A major sulphur isotope event at c. 510 Ma: a possible anoxia–extinction–volcanism connection during the Early–Middle Cambrian transition?

A new approach to constraining seawater δ³⁴S and sulphate concentration using francolite‐bound sulphate reveals an abrupt increase in δ³⁴S to +50‰ around the Early–Middle Cambrian boundary. Such high δ³⁴S values are best explained by increased rates of pyrite burial due to ocean anoxia coupled with an increased sensitivity of the ocean sulphate reservoir to perturbations due to low sulphate concentrations of 500–700 μgL^?1. We argue that the spread of anoxic waters at this time was partly the result of greenhouse warming related to the eruption of the Kalkarindji Large Igneous Province of northern Australia and that it triggered the collapse of early metazoan reef ecosystems during the latest Early Cambrian. Mass extinctions of the last 260 Myr have all coincided with enhanced volcanic activity, while several are also associated with positive shifts in seawater δ³⁴S. Extending this correlation back in time further implicates volcanically induced climate change as a major determining factor in biosphere evolution. Terra Nova, 18, 257–263, 2006     

Magnetic Reconnection and Extraplanar Diffuse Ionized Gas

Photoionization by stars cannot be the only cause for the diffuseionized gas component in the distant halos of galaxies.Quasistationary localized magnetic reconnection can efficientlycontribute to the ionization of the extraplanar halo gas. The gas isheated and re-ionized in numerous current filaments fast enough tocompensate recombination. The necessary magnetic energy is provided bythe disk activity.     

Current convection in solar active regions

Current carrying magnetic fields which penetrate sunspots can be unstable to current convective modes caused by the large gradient of electrical conductivity. The linear growth rates and wavelengths of the unstable modes are found. The unstable modes produce fine-scale vortices perpendicular to the magnetic field, which overshoot well into the solar corona. The modes provide a turbulent vorticity source at the photospheric footpoints of the field. This can cause braiding and reconnection of the coronal magnetic field. The modes twist the coronal magnetic field into loops with a typical radius of 200 km, consistent with recent X-ray observations.     

An Example of Island-Arc Petrogenesis: Geochemistry and Petrology of the Southern Luzon Arc, Philippines

Volcanism throughout the Luzon arc is associated with eastwardsubduction of the South China Sea floor along the Manila Trench.The southern section of the arc, the focus of this study, extendsfrom the Lingayen-Dingalan fault to the small islands just southof Luzon. Two segments appear to exist along this section ofthe arc the northern Bataan and southern Mindoro segments whichare separated by the Macolod Corridor. The volcanic rocks have typical arc phenocryst mineralogies:olivine, clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and titanomagnetite inthe most mafic rocks and clinopyroxene, plagioclase, orthopyroxene,titanomagnetite, ? amphibole in the more felsic samples. Complexzoning, sieve textures, and decoupling of incompatible traceelements suggest that processes such as assimilation have takenplace. The rocks from the study area range from basalts to rhyolitesand show typical calc-alkaline features. The rocks of the MacolodCorridor and Mindoro segment are particularly enriched in largeion lithophile elements (LILE), light rare earth elements (LREE),and radiogenic Sr compared with the Bataan segment. The datafall within the mantle array on Sr-Nd isotopic diagrams andgrade toward higher Sr and lower Nd isotopic values from northto south. A likely source for the volcanics of this study is either amid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-type mantle that undergoes higherdegrees of partial melting than regions involved in MORB generationor a previously depleted source. We suggest that the high fieldstrength element (HFSE) anomalies have been derived throughdifferential element partitioning during fluid transport fromthe subducted lithosphere to the mantle wedge. Continental crustal material seems to play a significant roleparticularly in the Macolod Corridor and the Mindoro segment,based on the high LILE, La/Sm ratios, radiogenic Sr isotopes,and ¹⁸O values. The Macolod Corridor and the Mindoro segmenthave undergone source contamination by crustal material fromthe North Palawan-Mindoro crustal block either during the collisionof this block with the Manila Trench or by subduction of sedimentsrich in this crustal material. A similar component has alsobeen detected in the Bataan segment but in minor amounts. Thetrace element and isotopic differences between the northernand southern sections of the arc are interpreted in terms ofvariable composition (i. e., variable amounts of a crustal componentintroduced from the Palawan-Mindoro crustal terrain) of themetasomatic fluids released into the source.     

