Geological Information System Research Articles

Effects of bedrock type on the indoor radon concentrations at the office buildings in Gyeongju, Korea

This study measured the indoor radon concentrations at 23 administrative office buildings in Gyeongju, Korea, which consists of 23 administrative districts. Using the Korean geological information system, the type of bedrock under the administrative office buildings was identified and classified in 3 major types: granite, sedimentary rock, and sedimentary rock-based fault. The changes in the indoor concentrations at the 23 administrative office buildings were analyzed according to the type of bedrock. As a result, the radon concentration in the areas with the granite bedrock was generally higher than that in the region of two other types of bedrock. In addition, the radon concentration was evaluated according to surface area and construction timing of the building. The indoor radon concentration generally increased with decreasing surface area of the building, particularly in granite distributed areas. For a building aged more than 15 years, the radon concentration in the building in the granite area was much higher. For the building aged 1 or 2 years, the radon concentration was high regardless of the type of the bedrock due to radon emanation from the building material, such as concrete.

Dynamics of interaction between fields of seismicity and surface deformations (Bishkek geodynamic test area)

The spatial-temporal dynamics of surface crustal movements revealed from GPS data is compared with seismicity in the Bishkek geodynamic test area documented in the regional KNET catalog. The geological information system (GIS) GeoTaim 2.0 is substantially improved, which allowed variations in seismicity and deformation fields to be analyzed in the 3D raster. It is shown that seismicity and surface deformations are correlative in the test area. The periods with extreme values of contraction and the extension rates of the Earth’s surface areas are accompanied by enhanced seismicity and strong earthquakes. The increase in the spatial gradient of surface crustal movements coincides with changes in the azimuths of compression axes indicated by mechanisms of earthquakes that occurred at depths of up to 25 km. For a better geological—geophysical interpretation of interactions between deformation and seismicity fields in the Bishkek geodynamic test area, the spatial system GPS stations and measurement frequency need substantial improvement.

Hydrothermal Ni prospectivity analysis of Tasmania, Australia

A two-pronged approach involving GIS-assisted manual prospectivity analysis and GIS-based fuzzy prospectivity analysis was used for identifying the most prospective ground for hydrothermal Ni deposits in Tasmania. The manual analysis involved (1) defining the process model and identifying key mineralization processes responsible for formation of hydrothermal Ni deposits; (2) manually estimating the probability of occurrence of each mineralization process based on the available information; (3) combining the above probabilities to derive overall probability of occurrence of hydrothermal Ni deposits in various geological regions of Tasmania. The Geological Information System (GIS)-based analysis involved representing the mineralization processes in the form of spatial predictor maps and using a fuzzy logic model to integrate the predictor maps and to derive a hydrothermal Ni prospectivity map of Tasmania. The results indicate that the most prospective areas for hydrothermal Ni in Tasmania are located along the boundary between the Dundas and Rocky Cape regions. This study further indicates that parts of the Ferrar Large Igneous Province (LIP) in central and Eastern Tasmania, which are presently considered non-prospective, could be potentially prospective for hydrothermal Ni deposits. A major advantage of the approach is that it can be easily adapted and applied to hydrothermal Ni prospectivity analysis worldwide.

Hydrochemical and statistical study of groundwaters in Gabes-south deep aquifer (south-eastern Tunisia)

Groundwater quality assessment is important to ensure sustainable safe use of water. In the region of Gabes, groundwaters represent the main source of water supply for drinking, agriculture and industry seeing the shortage in surface water. In the present paper, an attempt has been made, for the first time in this region, to study the spatial and temporal evolution of the hydrochemistry and to identify factors and phenomena governing the assessment parameters of Gabes-south groundwaters quality, based on (1) an integrated analysis of physical–chemical parameters (2) use of Geological Information System (GIS) and (3) statistical methods. To this purpose, water samples were collected during the period of 1995–2003 from nine boreholes to represent Gabes-south deep aquifer. The water samples were investigated with respect to salinity, concentrations of hydrogen (pH), calcium (Ca 2+), magnesium (Mg 2+), sodium (Na +), potassium (K +), chloride (Cl −), sulphate, SO 4 2 - , bicarbonates HCO 3 - and fluoride (F −). Spatial distribution maps of these parameters have been created using GIS contouring methods with Arcview 3.2. The analytical results obtained were interpreted using hydrochemical methods reinforced by statistical analysis (trend analysis, principal component analysis and correspondence analysis) which has been widely used to analyse large sets of variables in environmental studies. Chemical analysis show that during the considered period, salinity and major elements concentrations vary little with time, and decrease in the direction of the groundwater flow. The waters are mostly SO 4, Cl, Na and Ca type. The chemical composition of these waters is related to the lithology of the aquifer, to their origin and to the exploitation conditions. Water quality analysis indicates that Gabes-south groundwaters are mainly composed of SO 4, Cl, Na and Ca type. Results showed that fluoride concentrations exceed the World Health Organisation (WHO) maximum permissible limit of 1.5 mg/l. Therefore, the water of these boreholes must be defluorinated before use for drinking.

