The global oscillation network group site survey

The Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) Project is planning to place a set of instruments around the world to observe solar oscillations as continuously as possible for at last three years. The Project has now chosen the sites that will comprise the network. This paper describes the methods of data collection and analysis that were used to make this decision.Solar irradiance data were collected with a one-minute cadence at fifteen sites around the world and analyzed to produce statistics of cloud cover, atmospheric extinction, and transparency power spectra at the individual sites. Nearly 200 reasonable six-site networks were assembled from the individual stations, and a set of statistical measures of the performance of the networks was analyzed using a principal component analysis. An accompanying paper presents the results of the survey.     

Small cetaceans

Article 65 of the Draft Convention (Informal Text) is concerned specifically with marine mammals. It imposes on states the obligation to work through international bodies for the ‘conservation, management, and study’ of cetaceans. Most small cetaceans are found within 200-mile zones — without international supervision, their outlook is bleak.     

East-West cooperation: A key to enhancing the quality of life

Reports

East-West cooperation: A key to enhancing the quality of life     

The enormous Chillos Valley Lahar: an ash-flow-generated debris flow from Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador

 The Chillos Valley Lahar (CVL), the largest Holocene debris flow in area and volume as yet recognized in the northern Andes, formed on Cotopaxi volcano's north and northeast slopes and descended river systems that took it 326 km north–northwest to the Pacific Ocean and 130+ km east into the Amazon basin. In the Chillos Valley, 40 km downstream from the volcano, depths of 80–160 m and valley cross sections up to 337 000 m² are observed, implying peak flow discharges of 2.6–6.0 million m³/s. The overall volume of the CVL is estimated to be ≈3.8 km³. The CVL was generated approximately 4500 years BP by a rhyolitic ash flow that followed a small sector collapse on the north and northeast sides of Cotopaxi, which melted part of the volcano's icecap and transformed rapidly into the debris flow. The ash flow and resulting CVL have identical components, except for foreign fragments picked up along the flow path. Juvenile materials, including vitric ash, crystals, and pumice, comprise 80–90% of the lahar's deposit, whereas rhyolitic, dacitic, and andesitic lithics make up the remainder. The sand-size fraction and the 2- to 10-mm fraction together dominate the deposit, constituting ≈63 and ≈15 wt.% of the matrix, respectively, whereas the silt-size fraction averages less than ≈10 wt.% and the clay-size fraction less than 0.5 wt.%. Along the 326-km runout, these particle-size fractions vary little, as does the sorting coefficient (average=2.6). There is no tendency toward grading or improved sorting. Limited bulking is recognized. The CVL was an enormous non-cohesive debris flow, notable for its ash-flow origin and immense volume and peak discharge which gave it characteristics and a behavior akin to large cohesive mudflows. Significantly, then, ash-flow-generated debris flows can also achieve large volumes and cover great areas; thus, they can conceivably affect large populated regions far from their source. Especially dangerous, therefore, are snow-clad volcanoes with recent silicic ash-flow histories such as those found in the Andes and Alaska. Received: 28 April 1997 / Accepted: 19 August 1997     

Magmatic and hydrothermal R.E.E. fractionation in the Xihuashan granites (SE China)

The Xihuashan stock (South Jiangxi, China) is composed of cogenetic granitic units (granites Xe, a, c, d and b) and emplaced during the Yanshanian orogeny (153±0.2 Ma). They are two feldspars, Fe-rich biotite±garnet and slightly peraluminous granites. Primary accessory minerals are apatite 1, monazite, zircon, uranothorite±xenotime in granites Xe and a, zircon, uranothorite, uraninite, betafite, xenotime 1; hydrothermal minerals are monazite altered into parisite and apatite 2, Y-rich parisite, yttroparisite, Y-rich fluorite and xenotime 2 in granites c and b. Petrographic observations, major element, REE, Y and Rb–Sr isotropic data point to a magmatic suite (granites Xe and a granites c and d granite b) distinct from hydrothermal Na-or K-alteration of b. From granite Xe to granite b, LREE, Eu, Th and Zr content are strongly depleted, while HREE, Y and U content increase. During K-alteration of b, these variations are of minor importance. Major and accessory mineral evidences, geochemical and fluid inclusion results indicate two successive alteration fluids interacting with b, (1) a late-magmatic F^– and CO₂–rich fluid and (2) a post-magmatic, aqueous and slightly saline fluid. The depletion of LREE and Th content and the increase in HREE, Y and U content correspond, in the magmatic suite to the early fractionation of monazite in the granites where there is no hydrothermal alteration (granites Xe and e) and to the hydrothermal alteration of monazite into parisite and secondary apatite, intense new formation of yttroparisite, Y enrichment and U loss in the uranothorite and late crystallization of uraninite in the granites c and b. Moreover, simulated crystallization of monazite and temperature of monazite saturation show early fractionation of monazite from the magma in the less evolved granites (Xe and e) and prevailing hydrothermal leaching of monazite in the most evolved granites (c-d and b) related to a late-magmetic event. The slight variations of REE, Y, Th and U content in the K-altered granites compared to granite b emphazes the distinct chemical nature of the successive hydrothermal fluids. Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd isotopic results point to a 30 Ma period of time between the late-magmatic and the post-magmatic fluid circulation.     

Collaborative fisheries management in the Northeast US: Emerging initiatives and future directions

The nature of participation by fishing organizations in fisheries management in the Northeast US is changing. Evidence of this is the number of groups that are actively seeking opportunities for group governance of marine resources. This article explores emerging collaborative or co-management arrangements in this region (a process whereby decision-making is shared between federal/council level and fishery stakeholder groups) and the shift towards an ecosystem-based approach to the management of marine fisheries.This research suggests that it is an opportune time for the development of a regional policy in the Northeast that provides an enabling environment in support of decentralized governance of federally managed marine fisheries. It also suggests that these initiatives can play a key role in operationalizing ecosystem-based management.     

Effects of salinity and clay type on oil-mineral aggregation

Effects of salinity and clay type on the aggregation process of crude oil and clay particles (oil-mineral aggregates--OMA) were studied in the laboratory. OMA were generated by shaking various oil/clay mixtures in water at 20 degrees C and at a pre-determined energy level. Shape, median and maximum sizes, size distribution and concentration of oil droplets forming OMA were measured using epi-fluorescence microscopy. Results showed that the median and maximum sizes and the concentration of mineral-stabilized droplets increase rapidly when salinity increases from zero to a critical aggregation salinity in the range of 1.2-3.5 ppt. The magnitude of the increase of droplet size is controlled by clay type, while the increase of droplet concentration is influenced by oil type. Size distributions of oil droplets are self-similar, but their magnitudes depend on salinity and oil type. The effect of salinity on droplet size distribution is strongly influenced by clay type. Empirical relationships are derived to calculate concentration and size distribution of mineral-stabilized droplets.