Evolución sedimentaria de la Cuenca Surpirenaica Oriental durante el Eoceno

Two main phases can be recognized in the Eastern Eocene South-Pyrenean Foreland basin. The first one, which includes the Lower Ypresian (Ilerdian) to Upper Lutetian sedimentary package, is characterized by an asymmetrical basin fillproduced as a consequence of the different tectonic activity of both basin margins. In the foreland margin, a carbonatic sedimentation took place creating an stepped onlap margin geometry. In the orogenic margin, the terrigenous influx from the orogenic belt developed successive progradational clastic wedges. Three Depositional Sequences can be recognized including coetaneous retrogradational carbonate depositional systems in the foreland margin with progradational siliciclastic systems in the active margin. The forelandward advance of the orogenic belt produces, progressively, the drowning of the foreland margin. As a consequence of this, the active rnargin clastic wedge progrades onlapping the drowned distal carbonate margin facies. The second phase, which includes Bartonian and Lower-Middle Priabonian sediments, is characterized by the introduction of a second active basin margin, known as Catalanid margin. Symmetrical siliciclastic wedges from the Pyrenean and Catalanid margin shape the basin fill. One Depositional Sequence, including two transgressive systems tract followed by two regressive systems tract, are recognized in this phase

Características sedimentológicas de la terminación del ciclo marino del Eoceno superior en el sector oriental de la Depresión del Ebro (Catalunya, N.E. de España)

Durante el ~Biarritziensesu~p erior y el Priaboniense, la sedimentación en el Eoceno autóctono de Catalunya, adquiere caracteres deltaicos acumulándose los sedimentos en forma de lóbulos deltaicos que translapan sucesivamente y progradan hacia el interior de la cuenca. Cuando los canales distributarios que originan a estos lóbulos son abandonados, se produce un retrabajamiento de sus materiales por la acción marina (oleaje y posiblemente mareas). Es en este episodio cuando, sobre la morfologia dcltaica heredada, se desarrollaron con mucha frecuencia arrecifes de corales y algas rojas que murieron al depositarse sobre ellos los materiales silicoclasticos procedentes de la progradación de un nuevo lóbulo deltacio. Una excepción la constituye el arrecife de Sant Bartomeu del Grau, resultante de la superposición de dos periodos de crecimiento arrecifal, cuya muerte guarda relación, en cada caso, con las primeras etapas de sedimentación evaporitica de la Cuenca evaporitica central catalana. El mecanismo de cierre para este extremo de la cuenca evaporitica se interpreta originado por el estrangulamiento de la misma por la acción de los lóbulos deltaicos procedentes de los bordes Sur y Norte de la cuenca. El estudio cronoestratigráfico efectuado corrobora al modelo paleogeográfico que se expone, el cual, presupone una conexión «mediterránea» por el Emporda durante el Priaboniense

An analysis of the evolution of hydrometeorological extremes in newspapers: the case of Catalonia, 1982–2006

This contribution analyzes the evolution of perception of certain natural hazards over the past 25 years in a Mediterranean region. Articles from newspapers have been used as indicator. To this end a specific Spanish journal has been considered and an ACCESS database has been created with the summarized information from each news item. The database includes data such as the location of each specific article in the newspaper, its length, the number of pictures and figures, the headlines and a summary of the published information, including all the instrumental data. The study focused on hydrometeorological extremes, mainly floods and droughts, in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The number of headlines per event, trends and other data have been analyzed and compared with "measured" information, in order to identify any bias that could lead to an erroneous perception of the phenomenon. The SPI index (a drought index based on standardized accumulated precipitation) has been calculated for the entire region, and has been used for the drought analysis, while a geodatabase implemented on a GIS built for all the floods recorded in Catalonia since 1900 (INUNGAMA) has been used to analyze flood evolution. Results from a questionnaire about the impact of natural hazards in two specific places have been also used to discuss the various perceptions between rural and urban settings. Results show a better correlation between the news about drought or water scarcity and SPI than between news on floods in Catalonia and the INUNGAMA database. A positive trend has been found for non-catastrophic floods, which is explained by decrease of the perception thresholds, the increase of population density in the most flood-prone areas and changes in land use

El magmatismo (Ortoneises y volcanismo del Ordovícico Superior) del Paleozoico de los Catalánides.