Spatial variation of tundra soil organic carbon along the coastline of northern Alaska

Abstract Coastal erosion plays an important role in the terrestrial–marine–atmosphere carbon cycle. This study was conducted to explore the spatial variation of soil organic carbon (SOC) and other soil properties along the coastline of northern Alaska. A total of 769 soil samples, from 48 sites along over 1800-km of coastline in northern Alaska, were collected during the summers of 2005 and 2006. A geological information system (GIS) and a geostatistical method (ordinary kriging) were coupled to investigate the spatial variation of SOC along the coastline. SOC have a big variation ranging from 0.8 to 187.4 kg C m− 2 with the greatest value observed in the middle and lowest in the northeastern coastline. Compared to the 1-D model or the 1-D model with shortcut distance, the 2-D model was more reasonable to describe SOC along the coastline. The Gaussian correlation structure model had less prediction error than other examined geostatistical models. All mapping results also indicate that soils of the northwestern coastline stored greater SOC than those of the northeastern coastline. The estimation of total SOC along the coastline of northern Alaska was 6.86 ∗ 107 kg m− 1. The prediction errors indicated that greater errors were observed in both ends of the coastline than were observed in other fractions, although the range was from 0.739 to 0.779. Our study suggests that the isotropic 2-D model without a trend, with the nugget effect and the Gaussian correlation structure is a useful tool to investigate SOC in large scale. Results of stable isotope of organic matter indicate that SOC are mainly derived from C3 plant, which ranged from − 30‰ to − 22‰.

Website for avian flu information and bioinformatics

Highly pathogenic influenza A virus H5N1 has spread out worldwide and raised the public concerns. This increased the output of influenza virus sequence data as well as the research publication and other reports. In order to fight against H5N1 avian flu in a comprehensive way, we designed and started to set up the Website for Avian Flu Information ( http://www.avian-flu.info ) from 2004. Other than the influenza virus database available, the website is aiming to integrate diversified information for both researchers and the public. From 2004 to 2009, we collected information from all aspects, i.e. reports of outbreaks, scientific publications and editorials, policies for prevention, medicines and vaccines, clinic and diagnosis. Except for publications, all information is in Chinese. Till April 15, 2009, the cumulative news entries had been over 2000 and research papers were approaching 5000. By using the curated data from Influenza Virus Resource, we have set up an influenza virus sequence database and a bioinformatic platform, providing the basic functions for the sequence analysis of influenza virus. We will focus on the collection of experimental data and results as well as the integration of the data from the geological information system and avian influenza epidemiology.

Study of Panjin wetlands along Bohai coast (II): Ecological water requirement of Shuangtaizi estuarine wetland

Shuangtaizi estuarine wetland along the Bohai Sea coast, the biggest bulrush wetland in the world, has been listed in ‘The Record of Important International Wetland Conservation District’. Taking the year of 2 000 as an example, the minimum, the most suitable and the maximum ecological water requirement of Shuangtaizi estuarine wetland are calculated in this paper based on both ecological theory and Geological Information System technology. In addition, the remote sensing technique is adopted in the data acquisition process. Moreover, the total water requirement and the unit area water requirement for different wetland types are obtained. The result is very important for water resources planning, ecological conservation and regional agriculture structure adjustment in Shuangtaizi. Meanwhile, this study can serve as a useful example for calculating the ecological water requirement in other similar estuarine wetlands.

