with a main east-west trend were responsible of the partial tectonic inversion of the basin, mainly along its western margin. The differential response that have been observed in the pre-existing fractures, it is explained by the orientation of these faults in relation to the maximum compressive stress (sigma 1). This fact, explains why this reactivation occurred by reverse or oblique displacements or in some cases by no reactivation of the previous faults.Fil:Figari, Eduardo G.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

Decay of a Bound State under a Time-Periodic Perturbation: a Toy Case

We study the time evolution of a three dimensional quantum particle, initially in a bound state, under the action of a time-periodic zero range interaction with ``strength'' (\alpha(t)). Under very weak generic conditions on the Fourier coefficients of (\alpha(t)), we prove complete ionization as (t \to \infty). We prove also that, under the same conditions, all the states of the system are scattering states.Comment: LaTeX2e, 15 page

Perturbations of eigenvalues embedded at threshold: one, two and three dimensional solvable models

We examine perturbations of eigenvalues and resonances for a class of multi-channel quantum mechanical model-Hamiltonians describing a particle interacting with a localized spin in dimension $d=1,2,3$. We consider unperturbed Hamiltonians showing eigenvalues and resonances at the threshold of the continuous spectrum and we analyze the effect of various type of perturbations on the spectral singularities. We provide algorithms to obtain convergent series expansions for the coordinates of the singularities.Comment: 20 page

A time-dependent perturbative analysis for a quantum particle in a cloud chamber

We consider a simple model of a cloud chamber consisting of a test particle (the alpha-particle) interacting with two other particles (the atoms of the vapour) subject to attractive potentials centered in $a_1, a_2 \in \mathbb{R}^3$. At time zero the alpha-particle is described by an outgoing spherical wave centered in the origin and the atoms are in their ground state. We show that, under suitable assumptions on the physical parameters of the system and up to second order in perturbation theory, the probability that both atoms are ionized is negligible unless $a_2$ lies on the line joining the origin with $a_1$. The work is a fully time-dependent version of the original analysis proposed by Mott in 1929.Comment: 23 page

On the Asymptotic Dynamics of a Quantum System Composed by Heavy and Light Particles

We consider a non relativistic quantum system consisting of $K$ heavy and $N$ light particles in dimension three, where each heavy particle interacts with the light ones via a two-body potential $\alpha V$. No interaction is assumed among particles of the same kind. Choosing an initial state in a product form and assuming $\alpha$ sufficiently small we characterize the asymptotic dynamics of the system in the limit of small mass ratio, with an explicit control of the error. In the case K=1 the result is extended to arbitrary $\alpha$. The proof relies on a perturbative analysis and exploits a generalized version of the standard dispersive estimates for the Schr\"{o}dinger group. Exploiting the asymptotic formula, it is also outlined an application to the problem of the decoherence effect produced on a heavy particle by the interaction with the light ones.Comment: 38 page

Empathy and Low Participation of Women in Engineering: Is There a Hidden Link

Women are severely underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and the related work force. One of the reasons for the low presence of women in engineering is a lack of connection between engineering-related values and women’s personal values and beliefs, in particular the difference in empathy value. This study examined how empathy may have contributed to the low enrollment of women in engineering majors. An online survey was used to collect data from undergraduate students in an urban university in the United States. Statistical procedures were carefully selected to analyze the survey data and answer the four research questions. The results indicate that 1) students with a stronger empathizing trait reported lower likelihood of majoring in engineering; and 2) the perceived empathy level of a given academic discipline was a significant factor in students’ major choice. The lower likelihood of majoring in engineering was associated with its low empathy level perceived by the students. The major findings of the study call for reformulation of the engineering education so that human-centered values can be emphasized as critical components to the existing curricula

Stochastic Quantization of Scalar Fields in de Sitter Spacetime

We consider the stochastic quantization method for scalar fields defined in a curved manifold. The two-point function associated to a massive self-interacting scalar field is evaluated, up to the first order level in the coupling constant $\lambda$, for the case of de Sitter Euclidean metric. Its value for the asymptotic limit of the Markov parameter $\tau\to\infty$ is exhibited. We discuss in detail the covariant stochastic regularization to render the one-loop two-point function finite in the de Sitter Euclidean metric

