Bottom pressure tides along a line in the southeast Atlantic Ocean and comparisons with satellite altimetry

Seafloor pressure records, collected at 11 stations aligned along a single ground track of the Topex/Poseidon and Jason satellites, are analyzed for their tidal content. With very low background noise levels and approximately 27 months of high-quality records, tidal constituents can be estimated with unusually high precision. This includes many high-frequency lines up through the seventh-diurnal band. The station deployment provides a unique opportunity to compare with tides estimated from satellite altimetry, point by point along the satellite track, in a region of moderately high mesoscale variability. That variability can significantly corrupt altimeter-based tide estimates, even with 17 years of data. A method to improve the along-track altimeter estimates by correcting the data for non-tidal variability is found to yield much better agreement with the bottom-pressure data. The technique should prove useful in certain demanding applications, such as altimetric studies of internal tides.     

The energy and energy flux of planetary waves in an ocean of variable depth

Abstract

In a recent paper, Buchwald (1972a) has shown that besides the kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy usually associated with planetary waves in an ocean of uniform depth it is useful to define also a “spin energy”, associated with the rotation.

The present paper is basically an extension of Buchwald's result to a uniformly rotating β-plane ocean of variable depth. As in the previous work, energy conservation equations are derived and the separate energies shown to be independently conserved over the total volume of the ocean. The time-averaged energies are further shown to be propagated in the direction of the group velocity and to satisfy the equipartition rule.

Unlike Buchwald, however, we need not consider the boundary conditions in order to achieve these results. Furthermore, the use of a more realistic ocean configuration admits the possibility of a multiply connected region in the present of mean currents.

Finally, there is a physical explanation for the appearance of a spin energy in a rotating system.     

High-Resolution Non-Hydrostatic Simulations of Flash-Flood Episodes with Grid-Nesting and Ice-Phase Parameterization

Summary ?Simulations of two heavy rainfall events south of the Alps have been conducted with a non-hydrostatic model at horizontal resolutions ranging from 40 to 2.5 km. Emphasis is placed on the assessment of two recent model developments: a detailed explicit mixed phase microphysical scheme and a two-way interactive grid nesting method. In the high-resolution simulations, the impact of the ice phase was found to be quite substantial, accelerating the propagation of the surface front and modifying the spatial distribution of the rainfall. Simulations carried out with two-way interactive grid nesting yielded more realistic overall precipitation patterns, particularly at the finest horizontal resolution. Received March 22, 1999/Revised June 28, 1999     

A Debt to the West: Recent Developments in the International Financial Situation of East-Central Europe

East-Central Europe is undergoing a rapid political and economic transformation. The unprecedented depth and speed of the economic reforms have produced serious questions about the stability of the region, and its future relations with western Europe and the world economy. This paper surveys and evaluates the size and character of existing debt stocks owed to the West by Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. The future political and economic stability of East-Central Europe and the European Community depends, to a large extent, on the ability of the Western financial system to respond to the long-term needs of the region.     

Paleoenvironmental analysis of a middle Wisconsinan biota site, southwestern Virginia, U.S.A.

The Ratcliff Site in southwestern Virginia lies in a small second-order stream valley filled with approximately 3.5 m of organic-rich deposits that contain bones of mammoth, mastodon, deer (or antelope), logs, and plant macrofossils. Radiocarbon analyses indicate the age of the organic-rich sediment ranges from > 44,000 to 29,100 ¹⁴C yr BP, a time period with no fossil remains reported in this region of the Appalachians. Analyses of field observations, textural data, organic carbon content, and plant macrofossils indicate that the organic-rich sediments contain interbedded standing-water and debris-flow deposits. Up to 6 m of oxidized debris-flow sediments bury the organic-rich sediments. The presence of Rubus parviflorus (Thimble Berry) throughout the deposit indicates the site had a boreal environment from > 44,000 to 29,100 ¹⁴C yr BP. Plant macrofossil evidence indicates the uplands had stands of spruce/jack-pine forests while the valley contained ponds and associated wetlands. Three debris flows occurred at the site between approximately 38,000 and 29,000 ¹⁴C yr BP, suggesting a recurrence interval for major storms of approximately 3000 yr, even though the apparent stability of the boreal environment implies a climate not conducive to catastrophic rainstorms. This conflicting combination of features suggests that during the middle Wisconsinan this area experienced generally cool climates, dominated by polar air masses, but was punctuated by relatively brief warm periods marked by incursions of tropical air masses.     