Availability and coverage of hydrologic data in the US geological survey National Water Information System (NWIS) and US Environmental Protection Agency Storage and Retrieval System (STORET)

The need for a unified and improved data access system for the nation’s vast hydrologic data holdings has increased over the past few years as researchers strive for better understanding the human impact on the nation’s water cycle. Large mission oriented data repositories such as the USGS’ National Water Information System (NWIS) and EPA’s Storage and Retrieval System (EPA STORET) play a crucial role in providing a substantial amount of the nationwide coverage, however they do differ regionally in terms of coverage (parameters) and geospatial data density. Besides the differences in geographic distribution, repositories tend to undergo changes in mission statements and as such have different foci in their data collection activities that change as time progresses. This paper places the two water information systems next to each in an attempt to work out the differences in terms of coverage and content and how they complement each other when overlaid. This is done through the use of a number the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information Systems components, namely a web-service suite called WaterOneFlow that permits interrogation of the available data content of a national water metadata catalogue into which these two information systems have been integrated.

The development of mine digitization information system and its application to the Lanping Pb-Zn mine

To compile the software package of the mine digitization information system in terms of the principle and methods of mathematics geology and geographic information system using computer languages such as VB and Matlab, this paper introduces the function composition and operating environment of this information system, and illustrates the function and effectiveness of the software package as exemplified by the Lanping Pb-Zn mine, Yunnan Province.

GIS-based highway geological hazard information management and decision support system

Based on the practical application of Geology Information System(GIS) throughout the world, combined with the characters of road’s geological hazard and it’s supervision, the paper introduces on the importance of the research on road’s geological hazards information management and decision-making support system. The paper also analyzes the system’s target, the principles and key techniques in developing the system. In the research, we developed the GIS-based road’s geological hazard information management and decision-making support system and applied it to one speedway in the west of China where contains typical geological hazards. The system based on the database of road’s geological hazard on the grounds of spatial graphic information and attribute information. By virtue of the scientific assessment and prediction mathematical model, integrating the GIS’s strongpoint on spatial analyzing, the system is capable of visualizing the regionalization of road according to the geological hazards it contains, and accurately assessing and predicting geological hazards, thus efficiently assists the road construction and management units in the decision making on controlling the geological hazards and reducing the related loss.

GeoSure; a bridge between geology and decision-makers

Abstract How many people understand a geological map and use it to assess the ground on which they live or plan to develop? How many town planners, house owners or insurers know that geologists can identify areas prone to flooding, radon gas emissions, landslides and subsidence? Do decision-makers understand the relevance of geology? Concerned about these questions, geological and geographic information system (GIS) professionals at the British Geological Survey (BGS) have created datasets that make information about geological hazards (‘geohazards’) easy to obtain, use and understand. The term ‘geohazard’ is emotive. Many people think of natural hazards as being large-scale disasters, such as tsunami and major earthquakes. Appropriate terminology is required to explain the relevance of factors such as the potential cost and health implications of the usually less dramatic British geohazards. Using the vast data holdings and geoscientific knowledge within BGS and building on past thematic mapping activities, a series of national geohazard datasets has been developed. GIS datasets with ‘plain English’ descriptions have been created for natural gas emissions, landslides, swell–shrink clays, compressible and collapsible deposits, soluble rocks, running sands and groundwater flooding. Geological information is thus brought before a wider audience and in a form that reveals to the British public and industry how geology can be used in conjunction with other information and why it is relevant to their lives.

A scientific approach to developing Geological Information Systems

Traditionally, geoscientific data collected by GeoScience Victoria (GSV) were held in databases focussed on providing the content for maps and their accompanying legends. A wealth of information would be stored in free-text legend fields or geological reports. Analysis of these data using other software is difficult and this approach can lead to inconsistent or contradictory systems. GSV has redesigned its geological information systems, based on a data model that describes true geological entities and concepts. Consequently, information stored by GSV can be more readily used for a variety of purposes and by a variety of users, and the information model is not constrained by the implementation requirements of a particular vendor. Research was conducted to identify models generated by other groups or agencies before adopting the North American Geologic Map Data Model - Conceptual Model 1.0. This model provided the foundation for a logical model explicitly defining the geoscientific concepts with respect to GSV's business requirements. The geoscientific application of the Geography Mark-up Language, GeoSciML, was used as a reference during the logical modelling. An extensible pair of aspatial and spatial databases was constructed. Web-services, including Open GIS Consortium (OGC) compliant web map services and web feature services, will be used to deliver data to client applications. These databases will enable GSV to conduct it's own work and deliver its data to external parties using international standard exchange languages such as GeoSciML.

