Vibracore splitting jig

A lightweight, inexpensive jig for splitting 7.6 cm diameter vibracores is described. The advantage of the jig is its simplicity, low cost and portability to the coring site whether on land, ice or a boat. Core splitting at the coring site can guide additional coring activity, similar to other coring devices that extrude sediment as part of the coring process. The simple jig ensures straight and even cuts through the aluminum tube wall, leading to precise core splitting in the field or lab.     

Experiments on the morphological controls of velocity inversions in bedrock canyons

A better understanding of bedrock incision mechanisms and processes is essential to the study of long‐term landscape evolution. Yet, little is known about flow dynamics in bedrock rivers, limiting our ability to make realistic predictions of local bedrock incision rates. A recent investigation of flow through bedrock canyons of the Fraser River revealed that plunging flows, defined by the downward‐directed movement of near surface flow toward the channel bed, occur in channels that have low width‐to‐depth ratios. Plunging flows occur into deep scour pools, which are often coincident with lateral constrictions and channel spanning submerged ridges (sills). A phenomenological investigation was undertaken to reproduce the flow fields observed in the Fraser canyons and to explore morphological controls on the occurrence and relative strength of plunging flow in bedrock canyons. Our observations show that the plunging flow structure can be produced along a scour pool entrance slope by accelerating the flow at the canyon entrance either over submerged sills or through lateral constrictions. Plunging flow appears to be a function of convective deceleration into a scour pool which can be enhanced by sill height, the amount of the channel width that is constricted, pool entrance slope, discharge, and a reduction in channel width‐to‐depth ratio. Plunging flow greatly enhances the potential for incision to occur along the channel bed and is an extreme departure from the assumptions of steady, uniform flow in bedrock incision models, highlighting the need for improved formulations that account for fluid flow. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Molecular fossils as a tool for tracking Holocene sea-level change in the Loch of Stenness,Orkney

Sediments deposited in the Loch of Stenness (Orkney Islands, Scotland) during the Holocene transgression, previously dated to between ~5939–5612 bp , were analysed for molecular fossils – lipids and chlorophyll pigments from primary producers – that complement conventional microfossil and lithological approaches for studying past sea-level change. While microfossil and lithological studies identified a transgression between 102 and 81 cm core depth, key molecular fossils fluctuate in occurrence and concentration between 118 and 85 cm, suggesting an earlier start to the transgression. Terrestrial lipid concentrations decreased and algal-derived, short-chain, n-alkanoic acid concentrations increased at 118 cm, indicating a disruption of the freshwater lake conditions associated with the early stages of the marine transgression. The lipid and pigment analyses provided information that complements and extends that from microfossil analysis, presenting a more complete record of Holocene sea-level changes and local vegetation changes in the Loch of Stenness. The isostatic stability of Stenness during the Holocene points towards other factors to explain the transgression, such as regional factors and/or melting of the Antarctic ice sheet (which occurred up to 3 ka).     

FIB‐TEM analysis of cometary material in 10 Stardust foil craters

Aluminum foils from the Stardust cometary dust collector contain impact craters formed during the spacecraft's encounter with comet 81P/Wild 2 and retain residues that are among the few unambiguously cometary samples available for laboratory study. Our study investigates four micron‐scale (1.8–5.2 μm) and six submicron (220–380 nm) diameter craters to better characterize the fine (<1 μm) component of comet Wild 2. We perform initial crater identification with scanning electron microscopy, prepare the samples for further analysis with a focused ion beam, and analyze the cross sections of the impact craters with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). All of the craters are dominated by combinations of silicate and iron sulfide residues. Two micron‐scale craters had subregions that are consistent with spinel and taenite impactors, indicating that the micron‐scale craters have a refractory component. Four submicron craters contained amorphous residue layers composed of silicate and sulfide impactors. The lack of refractory materials in the submicron craters suggests that refractory material abundances may differentiate Wild 2 dust on the scale of several hundred nanometers from larger particles on the scale of a micron. The submicron craters are enriched in moderately volatile elements (S, Zn) when normalized to Si and CI chondrite abundances, suggesting that, if these craters are representative of the Wild 2 fine component, the Wild 2 fines were not formed by high‐temperature condensation. This distinguishes the comet's fine component from the large terminal particles in Stardust aerogel tracks which mostly formed in high‐temperature events.     