En el presente trabajo se caracterizan petrológica y geoquímicamente las rocas metavolcánicas del Ordovícico Superior de los Catalánides (Gavarres y Guilleries) y los ortoneises de las Guilleries. Estos últimos se encuentran en disposición estratiforme en materiales metasedimentarios cuya edad supuesta es Proterozoico Superior o Cámbrico Inferior. Las rocas metavolcánicas están constituidas por metarriolitas masivas y tobas dacítico-riolíticas con abundante mezcla de material fragmentario. Corresponden a un volcanismo explosivo subaéreo y de carácter freatomagmático. Sus caracteres geoquímicos lo definen como los términos ácidos de una secuencia calcoalcalina de procedencia cortical emplazada postcolisionalmente dentro de un contexto extensivo. El modelo de REE indica que se trata de fundidos poco fraccionados procedentes de la fusión de una corteza reciclada. Los "Ortoneises de las Guilleries" corresponden a leuconeises biotíticos con granate. Sus caracteres geoquímicos los caracterizan como metagranilos alumínicos de procedencia cortical. Sus espectros geoquímicos (elementos incompatibles y REE) presentan pautas análogas a los de las rocas metavolcánicas e indican que se trata de fundidos de procedencia cortical de baja alcalinidad emplazados en un contexto anorogénico. La ausencia de correlación geoquímica y de pautas de fraccionación entre metavolcanitas y ortoneises descarta la idea de una fuente común para ambos

Characteristics of 2D convective structures in Catalonia (NE Spain): an analysis using radar data and GIS

Flood simulation studies use spatial-temporal rainfall data input into distributed hydrological models. A correct description of rainfall in space and in time contributes to improvements on hydrological modelling and design. This work is focused on the analysis of 2-D convective structures (rain cells), whose contribution is especially significant in most flood events. The objective of this paper is to provide statistical descriptors and distribution functions for convective structure characteristics of precipitation systems producing floods in Catalonia (NE Spain). To achieve this purpose heavy rainfall events recorded between 1996 and 2000 have been analysed. By means of weather radar, and applying 2-D radar algorithms a distinction between convective and stratiform precipitation is made. These data are introduced and analyzed with a GIS. In a first step different groups of connected pixels with convective precipitation are identified. Only convective structures with an area greater than 32 km2 are selected. Then, geometric characteristics (area, perimeter, orientation and dimensions of the ellipse), and rainfall statistics (maximum, mean, minimum, range, standard deviation, and sum) of these structures are obtained and stored in a database. Finally, descriptive statistics for selected characteristics are calculated and statistical distributions are fitted to the observed frequency distributions. Statistical analyses reveal that the Generalized Pareto distribution for the area and the Generalized Extreme Value distribution for the perimeter, dimensions, orientation and mean areal precipitation are the statistical distributions that best fit the observed ones of these parameters. The statistical descriptors and the probability distribution functions obtained are of direct use as an input in spatial rainfall generators

Characterization of a Mediterranean flash flood event using rain gauges, radar, GIS and lightning data

Flash flood events are very common in Catalonia, generating a high impact on society, including losses in life almost every year. They are produced by the overflowing of ephemeral rivers in narrow and steep basins close to the sea. This kind of floods is associated with convective events producing high rainfall intensities. The aim of the present study is to analyse the 12–14 September 2006 flash flood event within the framework of the characteristics of flood events in the Internal Basins of Catalonia (IBC). To achieve this purpose all flood events occurred between 1996 and 2005 have been analysed. Rainfall and radar data have been introduced into a GIS, and a classification of the events has been done. A distinction of episodes has been made considering the spatial coverage of accumulated rainfall in 24 h, and the degree of the convective precipitation registered. The study case can be considered as a highly convective one, with rainfalls covering all the IBC on the 13th of September. In that day 215.9 mm/24 h were recorded with maximum intensities above 130 mm/h. A complete meteorological study of this event is also presented. In addition, as this is an episode with a high lightning activity it has been chosen to be studied into the framework of the FLASH project. In this way, a comparison between this information and raingauge data has been developed. All with the goal in mind of finding a relation between lightning density, radar echoes and amounts of precipitation. Furthermore, these studies improve our knowledge about thunderstorms systems

