Coupled degassing and crystallization: experimental study at continuous pressure drop, with application to volcanic bombs

 Experiments on degassing of water-saturated granite melts with a pressure drop from 100 and 450 MPa to 40 and 120 MPa, respectively, at temperatures close to feldspar liquidus (750–700  °C), were carried out to determine the modality of water exsolution and vesicle formation at the liquidus temperature. Pressure-drop rates as small as approximately 100 bar/day were used. Uniform space distributions of bubbles of exsolved water were obtained with starting glass containing a small fraction (≈0.5 vol.%) of trapped air bubbles. Volume crystallization of feldspar was observed in degassed melts supplied with seeds. Bubble size distributions (BSD) measured in granite glasses after degassing are presented. Data on vesicle characteristics (number, radius, area, elongation) were acquired on images digitized with standard software, while the reconstruction of size distributions was performed with the Schwartz-Saltikov "unfolding" procedure. Bubble size distributions of size classes in the range 5–1000 μm were acquired with proper magnification and satisfactory statistical reliability of determined number densities. The BSDs of the experimental samples are compared with the results of measurements of rapidly degassed products of Mt. Etna and Vulcano Island. Many particular features of the bubble nucleation and growth can be distinguished in an individual BSD. However, the general BSD of the whole data set, including natural ones, can be relatively well described with linear regression in bilogarithmic coordinates. The slope of this regression is approximately 2.8±0.1. This dependence is in striking contrast with distributions theoretically predicted with classical nucleation models based on homogeneous nucleation of vesicles. The theoretical distribution requires the occurrence of strong maxima that are not observed in our experimental and natural samples, thus arguing for heterogeneous nucleation mechanisms. Received: 1 October 1998 / Accepted: 25 June 1999     

Trace metals in southern Californian mussels

The intertidal mussel Mytilus californianus is a useful indicator of anthropogenic inputs of several trace metals off southern California. Highest metal concentrations were measured in the digestive glands, and no significant differences attibutable to sex were found for this tissue. The distribution of lead appears to be dominated by diffuse inputs, while those of copper, chromium, and silver are most related to urban point sources. No distinct pattern was observed for nickel or zinc.     

Antiferromagnetic inclusions in lunar glass

The magnetic susceptibility of 11 glass spherules from the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 fines and two specimens of a relatively large glass spherical shell were studied as a function of temperature from room temperature to liquid helium temperatures. All but one specimen showed the presence of antiferromagnetic inclusions. Closely spaced temperature measurements of the magnetic susceptibility below 77 K on five of the specimens showed antiferromagnetic temperature transitions (Néel transitions). With the exception of ilmenite in one specimen, these transitions did not correspond to any transitions in known antiferromagnetic compounds.     

Co-seismic landslide detection after M 7.4 earthquake on June 23, 2020, in Oaxaca,Mexico, based on rapid mapping method using high and medium resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images

Landslides are the fourth most common natural disasters in the world, with Costa Rica and southern Mexico being the most affected regions of Central America (Froude and Petley, 2018). In this work, we propose a semi-automated method to detect earthquake-triggered landslides for rapid mapping after a disaster event using open Sentinel-1 data. We used high-resolution TerraSAR-X data and very high-resolution Spot-7 images to compare and evaluate the accuracy of landslide distribution maps generated from the semi-automated method, applied to the M 7.1 earthquake on June 23, 2017, in Oaxaca, Mexico. The outcomes showed better accuracy in descending orbits due to ‘windward-leeward’ physiographic conditions, with a 50.56% quality percentage. This shows a reasonably good capacity to detect co-seismic landslides. However, the breaching factor was also high because several features, such as bare soils and agricultural areas, were incorrectly identified as co-seismic landslides. Finally, this semi-automated method establishes a basis for future improvements in methodologies applied to construct rapid mapping inventories using medium SAR scales.

     

The weak friction approximation and tidal evolution in close binary systems

The aim of this paper is to study the dynamical problem of tidal friction in a binary system consisting of deformable components, with the restriction that the angle of lag or advance of the tidal distortion with respect to the direction of the disturbing companion is small. The fractional distortion of the bodies due to rotation and tidal interaction is also treated as a first-order small quantity, and terms up to the fourth harmonic in the tidal potential are retained. In this linear approximation, the time-dependent tidal potential can be Fourier decomposed into a spectrum of simple harmonic terms, each of which is responsible for raising a partial wave in the body; each such partial wave can then be treated independently of the others. This is the method first employed by Darwin.In Section 2, it is assumed that the phase lag in the response of the body (due to dissipation of kinetic energy of deformation) is proportional to the forcing frequency, which is justified for small amplitude oscillations of a viscous fluid or visco-elastic body. A simple expression is then obtained for the potential function for the distortion in terms of the disturbing potential and the structure of the body.In Section 3, the distortion potential function is employed in deriving the componentsR, S andW of the disturbing force which are then substituted in the Gaussian form of the equations for variation of the elements. In Section 4, the Eulerian equations for motion of deformable bodies are derived, using the so-called mean axes of the body as the rotating axes of reference. In Section 5, it is shown that the dynamical effects of rotational distortion occur on a much shorter time scale than those arising from tidal friction, which allows one to consider the two phenomena as acting independently of one another. The collected set of Gaussian (orbital) and Eulerian (body) equations is re-written in terms of dimensionless variables for the tidal friction case, and the stability of the system is examined on the basis of these equations.In Section 6, the tidal friction equations are integrated numerically for the close binary system AG Persei and for the Earth-Moon system. In the former, the integrations were started from a highly elliptical orbit and the system was found to relax into a circular orbit, with synchronous rotation perpendicular to the orbit. In the latter, the integrations were performed backwards in time from the present day, and it was found that the lunar orbit rapidly becomes highly elliptical at the time of closest approach, thus indicating a probable capture of the Moon by the Earth. This result is in agreement with that obtained by other investigators; however, it is shown that the detailed behaviour of the system at the time of capture, in particular the inclination of the lunar orbit to the ecliptic, depends critically on the chosen rate of dissipation in the Moon's interior. A simple argument is presented which allows an estimation for the mean viscosity of a fluid body from the known age of the system: for the components of AG per, the result is 2×10¹¹ g cm^–1 s^–1, indicating that the stars must have possessed turbulent convective outer regions during some part of their tidal evolution, while for the Earth, the result, is 1.4×10¹² g cm^–1 s^–1. It is shown that the angle of tidal lag in nonsynchronous close binary systems in general is expected to be extremely small, and not observationally detectable.     