Fault seal prediction of seismic-scale normal faults in porous sandstone: A case study from the eastern Gulf of Suez rift,Egypt

A study of normal faults in the Nubian Sandstone Sequence, from the eastern Gulf of Suez rift, has been conducted to investigate the relationship between the microstructure and petrophysical properties of cataclasites developed along seismic-scale faults (slip-surface cataclasites) and smaller displacement faults (deformation bands) found in their damage zones. The results help to quantify the uncertainty associated with predicting the fluid flow behaviour of seismic-scale faults by analysing small faults recovered from core, a common procedure in the petroleum industry. The microstructure of the cataclasites was analysed as well as their single-phase permeability and threshold pressure. Faulting occurred at a maximum burial depth of ∼1.2 km. The permeability of deformation band and slip-surface cataclasites varies over ∼1.5 orders of magnitude for a given fault. Our results suggest that the lowest measured deformation band permeabilities provide a good estimate for the arithmetic-mean permeability of the major slip-surface cataclasites. This is because the cataclastic permeability reduction is mostly established early in the deformation history. Stress at the time of faulting rather than final strain appears to be the critical factor determining fault rock permeability. For viable predictions it is important that the slip-surface cataclasites and deformation bands originate from the same host. On the other hand, a higher uncertainty is associated with threshold pressure predictions, as the arithmetic-mean slip-surface cataclasite threshold pressure exceeds the highest measured deformation band threshold pressure by at least a factor of 4.     

Role of effective permeability distribution in estimating overpressure using basin modelling

Overpressure generation is a function of the rates of sedimentation, compaction, fluid generation from kerogen and dehydration of minerals, and most importantly the lateral distribution of permeability within a basin as this controls lateral drainage. Sedimentary basins, however, are typically highly heterogeneous with respect to primary sedimentary facies, diagenesis and tectonic development. While fluid flow models based on idealised homogeneous basins may further our understanding of the processes that influence overpressure development, the results are very sensitive to the distribution of rock properties, particularly permeability. The absolute permeability of sedimentary rocks varies from more than 1 Darcy to less than 0.01 nanodarcy (nD) (10⁻¹¹ Darcy).     

Thirty Years of Research on Spatial Data Quality: Achievements,Failures, and Opportunities

This article reflects on the past 30 years of academic research in the field of spatial data quality and tries to identify the main achievements, failures, and opportunities for future research. Most of this reflection results from a panel discussion that took place during the Sixth International Symposium on Spatial Data Quality (ISSDQ) in July 2009.     

Wind variations in Jupiter's equatorial atmosphere: A QQO counterpart?

Jupiter's equatorial atmosphere, much like the Earth's, is known to show quasi-periodic variations in temperature, particularly in the stratosphere, but variations in other jovian atmospheric tracers have not been studied for any correlations to these oscillations. Data taken at NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) from 1979 to 2000 were used to obtain temperatures at two levels in the atmosphere, corresponding to the upper troposphere (250 mbar) and to the stratosphere (20 mbar). We find that the data show periodic signals at latitudes corresponding to the troposphere zonal wind jets, with periods ranging from 4.4 (stratosphere, 95% confidence at 4° S planetographic latitude) to 7.7 years (troposphere, 97% confidence at 6° N). We also discuss evidence that at some latitudes the troposphere temperature variations are out of phase from the stratosphere variations, even where no periodicity is evident. Hubble Space Telescope images were used, in conjunction with Voyager and Cassini data, to track small changes in the troposphere zonal winds from 20° N to 20° S latitude over the 1994-2000 time period. Oscillations with a period of 4.5 years are found near 7°-8° S, with 80-85% significance. Further, the strongest evidence for a QQO-induced tropospheric wind change tied to stratospheric temperature change occurs near these latitudes, though tropospheric temperatures show little periodicity here. Comparison of thermal winds and measured zonal winds for three dates indicate that cloud features at other latitudes are likely tracked at pressures that can vary by up to a few hundred millibar, but the cloud altitude change required is too large to explain the wind changes measured at 7° S.