Application of the MM5 and the analogous method to heavy rainfall event, the case of 16?18 October 2003 in Catalonia (NE Spain)

International audienceBetween the 16 and 18 October 2003, some amounts of precipitation greater than 225mm and sea waves higher than 8.5m were recorded in Catalonia (NE Spain) and near its coast. Some rivers in the NE of the region were overflowed and the sea swell produced several damages near the coast. In order to analyse this case and to improve the forecasting of events like this, two methodologies have been applied: one deterministic and another one, probabilistic. The deterministic analysis has been made by using the MM5 mesoscale model. A 48 h simulation has been designed for three domains connected with two way nesting and having 54, 18, 6 km horizontal grid resolution and vertical resolution of 23 levels, and it has been initialised with the NCEP Analyses. The simulation suggests that orography played an important role on the precipitation generation (maxima were located where the wind at low levels impinged on the mountain ranges perpendicularly). The strong pressure gradient produced in the North of Catalonia and West part of the Gulf of Lyon, was the responsible of the great marine alteration. On the other hand, the 6 km resolution precipitation forecast for Catalonia is accurate, since it shows a spatial distribution and amounts quite similar to the observations obtained from 315 automatic rain gauges. The analogous technique applied here, considers the meteorological situations similar to the current one, in terms of the 850 and 1000 hPa geopotential fields at 00:00 UTC and 12:00 UTC from the NCEP/NCAR meteorological reanalysis for the period 1958?2003. Two windows have been considered, the first one from 60° N to 30° N and from 30° W to 30° E, and the second one, centred in Catalonia, from 45° N to 37.5° N and from 5° W to 10° E. The best 100 analogous have been selected and the comparison of the results with those obtained for other heavy rainfall events has been also done

Heavy rain prediction using deterministic and probabilistic models ? the flash flood cases of 11?13 October 2005 in Catalonia (NE Spain)

International audienceBetween the 11 and 13 October 2005 several flash floods were produced along the coast of Catalonia (NE Spain) due to a significant heavy rainfall event. Maximum rainfall achieved values up to 250 mm in 24 h. The total amount recorded during the event in some places was close to 350 mm. Barcelona city was also in the affected area where high rainfall intensities were registered, but just a few small floods occurred, thanks to the efficient urban drainage system of the city. Two forecasting methods have been applied in order to evaluate their capability of prediction regarding extreme events: the deterministic MM5 model and a probabilistic model based on the analogous method. The MM5 simulation allows analysing accurately the main meteorological features with a high spatial resolution (2 km), like the formation of some convergence lines over the region that partially explains the maximum precipitation location during the event. On the other hand, the analogous technique shows a good agreement among highest probability values and real affected areas, although a larger pluviometric rainfall database would be needed to improve the results. The comparison between the observed precipitation and from both QPF (quantitative precipitation forecast) methods shows that the analogous technique tends to underestimate the rainfall values and the MM5 simulation tends to overestimate them

Evolución sedimentaria de la Cuenca Surpirenaica Oriental durante el Eoceno

Two main phases can be recognized in the Eastern Eocene South-Pyrenean Foreland basin. The first one, which includes the Lower Ypresian (Ilerdian) to Upper Lutetian sedimentary package, is characterized by an asymmetrical basin fillproduced as a consequence of the different tectonic activity of both basin margins. In the foreland margin, a carbonatic sedimentation took place creating an stepped onlap margin geometry. In the orogenic margin, the terrigenous influx from the orogenic belt developed successive progradational clastic wedges. Three Depositional Sequences can be recognized including coetaneous retrogradational carbonate depositional systems in the foreland margin with progradational siliciclastic systems in the active margin. The forelandward advance of the orogenic belt produces, progressively, the drowning of the foreland margin. As a consequence of this, the active rnargin clastic wedge progrades onlapping the drowned distal carbonate margin facies. The second phase, which includes Bartonian and Lower-Middle Priabonian sediments, is characterized by the introduction of a second active basin margin, known as Catalanid margin. Symmetrical siliciclastic wedges from the Pyrenean and Catalanid margin shape the basin fill. One Depositional Sequence, including two transgressive systems tract followed by two regressive systems tract, are recognized in this phase