Precession and nutation in close binary ststems

The precession of the orbital plane in a close binary system can provide an important observational tool for investigating dynamical properties of the components. Tidal evolution will always tend to align the rotation axes perpendicular to the orbital plane, thereby eliminating precession. It is pointed out, however, that if observations indicate the existence of a circular orbit and synchronous rotation of the components-which is the outcome of tidal evolution-then precession may still be present, provided the interior of one of the components is, or recently has been, radiative, and is not strongly coupled to the surface layers (where tidal dissipation is greatest). The equations governing precession and nutation are derived in a concise form, and applied to the numerical study of two binary systems. The observational effects are also discussed. Finally, it is pointed out that precession may be present in a subclass of the X-ray binary systems, and its observational significance is briefly discussed.     

Fluorite Deposits at Voznesenka in the Khanka Massif, Russia: Geology and Age of Mineralization

Abstract. A huge fluorite deposit at Voznesenka in the Khanka massif, Far East Russia is concluded to have formed at ca. 450 Ma in Late Ordovician time based on the K‐Ar ages for Li‐micas in the fluorite ore and greisenized leucogranite within the deposit. This conclusion is inconsistent with the current view of Devonian mineralization that stemmed from widely scattered whole‐rock Rb‐Sr isotope data for the heterogeneous leucogranite stocks influenced by strong alteration. The Voznesenka and neighboring fluorite deposits may have formed in Cambrian limestone in relation to the intrusion of the Li‐F‐rich felsic magma which has a similar chemistry to representative Li‐F‐rich felsic rocks including topaz granite and ongonite or topaz rhyolite; these rocks may be classified as a specific group of highly fractionated felsic magmas. Biotite granite plutons exposed in the Voznesenka district are divided in age into two groups based on the CHIME age data for zircon, monazite and xenotime: Ordovician and Permian. The Ordovician plutons seem to be coeval to the fluorite deposits and are characterized by F‐rich chemistry, reduced nature and association of tin mineralization with the deposition of fluorite and tourmaline. The biotite granite magmas of initially enhanced F contents could have been highly fractionated to form Li‐F‐rich leucogranite cupolas that provided fluorite deposits within the host limestone. Future prospecting for similar fluorite deposits is to be focused on areas of intersection between Ordovician Li‐F‐rich granite and Cambrian carbonate sequences. The Permian granite of southeastern margin of the Grodekovo batholith is characterized by lesser F content, oxidized nature and the lack of tin and fluorite mineralization in contrast to the Ordovician granite. The result of Permian age does not support the current view of Silurian age for the batholith and requires overall chronological reinvestigation in connection with the tectonic history of the Khanka massif because the Grodekovo is a representative of Paleozoic batholiths in Primorie.     

Lotic communities of two small temporary karstic stream systems (East Westphalia, Germany) along a longitudinal gradient of hydrological intermittency

The spatial and temporal discharge regime and its effects on benthic communities were studied in two small temporary karstic stream systems of the Paderborner Hochfläche (East Westphalia, Germany). Both streams are characterized by very small perennial springbrook sections. Benthic invertebrates were sampled three times at 12 sites and discharge was measured monthly from March to September 2000. The spatial extension of streamflow was observed regularly to evaluate the duration of drought. Both streams showed a longitudinal gradient of hydrological intermittency from very small perennial reaches with low intermittency to an extremely harsh hydrological situation. The benthic communities displayed a decreasing species richness at increasing intermittency. The different hydrological stream sections were colonized by different lotic communities, characterized by typical species of temporary streams and by several typical species of springs. Particularly the perennial springs and springbrooks are very important for the species richness in these karstic stream systems.     

Decoupled elastic prestack depth migration

This paper presents a new decoupled form of the formula for common-shot or common-receiver amplitude-preserving elastic prestack depth migration (PreSDM), which can be used for estimating angle-dependent elastic reflection coefficients in laterally inhomogeneous anisotropic media. The multi-shot or multi-receiver extension of this formula is suitable for automated prestack amplitude-versus-angle (AVA) elastic inversion of ocean-bottom cable (OBC), walkaway VSP (WVSP) or standard towed-cable data at any subsurface location. The essence of the theory is a systematic application of the stationary-phase principle and high-frequency approximations to the basic elastic Green's theorem. This leads to nonheuristic explicit wave mode decoupling and scalarization of vector PreSDM. Used in combination, ray-trace and finite-difference (FD) eikonal solvers create a useful tool to calculate accurate Green's function travel time and amplitude maps. Examples of synthetic OBC data and applications to field WVSP data show that the new imaging technique can produce a clear multi-mode elastic image.