Constraints on the origin of mafic alkaline volcanics and included xenoliths from Oberon,New South Wales,Australia

Basanites and alkali basalts from Oberon, NSW, Australia contain variable abundances of small Cr-diopside lherzolite xenoliths. Despite a limited range in (metamorphic) textures and modal mineralogy, there is significant variation in mineral chemistry. Mineral thermometric data applied to the geotherm of O'Reilly and Griffin (1985) suggests equilibration over a narrow pressure interval corresponding to depths of 30–45 km. These data show that significant compositional variations exist over a small depth interval in the subcontinental mantle.Basaltic host rocks show near-primary chemical characteristics. Mildly and strongly incompatible element (i.e. D< 1 and D1 respectively) concentrations have been used to constrain the modal amounts of clinopyroxene and garnet in a presumed garnet peridotite mantle source. Estimated proportions of (ol+opx)=73%; cpx=16%; gar= 11% closely resemble source compositions for other basaltic rocks of eastern Australia. Batch partial melting of this source in the range F=9.5–15% applied to the available REE data suggests the source is enriched relative to chondrite 8–10 × La, 2.1–2.4 × Tb and 2.5–3.7 × Yb.     

Petrographic constraints on models of intergranular pressure solution in quartzose sandstones

Petrographic and SEM observations on 478 samples of six quartzose sandstones provide a data base that can be used to evaluate the role of intergranular pressure solution (IPS) in sandstone diagenesis and to constrain predictive models of the pressure solution process. SEM examination of grain contacts that have experienced pressure solution suggests that IPS occurs at the interior portions of contacts where the greatest stress is concentrated and that granulation of quartz grains at points of contact may contribute to the process. The chemical compaction fabrics that result from IPS suggest that the process is most commonly induced by effective lithostatic stress and that the resulting strain is uniaxial.Numerous geological variables influence IPS. Grain size exerts a fundamental influence, with finer grained samples experiencing more IPS than coarser grained samples. On both local and regional scales, IPS is inhibited by poor sorting, an abundance of ductile grains, the presence of “shallow” cement, slow rates of shallow burial, and overpressured conditions. In contrast, IPS is enhanced by the presence of illite grain coatings, increased maximum burial depth, rapid rates of shallow burial, longer times spent at great depths, higher temperatures, and high volumes and rates of fluid flow.Silica budgets indicate that some of the analyzed sandstones approximate mass balance whereas others have exported silica. Calculations of fluid flow requirements indicate that advanced stages of IPS are favored by high volume, high velocity fluid flow. Such flow can occur as a result of uplift of basin margins, which is typical of foreland and intractonic basins.     

A study of intergranular and fissure permeability in Chalk and Permian aquifers,using double-packer injection testing

Double-packer injection tests have been carried out in a borehole in the Chalk of Hampshire and a borehole in the Permian Penrith Sandstone of Cumbria, England. The tests have been supplemented by borehole logging and television inspections and by laboratory measurements on cores. A new mathematical treatment has enabled results to be calculated for injection test intervals containing fissures. In both formations, transmissivity immediately around the borehole is dominated by a few major fissures. In the Penrith Sandstone there is good agreement between intergranular hydraulic conductivity measurements and packer-test results in the portions of the borehole which do not contain major fissures. In the Chalk, the packer-test values are always higher than the intergranular measurements, suggesting that some degree of fissuring is present throughout.     

The sensitivity of climate simulations to the specification of mixed phase clouds

In the prognostic stratiform cloud scheme used in the UK Meteorological Office Unified Model, mixed phase clouds are assumed to exist between 0 and –15 °C. Recent observations of such clouds, carried out using the C-130 aircraft of the Meteorological Research Flight, suggest that a smaller range of 0 to –9°C may be more appropriate. The sensitivity of cloud and radiation fields as simulated by a 5 × 7.5° latitude-longitude version of the Unified Model to such a reduction in the temperature range of mixed phase clouds is considered. Using a smaller temperature range systematic errors in the radiation budget of the model are reduced in mid-latitudes, bringing the model into closer agreement with ERBE data. The sensitivity of model albedo to an increase in the temperature range over which mixed phase clouds are assumed to exist, suggested by previous observational studies, is also considered together with the impact of removing the mixed phase part of the precipitation parametrization altogether.     

Late Quaternary sedimentation on the Leidy Creek fan, Nevada–California: geomorphic responses to climate change

