The Energy Balance Experiment EBEX-2000. Part I: overview and energy balance

An overview of the Energy Balance Experiment (EBEX-2000) is given. This experiment studied the ability of state-of-the-art measurements to close the surface energy balance over a surface (a vegetative canopy with large evapotranspiration) where closure has been difficult to obtain. A flood-irrigated cotton field over uniform terrain was used, though aerial imagery and direct flux measurements showed that the surface still was inhomogeneous. All major terms of the surface energy balance were measured at nine sites to characterize the spatial variability across the field. Included in these observations was an estimate of heat storage in the plant canopy. The resultant imbalance still was 10%, which exceeds the estimated measurement error. We speculate that horizontal advection in the layer between the canopy top and our flux measurement height may cause this imbalance, though our estimates of this term using our measurements resulted in values less than what would be required to balance the budget. The National Center for Atmospheric Research is supported by the National Science Foundation     

New Thorium Isotope Ratio Measurements in Silicate Reference Materials: A‐THO,AGV‐2, BCR‐2, BE‐N,BHVO‐2 and BIR‐1

A two‐step Th isolation protocol, involving micro‐columns of TRU‐Spec extraction chromatography material and AG1 resin, was evaluated. The MC‐ICP‐MS procedure included ²³²Th tailing characterisation and correction, and calibrator bracketing using an in‐house standard solution (ThS1) to correct for instrumental mass bias and Faraday cup to secondary electron multiplier relative gain. Repeated analyses of reference solutions (UCSC Th ‘A’, WUN, OU Th ‘U’, IRMM‐36) were consistent with published data. Six reference materials (A‐THO, BCR‐2, AGV‐2, BHVO‐2, BE‐N and BIR‐1) were processed. The average ²³⁰Th/²³²Th values obtained for these samples are in excellent agreement with published data. In addition, we report the first ²³⁰Th/²³²Th values for BE‐N and BIR‐1. The intermediate precisions for rock samples ranged from ± 0.24 to ± 0.49% (2 RSD) and were similar to those achieved for synthetic solutions, thereby supporting the overall validity of the chemical separation, data acquisition and reduction procedures. Counting statistics on the ²³⁰Th isotope was the most significant source of uncertainty. The intermediate precision of the mean ²³⁰Th/²³²Th for the Th‐depleted BIR‐1 (5.64 × 10^?6 ± 0.27%, 2 RSD) is in the range of the analyses of other reference materials analysed in this study.     

Textural evolution of polyhedral olivine experiencing rapid cooling rates

Dynamic crystallization experiments in the CaO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ (CMAS) system have been used to investigate the change in crystal shape when pre-existing polyhedral olivine crystals are cooled rapidly (1,639–2,182°C/h). Polyhedral olivines are crystallized initially in a first step using a slow cooling rate (2°C/h), then skeletal and dendritic overgrowths develop on the polyhedral crystals during a subsequent fast cooling event. During this second episode small dendritic olivines also nucleate within the liquid phase. Observation of the experimental sample by optical microscopy shows that the polyhedral olivine shape progressively changes to a skeletal and then to a dendritic morphology in the following sequence: polyhedral ⇒ hopper polyhedral ⇒ dendritic polyhedral. This evolutional sequence is discussed in terms of changes in the crystal growth conditions during cooling and a general relation between these olivine dynamic crystallization experiments and the integrated model of crystal growth by Sunagawa (Bull Minér 104:81–87, 1981, Morphology of crystals, Terra Scientific Publishing Company, 1987) is proposed.     

Modeling surface water–groundwater interaction in New Zealand: Model development and application

Most rivers worldwide have a strong interaction with groundwater when they leave the mountains and flow over alluvial plains before flowing into the seas or disappearing in the deserts, and in New Zealand, typically, rivers lose water to the groundwater in the upper plains and generally gain water from the groundwater in the lower plains. Aiming at simulating surface water–groundwater interaction nationally in New Zealand, we developed a conceptual groundwater module for the national hydrologic model TopNet to simulate surface water–groundwater interaction, groundwater flow, and intercatchment groundwater flow. The developed model was applied to the Pareora catchment in South Island of New Zealand, where there are concurrent spot gauged flows. Results show that the model simulations not only fit quite well to flow measurement but also to concurrent spot gauged flows, and compared to the original TopNet, it has a significant improvement in the low flows. Sensitivity analysis shows river flow is sensitive to the river losing/gaining rate instead of groundwater characteristic, while groundwater storage is sensitive to both river losing/gaining rate and groundwater characteristic. This indicates our conceptual approach is promising for nationwide modeling without the large amount of geology and aquifer data typically required by physically‐based modeling approaches.     

Recovering physical parameters from galaxy spectra using MOPED

We derive physical parameters of galaxies from their observed spectra using MOPED, the optimized data compression algorithm of Heavens, Jimenez & Lahav. Here we concentrate on parametrizing galaxy properties, and apply the method to the NGC galaxies in Kennicutt's spectral atlas. We focus on deriving the star formation history, metallicity and dust content of galaxies. The method is very fast, taking a few seconds of CPU time to estimate ∼17 parameters, and is therefore specially suited to studying large data sets, such as the Anglo-Australian two-degree-field (2dF) galaxy survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Without the power of MOPED, the recovery of star formation histories in these surveys would be impractical. In Kennicutt's atlas, we find that for the spheroidals a small recent burst of star formation is required to provide the best fit to the spectrum. There is clearly a need for theoretical stellar atmospheric models with spectral resolution better than 1 Å if we are to extract all the rich information that large redshift surveys contain in their galaxy spectra.     

Linked fluid and tectonic evolution in the High Himalaya mountains (Nepal)

Fluid inclusions were studied in a quartz lens from the structurally highest unit of the Himalaya mountains in Nepal from a textural, geometrical, chemical and isotopic point of view. Six types of fluid inclusions were distinguished. One of these types consists of annular inclusions; this shape is attributed to a confining pressure increase in a non-isotropic stress field. Two successive stress fields were deduced from the orientation of the inclusion planes relative to the schistosity. The bulk composition of the fluid was dominated by CO₂ (>84 mol%) and H₂O. The composition remained constant during the whole history of the sample indicating that it was buffered by the carbonaceous host rock and/or that one single fluid was reworked in situ by decrepitation. Stable isotope of fluids and minerals indicate (1) that fluids were buffered by surrounding rocks for O and C and (2) that at least two types of water (metamorphic and meteoric) were involved. Finally, a P-T-t-- path is proposed for the sample, taking into account the southward thrusting along the Main Central Thrust, the northward tectonic denudation of the Himalaya mountains inducing tectonic burying below the Annapurna Range, and lastly, rapid uplift.