Rest‐frame UV to optical X‐shooter spectrum of the gravitationally lensed galaxy “the 8 o'clock arc”: Dissection of its physical properties

We present the rest‐frame UV to optical spectrum of the gravitationally lensed galaxy, the “8 o'clock arc” at z = 2.735, obtained with the X‐shooter spectrograph. This is one of the rare comprehensive study of a high‐redshift star‐forming galaxy, usually not feasible due to the faintness of these objects. The spectrum of the 8 o'clock arc is rich in stellar and interstellar absorption features and in nebular emission features. Their analysis allowed us to derive most of the physical properties characterizing the galaxy. From HST images, we reconstruct the morphology of the arc in the source plane and confirm that we resolve a clump in rotation around the main core of galaxy in our X‐shooter spectrum (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Instantaneous deformation from continuous GPS: contributions from quasi-periodic loads

Continuous GPS (CGPS) coordinate time-series are known to experience repeating deformation signals with seasonal and other periods. It is unlikely that these signals represent perfect sinusoids with temporally constant amplitude. We develop an analysis method that accommodates temporal variations in the amplitudes of sinusoidal signals. We apply the method to simulated coordinate time-series to numerically explore the potential consequences of neglecting decadal variation in amplitude of annual motions on the residual-error spectra of CGPS measurements, as well as potential bias in estimates for secular site velocity. We find that secular velocity bias can be appreciable for shorter time-series, and that residual-error time-series of longer duration may contain significant power in a broad band centred on semi-annual frequency if temporal variation in the amplitude of annual motions is not accounted for in the model used to reduce the observations to residuals. It may be difficult to differentiate the bandpass filtered signature of mismodelled loading signals from power-law noise, using residual-error spectra for shorter time-series. We provide an example application to a ∼9-yr coordinate time-series for a CGPS station located in southern California at Carbon Creek Control Structure (CCCS), which is known to experience large amplitude seasonal motions associated with the Santa Ana aquifer system.     

High temperature gas–solid reactions in calc–silicate Cu–Au skarn formation; Ertsberg,Papua Province,Indonesia

The 2.7–3 Ma Ertsberg East Skarn System (Indonesia), adjacent to the giant Grasberg Porphyry Copper deposit, is part of the world’s largest system of Cu–Au skarn deposits. Published fluid inclusion and stable isotope data show that it formed through the flux of magma-derived fluid through contact metamorphosed carbonate rock sequences at temperatures well above 600° C and pressures of less than 50 MPa. Under these conditions, the fluid has very low density and the properties of a gas. Combining a range of micro-analytical techniques, high-resolution QEMSCAN mineral mapping and computer-assisted X-ray micro-tomography, an array of coupled gas–solid reactions may be identified that controlled reactive mass transfer through the ~ 1 km³ hydrothermal skarn system. Vacancy-driven mineral chemisorption reactions are identified as a new type of reactive transport process for high-temperature skarn alteration. These gas–solid reactions are maintained by the interaction of unsatisfied bonds on mineral surfaces and dipolar gas-phase reactants such as SO₂ and HCl that are continuously supplied through open fractures and intergranular diffusion. Principal reactions are (a) incongruent dissolution of almandine-grossular to andradite and anorthite (an alteration mineral not previously recognized at Ertsberg), and (b) sulfation of anorthite to anhydrite. These sulfation reactions also generate reduced sulfur with consequent co-deposition of metal sulfides. Diopside undergoes similar reactions with deposition of Fe-enriched pyroxene in crypto-veins and vein selvedges. The loss of calcium from contact metamorphic garnet to form vein anhydrite necessarily results in Fe-enrichment of wallrock, and does not require Fe-addition from a vein fluid as is commonly assumed.