A note on flow structure in the Great Ouse estuary

Field measurements of vertical profiles of velocity and salinity along with turbulence measurements have been used to examine the effect of density gradients on the flow structure in the Great Ouse estuary. During the flood tide shear and longitudinal density gradients cause well mixed conditions in the lower part of the water column. In the upper part of the water column secondary flow effects induced by transverse density gradients, and acceleration effects can contribute to the formation of stable vertical density gradients. On the ebb tide the vertical density gradient appears to be the dominant factor which determines the structure of the flow. The velocity and shear stress data show the evidence of large scale motions which are consistent with the postulated flood and ebb flow structures.     

The effect of ferromagnetism on the equation of state of Fe3C studied by first-principles calculations

First-principles calculations have been used to determine the equation of state of Fe₃C in both its low-pressure magnetically ordered and high-pressure non-magnetically ordered states; at 0 K the ferromagnetic transition was found to occur at about 60 GPa. In the high pressure, non-magnetically ordered regime at 0 K the material may be described by a Birch-Murnaghan third-order equation of state with V₀=8.968(7) ų per atom, K₀=316.62(2) GPa and K′=4.30(2). At atmospheric pressure the ferromagnetic phase transition in Fe₃C occurs at ∼483 K; preliminary measurements of the thermal expansion by powder neutron diffraction show that this transition produces a large effect on thermoelastic properties. The volumetric thermal expansion coefficient in the paramagnetic phase was found to be 4.34×10⁻⁵ K⁻¹ at T∼550 K. By applying a thermal expansion correction to the calculated equation of state at 0 K, predicted values for the density and adiabatic incompressibility of this material at core pressures and temperatures were obtained. These results appear to be sufficiently different from seismological data so as to preclude Fe₃C as the major inner core-forming phase.     

Mineralogy of fine-grained sediment by energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS) image analysis – a methodology

. The application of energy-dispersive X-ray (EDS) spectrometry image analyses to geological, geochemical, and environmental studies is facilitated by recent increases in computer speed, storage capacity, and connectivity. EDS microbeam analyses provide digital element maps of mineral grains, with brightness directly proportional to element abundance. Using computer-based image analysis protocols, combinations of EDS element images can characterize grain mineralogy and quantify mineral abundance. This approach is well suited to the analyses of fine sand and silt-sized grains (0.425–0.010 mm), a size fraction not amenable to quantification by other mineralogical analysis methods. For this size range, 50 to more than 300 grains can be readily mapped, permitting mineral identification for concentrations >1% to be reliably distinguished.     

Temporal changes in subglacial meltwater activity: field evidence from the late Devensian in the north of Ireland

Temporal changes in meltwater abundance, distribution and characteristics (controlling subglacial processes and ice sheet dynamics) can be inferred from subglacial sediment successions. Field evidence for changes in subglacial meltwater characteristics over time is presented from two sites (Doonan, Drummee) near a former late Weichselian (Devensian) ice centre in the north of Ireland. On a macroscale, both sites investigated show subglacial diamicton overlying glacially planated bedrock platforms. In more detail, primary sedimentary structures and facies variability show a complex relationship between depositional processes and meltwater characteristics at the ice/bed interface (IBI). Sedimentary evidence suggests sediment transport and deposition took place by low-viscosity subglacial slurries (mobile sediment–meltwater admixtures), which are part of a continuum between the processes of subglacial sediment deformation and subglacial meltwater flooding. Subtle changes in meltwater abundance and distribution at the IBI controlled slurry rheology, mechanisms of particle support and detailed sediment depositional processes.     

Tracing the history of submarine hydrothermal inputs and the significance of hydrothermal hafnium for the seawater budget—a combined Pb-Hf-Nd isotope approach

Secular variations in the Pb isotopic composition of a mixed hydrogenous-hydrothermal ferromanganese crust from the Bauer Basin in the eastern Equatorial Pacific provide clear evidence for changes in hydrothermal contributions during the past 7 Myr. The nearby Galapagos Rise spreading center provided a strong hydrothermal flux prior to 6.5 Ma. After 6.5 Ma, the Pb became stepwise more radiogenic and more similar to Equatorial Pacific seawater, reflecting the westward shift of spreading to the presently active East Pacific Rise (EPR). A second, previously unrecognized enhanced hydrothermal period occurred between 4.4 and 2.9 Ma, which reflects either off-axis hydrothermal activity in the Bauer Basin or a late-stage pulse of hydrothermal Pb from the then active, but waning Galapagos Rise spreading center.Hafnium isotope time-series of the same mixed hydrogenous-hydrothermal crust show invariant values over the past 7 Myr. Hafnium isotope ratios, as well as Nd isotope ratios obtained for this crust, are identical to that of hydrogenous Equatorial Pacific deep water crusts and clearly indicate that hydrothermal Hf, similar to Nd, does not travel far from submarine vents. Therefore, we suggest that hydrothermal Hf fluxes do not contribute significantly to the global marine Hf budget.     