Late Quaternary Paleoshorelines and Sedimentary Sequences in Chabahar Bay (Southeast of Iran)

Chabahar Bay is located along the coast of Sistan province in SE Iran. This area is part of the coastal Makran zone (one of the geological zones of Iran), which had undergone sea-level changes along the Late Quaternary. Due to these processes, multiple sedimentary sequences and several paleoshorelines were created. In this investigation, by using the Geological Information System method, 21 paleoshorelines were recognized. In the borehole at the north of Chabahar Bay, we found 14 layers, which were related to Late Quaternary sedimentary sequences and correlated to glacial and interglacial periods. All layers of borehole were analyzed for grain size, sedimentary structures, and fossil content. Four radiocarbon measurements were done on the lowest and uppermost marine layers of borehole and on C7 and C21 of paleoshorelines. The lowest layer of borehole has 17,600 14C YBP date, related to Cataglacial or Flanderian Transgression, which outcropped at 15 m height and 5,300 m distance to the present shoreline. Sedimentary sequences showed four transgressions and retrogressions occurred from cataglacial to the present. On the other hand, from 4690 ± 40 YBP, 20 paleoshorelines have been created, for which the duration of each may have been about 230 years.

Groundwater potentiality index: a strategically conceived tool for water research in fractured aquifers

Durable development requires full profit and knowledge of natural resources potentialities. Multi-criterion approaches that encompass geological, morphological, hydrological and Geographical Information System technologies are ones of exiting developments in environmental sciences. This work is a proposition of a numerical model based on a groundwater potentiality index (GPI) calculation, using data on rock fracturing, lithology, drainage, topography, rainfall and drilling water yield. It provides the ability to identify areas indicating favorable conditions for exploratory well positioning in semi-arid zones with non-permeable outcrops. It is therefore a helpful tool to assist water resources prospecting in deprived regions. The newly conceived approach has been applied in the southeastern boundary of the Bouregreg and coastal basins of Central Morocco, where Paleozoic fractured rocks outcrop. The suitability of the GPI method use was verified by comparing the GPI map values with water yield of thirteen pumping tests in a field checking area, which revealed promising results.

Systematic GIS-based landslide inventory as the first step for effective landslide-hazard management

The purpose of the so-called IFFI project (Inventario dei Fenomeni Franosi in Italia—Inventory of Landslides in Italy) and of many other related activities carried out by the Centro Regionale per le Ricerche Territoriali e Geologiche of ARPA Piemonte (Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione Ambientale—Regional Agency for Environmental Protection), is to map all the existing landslides in Piemonte (including both results of monitoring data and available historical data). ARPA carried out new systematic surveys using airphoto interpretation and created a specific alphanumeric geological information systems (GIS)-based database to store and process all the collected data. In order to obtain proper landslide-hazard zoning, it is necessary to provide a landslide inventory and to define the relationship between landslides and geological setting. A landslide inventory represents a fundamental base of knowledge, is a very basic tool for land planning, and strongly helps the local authorities in their decision making.

Topological conceptual model of geological relative time scale for geoinformation systems

In geological information systems, the methods of encoding geological age, both relative and absolute, play an important role. Interoperable exchange of information between these systems requires application of solutions based upon recognized international standards. The ISO 19108 standard can serve as a basis for elaboration of a conceptual model for geological data, as well as its implementation, for instance in Extensible Markup Language (XML). The nature of the relative geological time scale requires application of topological elements in this model, and the model presented here is a complex construction of such elements. As a result, operations of the interface used for objects belonging to classes derived from the “TimeTopologicalOrdinalEra” class may return a value in the form of topological time relations such as: “Before”, “After”, “During” and “OverlappedBy”.

