Deep structure of the Racha earthquake source zone from seismic tomography data

The Racha earthquake of 1991 was the strongest of the earthquakes recorded in the Caucasus. It was studied by an international epicentral expedition. Unique data gathered by this expedition included records of aftershocks whose swarm was very intense. A 3-D velocity model is obtained from analysis of these data by the method of local earthquake tomography. The ancient crystalline basement and the sedimentary-volcanic Mesozoic-Cenozoic cover could be identified from cross sections of the P wave field. The eastern and western boundaries of an uplift in the basement of the Dzirulskii Massif are delineated. Linear low velocity heterogeneities correlating with the active Kakheti-Lechkhumi fault zone and two Trans-Caucasian linear fault zones are discovered in the basement. The cloud of aftershock hypocenters is shown to correlate with a reflector coinciding with the cover-basement interface.     

Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of Diel-Cycling Hypoxia in Estuarine Tributaries

The distribution and intensity of hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen) in estuaries is increasing worldwide due to cultural eutrophication. This study quantifies the strength of associations between the duration of diel-cycling severe hypoxia (≤2 mg O₂ l⁻¹) in bottom water (∼15 cm above bottom) of a shallow (<2 m) coastal lagoon estuary (Delaware, USA) and abiotic environmental variables (water temperature, insolation, tide, streamflow, and wind) and predicts the duration of severe hypoxia given different combinations of these variables. The intensity and spatial extent and dynamics of diel-cycling severe hypoxia events were defined. Vertical variability in dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration during the daytime was also determined. During the summers of 2001–2005, bottom DO data were collected for periods of weeks to months at multiple sites using automated sondes. Multiple linear regression (MLR) and regression tree analysis (RTA) were used to determine the relative importance of the environmental variables in predicting the number of hours of severe hypoxia per day. Key findings of the study were that severe hypoxia events of minutes to hours in duration occurred frequently in all four tributaries sampled, primarily between 0200 and 1000 hours. Severe hypoxia duration and diel-cycling amplitudes of DO concentration increased in the up-tributary direction. Hierarchically, the duration of severe hypoxia was influenced mostly by the mean daily water temperature, then by preceding days’ total insolation, percentage of morning hours (02:00 to 10:00 a.m.) ebb tide, and daily streamflow. Collectively, the variables examined by the MLR and the RTA approaches accounted for 62% and 65% of the variability in the duration of severe hypoxia, respectively. RTA demonstrated that daily mean water temperature above 26.3°C and previous day’s total insolation below 13.6 kW m⁻² were associated with the longest lasting severe hypoxic events (9.56 h). The environmental variables and combinations of conditions that modulate or augment diel-cycling hypoxia presented in this paper enhance understanding of this widespread and growing phenomenon and provide additional insight regarding the extent to which it can impact food webs in very shallow estuarine waters that often serve as nursery habitat.     

Speed bumps and barricades in the carbon cycle: substrate structural effects on carbon cycling

The observation that a fraction of organic matter produced in marine systems evades the concerted efforts of microbial communities and is buried in sediments suggests that there are ‘speed bumps’ in carbon degradation pathways that impede microbially driven remineralization processes. The initial step in degradation of macromolecules, extracellular enzymatic hydrolysis, is often stated to be ‘the’ rate-limiting step in carbon remineralization. Experimental investigations described here, however, demonstrate that at least in certain cases, microbes produce extracellular enzymes on time scales of hours to tens of hours in response to substrate addition, and hydrolysis is extremely rapid. If enzymatic hydrolysis can be rapid, what factors slow or stop organic matter degradation? A lack of the correct inducer to initiate enzyme production, and/or a lack of the correct organism to produce the required enzyme, may result in a complete lack of hydrolysis in certain environments—a barricade, rather than a speed bump. Preliminary evidence supporting this hypothesis includes a comparison of polysaccharide hydrolysis in seawater and sediments, which demonstrates that the spectrum of enzymes active in seawater and sediments are fundamentally different. Furthermore, a survey of enzyme activities in surface waters from a range of locations suggests that pelagic microbial communities also differ widely in their abilities to express specific extracellular enzymes. Trans-membrane transport through porins is yet another potential location of structure-related selectivity.Our efforts to identify speed bumps and barricades are hampered by our inability to structurally characterize in sufficient detail the macromolecular structures present in marine systems. Furthermore, assessments of organic matter ‘quality’ from a chemical perspective do not necessarily accurately reflect the availability of organic carbon to microbial communities. For these communities, in fact, ‘quality’ may be a variable, which depends on the enzymatic and uptake capabilities of community members. To begin to assess substrate structure and quality from a microbial perspective, we will have to combine specific knowledge of macromolecular structures with detailed investigations of the enzymatic and transport capabilities of heterotrophic marine microbes.     