Microwave and hard X-Ray observations of a solar flare with a time resolution better than 100 ms

Simultaneous microwave and X-ray observations are presented for a solar flare detected on May 8, 1980 starting at 19:37 UT. The X-ray observations were made with the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission and covered the energy range from 28–490 keV with a time resolution of 10 ms. The microwave observations were made with the 5 and 45 foot antennas at the Itapetinga Radio Observatory at frequencies of 7 and 22 GHz, with time resolutions of 100 ms and 1 ms, respectively. Detailed correlation analysis of the different time profiles of the event show that the major impulsive peaks in the X-ray flux preceded the corresponding microwave peaks at 22 GHz by about 240 ms. For this particular burst the 22 GHz peaks preceded the 7 GHz by about 1.5 s. Observed delays of the microwave peaks are too large for a simple electron beam model but they can be reconciled with the speeds of shock waves in a thermal model.     

Modeling of water–rock interactions in an aquitard of sandy clay in the coastal area near Beihai,China

Unconsolidated sand, gravel and clay deposits near Beihai and in the Leizhou Peninsula in southern China form an unconfined aquifer, aquitard and a confined aquifer. Water and soil samples were collected from the two aquifers in the coastal Beihai area for the determination of chemical compositions, minerals and soluble ions. Hydrogeochemical modeling of three flow paths through the aquitard are carried out using PHREEQC to determine water–rock interactions along the flow paths. The results indicate that the dissolution of anorthite, fluorite, halite, rhodochrosite and CO₂, and precipitation of potash feldspar and kaolinite may be occurring when groundwater leaks through the aquitard from the unconfined aquifer to the confined aquifer. Cation exchanges between Na and Ca can also happen along the flow paths.     

Diel Patterns in Chlorophyll <Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis> Specific Absorption Coefficient and Absorption Efficiency Factor of Picoplankton

Diel patterns in the chlorophyll a specific absorption coefficient of surface picoplankton, a*_pico (γ) (m²·[mg chlorophyll a]⁻¹), were studied at 7 stations under daily cycle of in situ light condition in the western subarctic Pacific and Japan Sea. All the data were normalized by dividing the anomaly with daily averaged a*_pico (γ). Opposite diel patterns were observed for the normalized a*_pico (443) and a*_pico (675) with maximum toward dawn or dusk and minimum toward midday at 4 stations under low-irradiance (LI) conditions and vice versa at 3 stations under high-irradiance (HI) conditions. The absorption efficiency factors at red absorption peak, Q _a (675), were determined by reconstruction with intracellular chlorophyll a concentration and cell diameter. The normalized Q _a (675) also showed diel pattern with maximum toward midday and minimum toward dawn or dusk under LI. The diel pattern in a*_pico (675) and Q _a (675) were primarily caused by changes in intracellular chlorophyll a concentration due to photoadaptation under LI. The diel pattern in a*_pico (443) was influenced by pigmentation, as recognized by blue to red ratio [a*_pico (443)/a*_pico (675)] under HI. This study proposed that the opposite diel pattern in a*_pico (γ) might occur for a wide range of algal species. The results presented here have important consequences for the interpretation of diel variations in optical properties observed in the open ocean.     

CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Flux Measurements over the Sea Surface by Eddy Correlation and Aerodynamic Techniques

The measurements of the vertical transport of CO₂ were carried out over the Sea of Japan using the specially designed pier of Kyoto University on September 20 to 22, 2000. CO₂ fluxes were measured by the eddy correlation and aerodynamic techniques. Both techniques showed comparable CO₂ fluxes during sea breeze conditions: −0.001 to −0.08 mg m⁻²s⁻¹ with the mean of −0.05 mg m⁻²s⁻¹. This means that the measuring site satisfies the fetch requirement for meteorological observations under sea breeze conditions. Moreover, the eddy diffusivity coefficient used in the aerodynamic technique is found to be consistent with the coefficient used in the eddy correlation technique. The present result leads us to conclude that the aerodynamic technique may be applicable to underway CO₂ flux measurements over the ocean and may be used in place of the bulk technique. The important point is the need to maintain a measuring accuracy of CO₂ concentration difference of the order of 0.1 ppmv on the research vessels or the buoys.