A synthetic geological information system and its application to xiangjiaba hydropower station

A synthetic geological information system and its application to xiangjiaba hydropower station

A synthetic geological information system and its application to xiangjiaba hydropower station

The 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake (Mw 7.6) caused damage to 49 tunnels within 60 km of the epicenter, including the collapse of three mountain tunnels, ending the traditional perception that tunnels, and especially mountain tunnels, were earthquake-resistant. A series of studies that involved seismic damage investigation, physical model and numerical simulation experiments, numerical analyses and field monitoring have been carried out to investigate the damage mechanism, influencing factors and the seismic response of tunnels, and these are reviewed in this manuscript. The results of such studies over the last two decades demonstrate that tunnels suffer less seismic damage than surface structures. Most of seismic damage to tunnels involves failure of the adjacent ground or the movement of a fault that is crossed by the tunnel. Tunnel damage that is caused by ground motion occurs where the seismic effects are amplified, such as at the slope next to mined sections and portals, in shallow overburden tunnels, and at particular combinations of tunnel depth and geological conditions. Results of physical model-based tests using shaking tables and centrifuges reveal that tunnels exhibit rocking responses along with ovaling deformation or racking distortions under seismic excitation; also residual earth pressures remain on the tunnel side walls and internal forces of lining exist after shaking. The structural responses of a tunnel under non-uniform excitation are larger than that under uniform excitation. Beyond investigations of the damage mechanism and influencing factors, physical model-based tests provide experimental benchmarks for correcting numerical model settings and calibrating the characteristic parameters in numerical simulations, and validate the application of such models and simulations in the investigation of tunnel seismic responses. A fully dynamic analysis with complete descriptions of the topography and geological characteristics of a site, and the engineering characteristics of the tunnel and surrounding ground, is nowadays probably the most effective way for the seismic simulation of tunnels, and the design and evaluation of the same. An understanding of the state-of-the-art with respect to the seismic response of tunnels demonstrates the importance of three-dimensional geological models for tunnel seismic analysis; the evaluation of regional ground motion models that can capture the expected range of possible ground motions at tunnel site, and determinations of both the static and dynamic characteristics of geological conditions that are associated with site-scale vulnerabilities. Since residual earth pressures and internal forces remain on tunnel after an earthquake, the seismic damage to tunnels and loads and strain of the surrounding ground may accumulate. Methods for evaluating potential seismic damage to existing tunnels must be further developed, and more field monitoring of the seismic responses of tunnels is required.

Development of GIS-based geological hazard information system and its application for landslide analysis in Korea

Techniques for geological hazard management, assessment and prediction must be developed for the prevention and mitigation of geological hazards. To enable this, data sets related to geological hazard prevention related must be constructed, analyzed and distributed to customers. For this, a spatial database (SDB) including geological hazards, basic maps, damageable objects, satellite imagery, meteorological data and terrain analysis data was constructed using GIS, and to manage the SDB, a geological hazard information system (GHIS) was developed. The SDB is covering most area of South Korea and was formed at national, regional and medium scales separately in the form of index and administrative district unit. Using the GHIS, the SDB can be selected according to scale, locality and different types of data, and can be edited and manipulated. For the application of the constructed SDB, landslide hazard was analyzed for the Janghung area, Korea. Landslide susceptibility was analyzed using the landslide-occurrence factors by frequency ratio model. For the verification, the result of the analysis was applied to study areas. The verification results showed satisfactory agreement between the susceptibility map and the existing data on landslide locations.

Geological environment and causes for desertification in arid-semiarid regions in China

In the past 40 years, the desertification rates have reached between 0.81 and 1.64% per year in northern China. Many researchers have focused their studies particularly on climate change and human activities occurring in recent years but have overlooked the possible effect of changing geological environment on a much longer time scale on this deterioration of land. Using the Geologic Information System (GIS) technique, the impact of climate change, eolian deposit, loess formation, and the Quaternary environment in the past 20,000 years on desertification during three periods of dry-cold, warm-humid and dry-cold conditions was investigated. The results indicate that the important factor causing the drought and desertification in the north is the uplifting of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in the past 10,000 years. The time scale on which natural factors contribute to desertification is 1,000–10,000 years, whereas that of human influence is only in the magnitude of a decade to about 100 years. There is evidence to indicate that the change in the Quaternary geological environment was the decisive factor for the desertification. The destruction of vegetation and surface soil cover is the direct and immediate cause leading to the present desertification. In the past 50 years, the climate in northern China has been predominantly dry and warm, creating a favorable condition for the desertification process. Therefore, it is an important task for China in the 21st century to protect vegetation and to limit land development so as to stop the desertification process.