Surface complexation modeling of Cu(II) adsorption on mixtures of hydrous ferric oxide and kaolinite

Background  

The application of surface complexation models (SCMs) to natural sediments and soils is hindered by a lack of consistent models and data for large suites of metals and minerals of interest. Furthermore, the surface complexation approach has mostly been developed and tested for single solid systems. Few studies have extended the SCM approach to systems containing multiple solids.     

Height dependence of the amplitudes of solar oscillations viewed with a potassium resonance scattering spectrometer

Over the course of the year, the variation in the solar line-of-sight velocity causes a change in the heights in the photosphere which are analysed by the red and blue passbands of a resonance scattering spectrometer. This in turn would be expected to produce a variation in the ratio of acoustic amplitudes measured in each passband. Using data from the Tenerife spectrometer of the Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network (BiSON), we demonstrate such a seasonal change. We then use the Eddington-Barbier approximation and an atmospheric model to convert the magnitude of this trend in velocity ratio with line-of-sight velocity into an approximate value of 580 km for the velocity-amplitude scale height. However, a simple argument suggests that Doppler imaging causes this to be an overestimate of the true value.     

Sediment oxygen profiles in a super-oxygenated antarctic lake

Perennially ice-covered lakes are found in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. In contrast to temperate lakes that have diurnal photic periods, antarctic (and arctic) lakes have a yearly photic period. An unusual feature of the antarctic lakes is the occurrence of O2 at supersaturated levels in certain portions of the water column. Here we report the first sediment O2 profiles obtained using a microelectrode from a perennially ice-covered antarctic lake. Sediment cores collected in January and October 1987 from Lake Hoare in Taylor Valley show oxygenation down to 15, and in some cases, 25 cm. The oxygenation of sediments several centimeters below the sediment-water interface is atypical for lake sediments and may be characteristic of perennially ice-covered lakes. There is a significant difference between the observed January and October sediment O2 profiles. Several explanations may account for the difference, including seasonality. A time-dependent model is presented which tests the feasibility of a seasonal cycle resulting from the long photoperiod and benthic primary production in sediments overlain by a highly oxygenated water column.     

Micromechanics of the velocity and normal stress dependence of rock friction

Among the second-order effects on friction the most important are those of variable normal stress and of slip velocity. Velocity weakening, which is usually considered the source of the stick-slip instability in rock friction, has been observed in velocity stepping experiments with Westerly granite. The friction change, , was –0.01 to –0.008 for a tenfold velocity increase. Using normal closure measurements, we observed dilation upon each increase in sliding rate. We also observed, for the first time, time-dependent closure between surfaces during static loading. The dilation that occurred during the velocity stepping experiment was found to be that expected from the static time-dependent closure phenomenon. This change in closure was used to predict friction change with an elastic contact model. The calculated friction change which results from a change in contact area and asperity interlocking, is in good agreement with the observed velocity dependence of steady-state friction. Variable normal stress during sliding has two effects, first in creating new partial slip contacts and locking some existing fully sliding contacts and second in increasing interlocking, for instance when normal load is suddenly increased. As a result, a transient change in friction occurs upon a sudden change in normal load.     

Near-infrared imaging in H2 of molecular (CO) outflows from young stars

We have imaged several known molecular (CO) outflows in H₂ v=1-0 S(1) and wide-band K in order to identify the molecular shocks associated with the acceleration of ambient gas by outflows from young stars. We detected H₂ line emission in all the flows we observed: L 1157, VLA 1623, NGC 6334I, NGC 2264G, L 1641N and Haro 4-255. A comparison of the H₂ data with CO outflow maps strongly suggests that prompt entrainment near the head of a collimated jet probably is the dominant mechanism for producing the CO outflows in these sources.     

