Medidas térmicas de alta precisión en el laboratorio geodinámico de Lanzarote

Since 1988, under the exislinq collaboralion belween the Instituto de Astronomía y Geodesia, the Observaloire Royale de Belgique and the European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology,lhermal measuremenls have be en made in the geodynamlc slalion Cueva de los Verdes (Lanzarole, Canary Islands), that have been used lo check the quality oí the sensors used as well the thermal slablllly of the laboralory. Several experiments have been performed:measuremenls oí vertical and horizontal thermal profiles, continuous records of the temperature In different points of rock and continuos record of the ambient temperature of the laboratory. The measures of the temperature profiles have been made in three observation campaings, the results of which we pr:~ent here. We have achieved precisions in the range of 10 oC. We have found a vertical gradient O.03oC/m in the profile temperature. The long and short period variations of rock and ambient temperature have been studied. The results of the harmonic analysis of those temperatures are presented here.Peer reviewe

Very Weak Signals (VWS) detected by stacking method according to different astronomical periodicities (HiCum)

A stacking method to detect very weak signals is introduced in this paper. This method is to stack observed data in different well known periodicities according to the astronomical clock since majority geophysical observations are time based. We validated this method by applying it in four different cases. Interactions behind the observed parameters become obviously after it is stacked in two diurnal and semidiurnal tidal periodical waves. Amplitude and phase variations will be also measurable when a sliding windows stacking is used. This could be an important reference to find precursors before some earthquakes and volcanic events, corresponding to attenuations of medium patterns

Review on possible gravitational anomalies

This is an updated introductory review of 2 possible gravitational anomalies that has attracted part of the Scientific community: the Allais effect that occur during solar eclipses, and the Pioneer 10 spacecraft anomaly, experimented also by Pioneer 11 and Ulysses spacecrafts. It seems that, to date, no satisfactory conventional explanation exist to these phenomena, and this suggests that possible new physics will be needed to account for them. The main purpose of this review is to announce 3 other new measurements that will be carried on during the 2005 solar eclipses in Panama and Colombia (Apr. 8) and in Portugal (Oct.15).Comment: Published in 'Journal of Physics: Conferences Series of the American Institute of Physics'. Contribution for the VI Mexican School on Gravitation and Mathematical Physics "Approaches to Quantum Gravity" (Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Nov. 21-27, 2004). Updates to this information will be posted in http://www.lsc-group.phys.uwm.edu/~xavier.amador/anomalies.htm

Imaging groundwater infiltration dynamics in the karst vadose zone with long-term ERT monitoring

Water infiltration and recharge processes in karst systems are complex and difficult to measure with conventional hydrological methods. In particular, temporarily saturated groundwater reservoirs hosted in the vadose zone can play a buffering role in water infiltration. This results from the pronounced porosity and permeability contrasts created by local karstification processes of carbonate rocks. Analyses of time-lapse 2-D geoelectrical imaging over a period of 3 years at the Rochefort Cave Laboratory (RCL) site in south Belgium highlight variable hydrodynamics in a karst vadose zone. This represents the first long-term and permanently installed electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) monitoring in a karst landscape. The collected data were compared to conventional hydrological measurements (drip discharge monitoring, soil moisture and water conductivity data sets) and a detailed structural analysis of the local geological structures providing a thorough understanding of the groundwater infiltration. Seasonal changes affect all the imaged areas leading to increases in resistivity in spring and summer attributed to enhanced evapotranspiration, whereas winter is characterised by a general decrease in resistivity associated with a groundwater recharge of the vadose zone. Three types of hydrological dynamics, corresponding to areas with distinct lithological and structural features, could be identified via changes in resistivity: (D1) upper conductive layers, associated with clay-rich soil and epikarst, showing the highest variability related to weather conditions; (D2) deeper and more resistive limestone areas, characterised by variable degrees of porosity and clay contents, hence showing more diffuse seasonal variations; and (D3) a conductive fractured zone associated with damped seasonal dynamics, while showing a great variability similar to that of the upper layers in response to rainfall events. This study provides detailed images of the sources of drip discharge spots traditionally monitored in caves and aims to support modelling approaches of karst hydrological processes

From reactor to rheology in industrial polymers

This article reviews current efforts towards quantitative prediction of rheological properties of industrial polymer resins, based upon their polydisperse branched molecular structure. This involves both an understanding of how reactor and reaction conditions influence the distribution of chain lengths and branch placement (which is the province of reactor engineering) and an understanding of how the molecular structures in turn give rise to the rheology (the province of polymer physics). Both fields are reviewed at an introductory level, focussing in particular on developments in theoretical prediction of rheology for both entangled model polymers and industrial polymers. Finally, we discuss three classes of reaction for which the fields of reactor engineering and polymer physics have been truly combined to produce predictions from reactor to rheology