Mesoscale models and approximate solutions for solids containing clouds of voids

For highly perforated domains the paper addresses a novel approach to study mixed boundary value problems for the equations of linear elasticity in the framework of mesoscale approximations. There are no assumptions of periodicity involved in the description of the geometry of the domain. The size of the perforations is small compared to the minimal separation between neighboring defects and here we discuss a class of problems in perforated domains, which are not covered by the homogenization approximations. The mesoscale approximations presented here are uniform. Explicit asymptotic formulas are supplied with the remainder estimates. Numerical illustrations, demonstrating the efficiency of the asymptotic approach developed here, are also given

Estratigrafía y evolución geológica de la Cuenca de Cañadón Asfalto, Provincia del Chubut, Argentina

La Cuenca de Cañadón Asfalto, ubicada entre el Macizo Nordpatagónico y la Cuenca del Golfo San Jorge, presenta una importante columna de sedimentos jurásicos y cretácicos acumulados en hemigrábenes pertenecientes a un sistema de rift formado durante la fragmentación de Gondwana. La Cuenca de Cañadón Asfalto incluye varios depocentros sedimentarios denominados Gastre, Gan Gan, Fossatti, Valle de General Racedo, Gorro Frigio y Paso de Indios, limitados por bloques basamentales en zonas de transferencia. La columna sedimentaria jurásica y cretácica puede dividirse en tres megasecuencias principales (J 1, J 2 y K) separadas entre sí por discordancias de significado regional que se apoyan sobre un basamento de metamorfitas y granitoides del Paleozoico. La Megasecuencia J 1 está constituida por la Formación Las Leoneras, la Formación Lonco Trapial y la Formación Cañadón Asfalto, y su edad se extiende entre el HettangianoSinemuriano?/Pliensbachiano y el Bajociano tardío. Se acumuló en ambientes fluvial, lacustre y volcánico durante los estadíos incipiente a juvenil del rift. La Megasecuencia J 2 incluye sedimentos aluviales y lacustres continentales correspondientes a la Formación Cañadón Calcáreo, de edad oxfordiana-kimmeridgiana, que se depositaron en depocentros parcialmente coincidentes con los anteriores durante una reactivación tectónica multiepisódica del rift. Durante el Tithoniano tardío – Hauteriviano existe un importante hiato estratigráfico. Durante este lapso se generaron esfuerzos transpresivos-transtensivos con rotación de bloques a escala regional, que originaron levantamientos de grandes áreas de la cuenca y la subsecuente erosión de zonas extensas, aunque el entorno tectónico y su correspondiente campo de esfuerzos se encuentran aún en discusión. El posterior colapso de estas áreas elevadas, con un control tafrogénico inicial y una posterior subsidencia termal, permitió el desarrollo del espacio disponible para la acumulación de la Megasecuencia K, formada por los niveles continentales del Grupo Chubut del Barremiano-Campaniano, al cual le siguieron los depósitos marinos y litorales de las formaciones Paso del Sapo y Lefipán del CampanianoDaniano, representativos de la primera transgresión atlántica en la cuenca. Como consecuencia de los procesos detallados más arriba, una marcada discordancia angular separa a la base de la Megasecuencia K de todos los depósitos más antiguos de la cuenca. Posteriormente, durante el Paleoceno tardío-Eoceno, se produjo un episodio tectónico compresivo en el margen occidental de la cuenca, seguido por la acumulación del Complejo Volcánico y Piroclástico del Río Chubut Medio en ambientes de calderas asociadas a un vulcanismo de retro-arco. En el Oligoceno?- Mioceno a Reciente se produjo el levantamiento y la inversión tectónica de la mayor parte de la Cuenca de Cañadón Asfalto, representado por fallamiento generalizado y por plegamiento localizado de intensidad y estilo variables. En este momento se desarrollaron pequeñas cuencas intermontanas limitadas por fallas