Simultaneous Integration of Pressure, Water Cut,1 and 4-D Seismic Data In Geostatistical Reservoir Modeling

A geostatistically-based inverse technique, the sequential-self calibration (SSC) method, is used to update reservoir models so that they match observed pressure, water cut and time-lapse water saturation derived from 4-D seismic. Within the SSC, a steady-state genetic algorithm (GA) is applied to search the optimal master point locations, as well as the associated optimal permeability perturbations at the master locations. GA provides significant flexibility for SSC to parameterize master point locations, as well as to integrate different types of dynamic data because it does not require sensitivity coefficients. We show that the coupled SSC/GA method is very robust. Integrating dynamic data can significantly improve the characterization of reservoir heterogeneity with reduced uncertainty. Particularly, it can efficiently identify important large-scale spatial variation patterns (e.g., well connectivity, near well averages, high flow channels and low flow barriers) embedded in the reservoir heterogeneity. Using dynamic data, however, could be difficult to reproduce the permeability values on the cell-by-cell basis for the entire model. This reveals the important evidence that dynamic data carry information about large-scale spatial variation features, while they may be not sufficient to resolve the individual local values for the entire model. Through multiple realization analysis, the large-scale spatial features carried by the dynamic data can be extracted and represented by the ensemble mean model. Furthermore, the region informed by the dynamic data can be identified as the area with significant reduced variances in the ensemble variance model. Within this region, the cell-by-cell correlation between the true and updated permeability values can be significantly improved by integrating the dynamic data.     

Investigation of hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater from the Cretaceous-Eocene limestone aquifer in southern Ghana and southern Togo using hierarchical cluster analysis

The most relevant controls on the water quality within the Cretaceous-Eocene limestone aquifer of the Keta Basin, Ghana, and the coastal sedimentary basin of Togo were assessed using Q-mode hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and mass-balance modelling. The pattern recognition technique of HCA was employed for partitioning hydrochemical data from a total of 65 surface and borehole samples from the study area into water groups. A spatial plot of the water groups consisting of samples from the limestone aquifer shows that the vast majority of samples belonging to the same group are located in close proximity to one another, suggesting the same processes and/or flow paths in the limestone aquifer system. Geochemical reaction models of selected water groups were constructed using PHREEQC-2. The hydrochemical compositions of the water groups and the mass-balance calculations indicate that the dominant processes and reactions responsible for the hydrochemical evolution in the system are: (1) carbonate equilibria, (2) silicate weathering reactions, (3) limited mixing with saline water, and (4) ion exchange. The combined use of HCA and mass-balance modelling has shown to be a useful approach in interpreting groundwater hydrochemistry in an area where large uncertainties exist in the understanding of the groundwater flow system.     

The Tsunami of 26 December, 2004: Numerical Modeling and Energy Considerations

A numerical model for the global tsunamis computation constructed by Kowalik et al. (2005), is applied to the tsunami of 26 December, 2004 in the World Ocean from 80°S to 69°N with spatial resolution of one minute. Because the computational domain includes close to 200 million grid points, a parallel version of the code was developed and run on a Cray X1 supercomputer. An energy flux function is used to investigate energy transfer from the tsunami source to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Although the first energy input into the Pacific Ocean was the primary (direct) wave, reflections from the Sri Lankan and eastern shores of Maldives were a larger source. The tsunami traveled from Indonesia, around New Zealand, and into the Pacific Ocean by various routes. The direct path through the deep ocean to North America carried miniscule energy, while the stronger signal traveled a considerably longer distance via South Pacific ridges as these bathymetric features amplified the energy flux vectors. Travel times for these amplified energy fluxes are much longer than the arrival of the first wave. These large fluxes are organized in the wave-like form when propagating between Australia and Antarctica. The sources for the larger fluxes are multiple reflections from the Seychelles, Maldives and a slower direct signal from the Bay of Bengal. The energy flux into the Atlantic Ocean shows a different pattern since the energy is pumped into this domain through the directional properties of the source function. The energy flow into the Pacific Ocean is approximately 75% of the total flow to the Atlantic Ocean. In many locations along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, the first arriving signal, or forerunner, has lower amplitude than the main signal which often is much delayed. Understanding this temporal distribution is important for an application to tsunami warning and prediction.