Post-breakup basaltic magmatism along the East Greenland Tertiary rifted margin

Mafic and ultramafic intrusions in East Greenland adjacent to the offshore Greenland–Iceland ridge were emplaced 5–9 My after continental breakup at 55 Ma [1]. Rare earth element (REE) concentrations determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry are reported for cumulus clinopyroxene from these intrusions, and the data are used to estimate REE abundance in equilibrium melts using available partitioning data. Estimated equilibrium melts from intrusions have strongly fractionated REE patterns with Nd/Dy(N) in the range 2 to 5.6 and Yb/Dy(N) 0.55 to 0.92, similar to values for coeval basalts. These melts have markedly higher Nd/Dy(N) than earlier breakup related flood basalts. The moderately low Yb/Dy(N) for the post-breakup volcanism is indicative of residual garnet in the source, while their high Nd/Dy(N) ratios can best be explained by aggregating low degree melts from a light-REE-enriched garnet- and spinel-bearing mantle source. We also report He, Sr, and Nd isotopic data for the intrusions. The highest ³He/⁴He ratios (>10 R/R_a) are found in the samples whose REE data reflect the largest proportion of melts from a garnet-bearing source, and having Sr and Nd isotopic compositions identical with the radiogenic Sr and unradiogenic Nd isotope end of the Iceland compositional field. There is no indication of a MORB-type mantle in the source of the intrusions. We postulate that post-breakup volcanism along the East Greenland coastline reflects the increasing proximity of the mantle plume to the East Greenland continental margin. The low degree of melting at high mean pressure inferred for the parental melts for the intrusions may reflect re-thickening of the lithosphere, which in turn was caused by the vigorous volcanism during breakup, with accompanying depletion of upper mantle and underplating of the crust at the continental margin.     

A novel mathematical morphology based algorithm for shoreline extraction from satellite images

Abstract

Shoreline extraction is fundamental and inevitable for several studies. Ascertaining the precise spatial location of the shoreline is crucial. Recently, the need for using remote sensing data to accomplish the complex task of automatic extraction of features, such as shoreline, has considerably increased. Automated feature extraction can drastically minimize the time and cost of data acquisition and database updating. Effective and fast approaches are essential to monitor coastline retreat and update shoreline maps. Here, we present a flexible mathematical morphology-driven approach for shoreline extraction algorithm from satellite imageries. The salient features of this work are the preservation of actual size and shape of the shorelines, run-time structuring element definition, semi-automation, faster processing, and single band adaptability. The proposed approach is tested with various sensor-driven images with low to high resolutions. Accuracy of the developed methodology has been assessed with manually prepared ground truths of the study area and compared with an existing shoreline classification approach. The proposed approach is found successful in shoreline extraction from the wide variety of satellite images based on the results drawn from visual and quantitative assessments.     