Well-dated surface and subsurface deposits in semiarid Fish Lake Valley, Nevada and California, demonstrate that alluvial-fan deposition is strongly associated with the warm dry climate of the last two interglacial intervals, and that fans were stable and (or) incised during the last glaciation. Fan deposition was probably triggered by a change from relatively moist to arid conditions causing a decrease in vegetation cover and increases in flash floods and sediment yield. We think that this scenario applies to most of the other valleys in the southern Basin and Range. Radiocarbon, tephra, and a few thermoluminescence and cosmogenic ages from outcrops throughout Fish Lake Valley and from cores on the Leidy Creek fan yield ages of >100–50 ka and 11–0 ka for the last two periods of alluvial-fan deposition. Mapping, coring and shallow seismic profiling indicate that these periods were synchronous throughout the valley and on the proximal and distal parts of the fans. From 50 to 11 ka, fan deposition ceased, a soil formed on the older alluvium and the axial drainage became active as runoff and stream competence increased. Slow deposition due to sheet flow or aeolian processes locally continued during this interval, producing cumulic soil profiles. The soil was buried by debris-flow sediment beginning at about 11 ka, coincident with the onset of relatively dry and warm conditions in the region. However, ground-water discharge maintained a large freshwater marsh on the valley floor throughout the Holocene. Pulses of deposition during the Holocene are recorded in the marsh and fan deposits; some pulses coincided with periods of or transitions to warm, dry climate indicated by proxy climate records, whereas others may reflect local disturbances associated with volcanism and fires. Within the marsh deposits, much of the clastic material is probably desert loess. In addition, the deposition of coppice dunes within the fan deposits coincides with two dry periods during the late Holocene.     

Lower palaeozoic and precambrian petroleum source rocks and the coalification path of alginite

Organic-rich samples derived from a Middle Cambrian Formation in the Georgina Basin, and from the Middle Proterozoic of the McArthur Basin in northern and central Australia, yielded alginite ranging from immature oil shale material to overmature residue. A maturation scale has been developed based on the thermal evolution of alginite as determined from reflectance and fluorescence. The coalification path of alginite is marked by jumps in contrast to the linear path of wood-derived vitrinite. Six zones have been recognised, ranging from undermature (zone I), through the mature (zones II/III), followed by a stable stage of no change (zone IV) to the overmature (zones V and VI). The onset of oil generation in alginite as evident from the present study is at 0.3% R_{o Alg.} and is expressed in a change of fluorescence from yellow to brown, and a coalification jump from 0.3 to 0.6% R_o of Alg. In many boreholes zone III can be distinguished between 0.6 and 0.8% R_o of Alg. where subsequent oil generation occurs. Zones II and III represent the oil window.A zone of little or no change designated zone IV, at of alginite follows zones II/III. A marked coalification jump characterises zone V, where a pronounced change in reflectance occurs to >1.0% R_{o Alg.}, signifying peak gas generation. The border of oil preservation lies at the transition of zone V and VI, at 1.6% R_{o Alg.} In zone VI gas generation only occurs.Comparison of reflectance results with experimental and geochemical pyrolysis data supports high activation energies for hydrocarbon generation from alginite, and therefore a later onset of oil generation than other liptinite macerals (i.e. cutinite, exinite, resinite) as well as a narrow oil window.Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirms that alginite does not go through a distinct intermediate stage but that the percentage of unreacted organic matter decreases as maturation proceeds. A clear distinction can be made in TEM between immature alginite, alginite after oil generation, and alginite residue following gas generation. Alginite beyond 1.6% R_o acquires very high densities and the appearance of inertinite in TEM.Bitumens/pyrobitumens make a pronounced contribution to the organic matter throughout the basins and have been shown to effect pyrolysis results by suppressing T_max. The bitumens/pyrobitumens have been divided into four groups, based on their reflectance and morphology, which in turn appears to be an expression of their genetic history. Their significance is in aiding the understanding of the basins' thermal history, and the timing of oil and gas generation.     

Effect of chelation on toxicity of copper

Metals in the sea may form complexes with organic compounds, a process known as chelation, and this may modify their properties very greatly. Here the effect of chelation on the toxicity of copper to algae has been studied in the laboratory using the powerful chelating agent EDTA. Similar phenomena in the sea have implications both for anti-fouling paints, which usually contain copper, and for metal pollution in waters with a high organic content.     

TRIFFID Photometry of Globular Cluster Cores — I. Photometric Techniques and Variable Stars in M15

The Galway/DIAS Image Sharpening Camera, TRIFFID, has been used to make observations in two colours of the centre of the post-core-collapse globular cluster M15. We present here our analysis of the photometry in B over two seasons. We have combined the complementary qualities of the HST 's high astrometric precision and TRIFFID's extended coverage and photometric precision, to perform crowded-field photometry in the innermost region of M15. Our technique virtually eliminates the problem of extreme crowding which has hitherto hampered studies of the variable star populations in globular cluster cores, and thereby provides an extension of the HST 's capability. Candidate variables detected with the HST have been confirmed and monitored over longer periods. We show that most of these are RR Lyrae stars, and that one is a short-period Type II Cepheid (the third to be discovered in M15). Our photometric study also produced evidence of a similar number of new variables. These also appear to be RR Lyrae stars, except for a possible eclipsing system. Further data from an upgraded version of TRIFFID have recently been obtained to help to refine the light curves of all these objects.     

The amino acid composition of a deep-water marine sediment from the upwelling region northwest of Africa

The distribution of amino acids with depth have been described for three samples of a core of recent sediment (< 1000–8000 yr) from the continental slope off N.W. Africa. Basic amino acids are more abundant than acidic amino acids in all samples. The amino acid composition of the oldest sample resembles most closely the amino acid composition of planktonic protein. It is suggested that the differences in amino acid composition of the three samples reflect diagenetic changes which are probably controlled by the environment of deposition.