Distribution and relations of 4- to 10-km-diameter craters to global geologic units of Mars

By correlating the 1:25,000,000 geologic map of Mars of Scott and Carr (1977) with 4- to 10-km-diameter crater density data from Mariner 9 images, the average crater density for 23 of the equatorial geologic-geomorphic units on Mars was computed. The correlation of these two data sets was accomplished by digitizing both the crater density data and geologic map at the same scale and by comparing them in a computer. This technique assigns the crater density value found in the corresponding location on the geologic data set to a discrete computer file assigned each of the 23 geologic units. By averaging the crater density values accumulated in each file, an “average” crater density for each geologic unit was obtained. Condit believes these average crater density values are accurate indicators of the relative age of the geologic units considered. The statistical validity of these average values is strongest for the geologic units of the largest areal extent. The relative ages as obtained from the average crater density values for the seven largest geologic units, from youngest to oldest, are: Tharsis volcanic material, 21 ± 4 craters/10⁶km²; smooth plains material, 57 ± 14 craters/10⁶km²; rolling plains material, 66 ± 16 craters/10⁶km²; plains materials, 80 ± 17 craters/10⁶km²; ridged plains material, 128 ± 25 craters/10⁶km²; hilly and cratered material, 137 ± 38 craters/10⁶km²; and cratered plateau material, 138 ± 27 craters/10⁶km².     

Magnetostratigraphic evidence from the Cold Creek bar for onset of ice-age cataclysmic floods in eastern Washington during the Early Pleistocene

This study provides a detailed magnetostratigraphy of sediments composing the Cold Creek cataclysmic flood bar in the Pasco Basin, Washington. Our interpretation suggests onset of Missoula floods or similar events prior to 1.1 myr, later than previously suggested by Bjornstad et al. [Bjornstad, B.N., Fecht, K.R., Pluhar, C.J., 2001. Long history of pre-Wisconsin, Ice Age cataclysmic floods: evidence from southeastern Washington State. Journal of Geology 109 (6), 695-713]. Nonetheless these data suggest that Channeled Scabland features formed over a much longer timespan than commonly cited, that continental ice sheets of the early Pleistocene reached as far south as those of the late Pleistocene, and that similar physiography existed in eastern Washington and perhaps Montana to both generate and route Missoula-flood-like events. This study adds paleomagnetic polarity results from 213 new samples of silts and sands derived from nine new drill cores penetrating the Cold Creek cataclysmic flood bar to our previous database of 53 samples from four boreholes, resulting in a much more robust and detailed magnetostratigraphy. Rock magnetic studies on these sediments show pure magnetite to be the predominant remanence-carrying magnetic mineral, ruling out widespread remagnetization by secondary mineralization. The magnetostratigraphy at eastern Cold Creek bar is characterized by a normal polarity interval bracketed by reversed polarities. Equating the normal zone with the Jaramillo subchron (0.99-1.07 myr) affords the simplest correlation to the magnetic polarity timescale. Western Cold Creek bar was likely deposited during the Brunhes chron (0-0.78 myr) since it exhibits mainly normal polarities with only two thin reversed-polarity horizons that we interpret as magnetic excursions during the Brunhes.     

Biofouling and the continuous monitoring of underwater light from a seagrass perspective

For more than a decade, inexpensive electronic instruments have made continuous underwater light monitoring an integral part of many seagrass studies. Although biofouling, if not controlled, compromises the utility of the record. A year-long assessment of the time course of sensor fouling, in the Laguna Madre of Texas established that light transmitted through the fouling layer after 2 wk of exposure exceeded 90% except for a 6–8 wk period in May and June. On that basis, a 2-wk interval was chosen for routine servicing. Subsequent monitoring proved this choice to be grossly in error. The period of sub-90% transmittance after 2 wk extended to 4–6 mo annually over the next 3 yr. Fouling was strongly correlated with temperature, ambient light, and year. Since an algal bloom of 7-yr duration finally waned during this study, increased ambient light seemed most likely to explain increased fouling later in the study. The explanatory value of light was less than temperature or year in multiple regression, requiring some other explanation of the date effect than change in ambient light. Allelopathic and suspension-feeding depressant effects of the brown tide are offered as the most likely cause of unusually low fouling in the first year. Biofouling was so unpredictable and rapid in this study that at least weekly maintenance would be required to assure reliability of the light monitoring record.