Use of remote sensing in lineament analysis for tectonic evolution and resource study of a part of Vindhyan Basin,Jhalawar area,India

Synoptivity and the exemplified fracture systems exhibited by the space borne imagery data has helped in solving many of the geological enigma in various parts of the world. The study conducted, using such remotly sensed data, in Jhalawar anticline, part of Proterozoic Cratonic Vindhyan Basin, Rajasthan, India, led to infer the history of tectonic evolution of peribasinal deformation which has been a matter of controversy for a century and more. In Landsat MSS data the Jhalawar region displays a panorama of lineaments and their analysis through azimuthal frequency diagrams, isofracture, lineament incidence and lineament intersection incidence density maps shows that the mean orientation of the lineaments fall in NW-SE and NE-SW and the shape of the various lineament density contours also show NE-SW and NW-SE orientations. In aerial photographs the area exhibits four sets of lineaments in NE-SW, NW-SE, N-S and E-W directions. Amongst these the former two sets are expressed as wide open master fracture systems with prolific vegetation fills along them and the latter two sets are characteristically observed as thin vegetation linears with frequent strike slip faulting along them. The further analysis of these fracture/lineament systems derived from multi-level remote sensing data shows that the Jhalawar anticline, which followed the pattern of flexural slip fold mechanism, was evolved by horizontally disposed σ1 (greatest principal stress) and 3σ (least principal stress) with the former oriented in NE-SW and the latter aligned in NW-SE directions with vertically disposed 2σ. The inference of such palaeostress environment of the Jhalawar region lead in the identification of a buried rigid basement high southwest of Jhalawar anticline, beneath the Deccan pile and loci of ground water, silica sand and probable igneous plug.     

Covariations in oceanic dimethyl sulfide,its oxidation products and rain acidity at Amsterdam Island in the Southern Indian Ocean

Simultaneous measurements of rain acidity and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) at the ocean surface and in the atmosphere were performed at Amsterdam Island over a 4 year period. During the last 2 years, measurements of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) in the atmosphere and of methane sulfonic acid (MSA) and non-sea-salt-sulfate (nss-SO₄ ^2-) in rainwater were also performed. Covariations are observed between the oceanic and atmospheric DMS concentrations, atmospheric SO₂ concentrations, wet deposition of MSA, nss-SO₄ ^2-, and rain acidity. A comparable summer to winter ratio of DMS and SO₂ in the atmosphere and MSA in precipitation were also observed. From the chemical composition of precipitation we estimate that DMS oxidation products contribute approximately 40% of the rain acidity. If we consider the acidity in excess, then DMS oxidation products contribute about 55%.     

The stratospheric sulfate aerosol layer: Processes,models, observations,and simulations

After briefly reviewing the observational data on the stratospheric sulfate aerosol layer, the chemical and physical processes that are likely to fix the properties of the layer are discussed. We present appropriate continuity equations for aerosol particles, and show how to solve the equations on a digital computer. Simulations of the unperturbed aerosol layer by various published models are discussed and the sensitivity of layer characteristics to variations in several aerosol model parameters is studied. We discuss model applications to anthropogenic pollution problems and demonstrate that moderate levels of aerospace activity (supersonic transport and space shuttle operations) will probably have only a negligible effect on global climate. Finally, we evaluate the possible climatic effect of a ten-fold increase in the atmospheric abundance of carbonyl sulfide.     

The Martian magnetic field

The magnetic field measurements of the Mars 2, 3 and 5 spacecraft have been interpreted by Dolginov and co-workers to be consistent with an intrinsic planetary magnetic moment of 2.5 × 10²² gauss cm³. They base this interpretation mainly on the apparent size of the obstacle responsible for deflecting the solar wind, the lack of dependence of the sign of the magnetic field in the wake region of the planet on the sign of the component of the interplanetary field radially out from the sun, and an apparent encounter of the Mars spacecraft with the planetary field. When examined in detail this evidence is very suspect. A detailed criticism of the arguments by Dolginov and co-workers for an intrinsic field has appeared elsewhere. Herein we summarize this criticism and present, in an appendix, a compendium of the Mars 3 and 5 magnetic field data transformed into a coordinate system in which the details of the interaction are more easily visualized. Many of these data have not been published in this form previously.