A Nondestructive Technique for Predicting the In Situ Void Ratio for Marine Sediments

This study tests the hypothesis that the in situ void ratio of surficial marine sediments may be predicted from shear wave velocity-depth data with a reliability equal to that of other methods currently available. Shear wave velocity is fundamentally controlled by the number of grain-to-grain contacts per unit volume of material and by the effective stress across those contacts. In this study, three previously established empirical formulae are used to predict void ratio from velocity-depth data. Field data were acquired along a transect off the northern Californian coast across which water depth increased from 35 to 70 m and seafloor sediment type varied from sand to silty-sand, respectively. A towed seafloor sled device was used to collect shear wave refraction data, and a marked, systematic decrease in velocity was observed along the line, ranging from 35-70 m/s for the coarse, near-shore material to 25-40 m/s for the finer, offshore deposits. Void ratios predicted from these velocities were compared with data measured directly from box-core samples. Of the formulae used for prediction, two agree remarkably well with the control data. Both predicted and control values increase from 0.6-0.8 for the sandy material to 1.1-1.5 for the silty-sand. Thus, this study does not disprove the hypothesis set and demonstrates the potential of field shear wave velocity-depth data as a means of delineating spatial variation in void ratio for surficial marine sediments in a remote, nondestructive manner.     

Collapse of dome cup ends under external hydrostatic pressure

An experimental investigation was carried out in which four dome cup ends were tested to failure under external hydrostatic pressure. The collapse pressures of the dome cup ends were compared with that of a conventional dome cap end. The investigation revealed that the dome cup ends were structurally more efficient than the conventional dome cap ends. All the vessels were made from the same batch of glass fibre matting and associated material.     

Isotopic evidence for temporal variation in proportion of seasonal precipitation since the last glacial time in the inland Pacific Northwest of the USA

Large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns determine the quantity and seasonality of precipitation, the major source of water in most terrestrial ecosystems. Oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) dynamics of the present-day hydrologic system in the Palouse region of the northwestern U.S.A. indicate a seasonal correlation between the δ¹⁸O values of precipitation and temperature, but no seasonal trends of δ¹⁸O records in soil water and shallow groundwater. Their isotope values are close to those of winter precipitation because the Palouse receives  75% of its precipitation during winter. Palouse Loess deposits contain late Pleistocene pedogenic carbonate having ca. 2 to 3‰ higher δ¹⁸O values and up to 5‰ higher carbon isotope (δ¹³C) values than Holocene and modern carbonates. The late Pleistocene δ¹⁸O values are best explained by a decrease in isotopically light winter precipitation relative to the modern winter-dominated infiltration. The δ¹³C values are attributed to a proportional increase of atmospheric CO₂ in soil CO₂ due to a decrease in soil respiration rate and ¹³C discrimination in plants under much drier paleoclimate conditions than today. The regional climate difference was likely related to anticyclonic circulation over the Pleistocene Laurentide and Ice Sheet.     

Distribution and thickness of sedimentary facies in the coastal dune, beach and nearshore sedimentary system at Maspalomas, Canary Islands

Numerous studies have shown that most beaches and coastal dune systems of the world are currently eroding but very few have investigated the combined sediment budgets of subaerial and nearshore submarine systems. In the case of the dune field of the Maspalomas Natural Special Reserve (in the south of Gran Canaria), the adjacent Maspalomas and El Inglés beaches and the adjacent submarine platform, the sediment budgets have been severely affected by erosion over the past few decades. The objectives of this study were to investigate the availability of sand within the modern sedimentary system, including the coastal dunes, the beaches and the submerged shelf, but also to assess local sediment sinks. An isopach map generated on the basis of topo-bathymetric data and seismic-reflection profiles revealed that sediment thickness varies from 0–22 m in the study area. Expanses of relatively low sediment thickness were identified in the south-western sector of the coastal dune field along Maspalomas beach, and in the nearshore region to the south of this beach. These localized sediment-deficit areas earmark Maspalomas beach as the most vulnerable shore strip threatened by erosion. The shallow seismic data also revealed that the submarine platform south of Maspalomas represents a marine terrace cut into an ancient alluvial fan, thus documenting an influence of the geomorphological heritage on the present-day morphodynamics. A side-scan sonar mosaic of this nearshore platform enabled the delimitation of areas covered by rock, boulders and gravel, vegetated sand patches and a mobile sand facies, the latter including ripple and megaripple fields. The megaripple field in a valley close to the talus of the marine terrace has been identified as a major sediment sink of the Maspalomas sedimentary system. It is fed by south-westerly storm-wave events. The sediment deficit in the coastal dune field and along Maspalomas beach can therefore only be explained by a currently faster loss of sediment to an offshore sink than can be compensated by the supply of sand from outside the system.     

Oxfordian magnetostratigraphy of Britain and its correlation to Tethyan regions and Pacific marine magnetic anomalies

A suite of 11 sections through the Oxfordian (Upper Jurassic) strata in the Dorset and Yorkshire regions of England and the Isle of Skye in Scotland yielded magnetic polarity patterns directly calibrated to the ammonite biostratigraphy of the Boreal and the Subboreal faunal provinces. The sections include the leading candidate for the global stratotype (GSSP) for the Callovian–Oxfordian stage boundary. The mean Oxfordian paleomagnetic pole derived from the Dorset and Yorkshire sections is 71.3°N, 172.6°E (δp = 4.2°, δm = 6.1°). The integrated magneto-biostratigraphic scale is consistent with results from the Sub-Mediterranean faunal province and extends the polarity pattern to the base of the Oxfordian. After adjusting for the estimated durations of ammonite subzones from cycle stratigraphy, the magnetostratigraphy confirms models for marine magnetic anomalies M30 through to M37, including some of the short-duration features recorded by deep-tow magnetic surveys in the western Pacific. The Callovian–Oxfordian boundary (base of Quenstedtoceras mariae Zone) occurs in a normal-polarity zone that is correlated to the youngest part of polarity chron M37n of this extension to the M-sequence.     

Horizontal rotation signals detected by “G-Pisa” ring laser for the M w = 9.0, March 2011, Japan earthquake

We report the observation of the ground rotation induced by the M _w = 9.0, 11th of March 2011, Japan earthquake. The rotation measurements have been conducted with a ring laser gyroscope operating in a vertical plane, thus detecting rotations around the horizontal axis. Comparison of ground rotations with vertical accelerations from a co-located force balance accelerometer shows excellent ring laser coupling at periods longer than 100?s. Under the plane wave assumption, we derive a theoretical relationship between horizontal rotation and vertical acceleration for Rayleigh waves. Due to the oblique mounting of the gyroscope with respect to the wave direction of arrival, apparent velocities derived from the acceleration/rotation rate ratio are expected to be always larger than or equal to the true wave propagation velocity. This hypothesis is confirmed through comparison with fundamental mode, Rayleigh-wave phase velocities predicted for a standard Earth model.     

Pelagia noctiluca"Blooming" in the Strait of Messina: Preliminary Studies on the Applicability of Two Methods for Isolating Nematocytes

Abstract. Nematocytes are the specialized stinging cells of cnidarians. So far, Pelagia noctiluca (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) nematocytes have never been isolated. Taking in account the notable increase in the population of Pelagia noctiluca ("blooming") in the Strait of Messina in 1999, we performed preliminary studies on the applicability of two different methods for isolating nematocytes from tentacles and mouth arms: a chemical method, namely SCN treatment, and a physical one, namely heat dissociation. These approaches have already been employed to isolate nematocytes from Aiptasia diaphana (Anthozoa). Membrane integrity was assessed by the cytological Trypan blue test. To evaluate cell viability, the capacity to regulate cell volume was investigated under 35 % hyposmotic shock by image computer processing of sagittal sections. The results show that heat dissociation is unsuitable to isolate nematocytes because the cell membrane was damaged as revealed by cytological test. On the other hand, SCN treatment yields 90% anatomically intact, isolated nematocytes from tentacles, but not from mouth arms. Nematocytes isolated by SCN exhibit volume regulation mechanisms (RVD). These results are compared with those described in Aiptasia diaphana (Anthozoa), which lives in a different habitat.     

Unidentified EGRET sources and the extragalactic gamma-ray background

The large majority of EGRET point sources remain to this day without an identified low-energy counterpart. Whatever the nature of the EGRET unidentified sources, faint unresolved objects of the same class must have a contribution to the diffuse gamma-ray background: if most unidentified objects are extragalactic, faint unresolved sources of the same class contribute to the background, as a distinct extragalactic population; on the other hand, if most unidentified sources are Galactic, their counterparts in external galaxies will contribute to the unresolved emission from these systems. Understanding this component of the gamma-ray background, along with other guaranteed contributions from known sources, is essential in any attempt to use gamma-ray observations to constrain exotic high-energy physics. Here, we follow an empirical approach to estimate whether a potential contribution of unidentified sources to the extragalactic gamma-ray background is likely to be important, and we find that it is. Additionally, we comment on how the anticipated GLAST measurement of the diffuse gamma-ray background will change, depending on the nature of the majority of these sources.