RARE EARTH ELEMENT ABUNDANCES IN SEPARATED PHASES OF MAYO BELWA,AN ENSTATITE ACHONDRITE

Separated fractions from the Mayo Belwa aubrite have been analysed for the rare earth elements (REE). The data show no ytterbium anomalies but the feldspar and magnetic fractions show complementary europium anomalies. The separated phases together account for the total REE abundances in the bulk meteorite which are about 0.5 times chondritic. The REE content of the feldspar is greater than that of the bulk meteorite. The partition coefficients for the REE between feldspar and orthopyroxene are about 10 times (in favour of the feldspar) those of the nearest equivalent terrestrial feldspar/orthopyroxene pairs, implying that the distribution of the REE which would result from equilibrium co-crystallisation from a single liquid has been disturbed by a later event. This occurred more recently than 4.33 b.y. ago and resulted in a redistribution of the REE between the feldspar and a REE enriched residue. However, the REE patterns of the minerals are very like those of terrestrial equivalents and appear to be the result of igneous cumulus processes on a parent body rather than condensation of dust from a nebular gas.     

The magmatic oxygen fugacity of an ultrabasic dyke

The magmatic oxygen fugacity (fO₂) of a thirty foot wide feldspathic peridotite dyke has been determined using the experimental method of Fudali (1965). Determinations were made on samples from both the marginal and central portions of the dyke and a difference of approximately one order of magnitude in fO₂ was observed. This difference is attributed to the increase in the H₂O content of the liquid as crystallization proceeded and to diffusion of hydrogen out of the dyke. It is concluded that the dyke was emplaced with an fO₂ between 10^–8 and 10^–9 atmospheres. Data on the absorbtion of Fe by the silver/palladium sample containers during the experiments are given in an appendix.     

An NMR study of structure and ordering in synthetic K2MgSi5O12, a leucite analogue

Phases with the composition K₂MgSi₅O₁₂, belonging to the leucite structure group were synthesised under dry and hydrothermal conditions and studied using ²⁹Si NMR. The ²⁹Si spectrum for the dry-crystallised material (which is cubic) consists of a single broad line, suggesting a high degree of disorder. The hydrothermally crystallised material (which is probably monoclinic, with a distorted leucite lattice) has a ²⁹Si spectrum which consists of ten lines of equal intensity, two of which have small chemical shift anisotropies and are therefore assigned to Q⁴(4Si) sites. These data have been interpreted in terms of a structure with 12 distinct tetrahedral sites over which 2 Mg atoms and 10 Si atoms are fully ordered. A 2-dimensional COSY spectrum shows correlations between some Q⁴(3Si) silicon atoms and two other Q⁴(3Si) silicon atoms. This fully constrains the topology of the unit cell. Two schemes of Si/Mg ordering over the unit cell can give good fits to the COSY spectrum. Using the tetrahedral (T) site notation defined for natural tetragonal leucite, the first of these arrangements involves Mg and Q⁴(4Si) silicon atoms each occupying one T1-type site and one T3-type site, and Q⁴(3Si) silicons occupying the remaining sites, i.e. four T2-type sites, two T1-type sites and two T3-type sites. In the second arrangement, the T2-type sites are occupied by Mg atoms and Q⁴(4Si) silicon atoms and all the T1-and T3-type sites are occupied by Q⁴(3Si) atoms.     

Critical conditions for successful regeneration of an endangered annual plant,Cryptantha minima: A modeling approach

Tiny cryptanthe (Cryptantha minima Rydb.) is an endangered annual plant adapted to prairie sand dunes of Canada. Thermal time and hydrothermal time models were used to quantify the effect of temperature and water potential on seed germination and to relate it to field conditions. Tiny cryptanthe seeds had a base temperature of ?3.9 °C for germination. Final germination percentage was highest at temperatures near the freezing point. Seeds required approximately 130.6 °C d to reach 50% germination under optimal water conditions. Seed germination was sensitive to water stress and large seeds had lower germination than small ones especially at reduced water potentials and higher temperatures. The high potential germination and low seed dormancy indicate that tiny cryptanthe lacks a dormancy mechanism, but the unique germination response to temperature enables it to fully utilize water from spring snowmelt before drought in the summer. Future climate change with higher temperatures could reduce regeneration success of this species unless there is an associated increase in winter and spring precipitation.     

The behaviour of tungsten in granitic melt-vapour systems

An experimental study has been carried out to determine the effect of solution composition on the partitioning behaviour of tungsten in granitic melt-vapour systems at 800° C and 1 kbar. With chloride and phosphate solutions, tungsten partitions strongly into the aqueous phase, whereas with fluoride, carbonate and borate solutions, and water alone, tungsten partitions in favour of the melt. With chloride solutions, the fluid/melt partition coefficients (K _D) for W show a marked positive correlation with chloride concentration, and suggest that at low chloride concentrations W-Cl complexes with low Cl∶W ratios (such as associated equivalents of (WO₃)₂C1⁻) may be present. In contrast, at higher chloride concentrations complexes with high Cl∶W ratios (such as WOCl₄, WCl₆ and associated ionic equivalents) may predominate. With phosphate solutions, K _D shows little variation with phosphate concentration, and phosphorus heteropolytungstates (such as H₃[PW₁₂O₄₀]) may be present. There is no evidence to suggest that fluoride, carbonate or borate complexes of tungsten are important under the experimental conditions: the data for these compositions can be interpreted assuming that isopolytungstates (such as H₆[H₂W₁₂O₄₀]) are present. Within high temperature hydrothermal solutions tungsten may be transported principally as isopolytungstates and heteropolytungstates in addition to chloride complexes, and this may, in part, account for the common association of apatite and arsenopyrite with scheelite and wolframite in tungsten deposits.     

The importance of the geophysical context in statistical evaluations of climate reconstruction procedures

A portion of the debate about climate reconstructions of the past millennium, and in particular about the well-known Mann-Bradley-Hughes (“MBH” 1998, 1999) reconstructions, has become disconnected from the goal of understanding natural climate variability. Here, we reflect on what can be learned from recent scientific exchanges and identify important challenges that remain to be addressed openly and productively by the community. One challenge arises from the real, underlying trend in temperatures during the instrumental period. This trend can affect regression-based reconstruction performance in cases where the calibration period does not appropriately cover the range of conditions encountered during the reconstruction. However, because it is tied to a unique spatial pattern driven by change in radiative balance, the trend cannot simply be removed in the method of climate field reconstruction used by MBH on the statistical argument of preserving degrees of freedom. More appropriately, the influence from the trend can be taken into account in some methods of significance testing. We illustrate these considerations as they apply to the MBH reconstruction and show that it remains robust back to AD 1450, and given other empirical information also back to AD 1000. However, there is now a need to move beyond hemispheric average temperatures and to focus instead on resolving climate variability at the socially more relevant regional scale.     

Lithium tracer-diffusion in an alkali-basaltic melt — An ion-microprobe determination

An ion-microprobe-based technique has been used to measure lithium tracer-diffusion coefficients (D_Li) in an alkali-basaltic melt at 1300, 1350 and 1400°C. The results can be expressed in the form:D_Li=7.5 ×10^?2exp(?27,600/RT)cm²S^?1The results show significantly faster diffusion rates than those previously recorded for other monovalent, divalent and trivalent cations in a tholeiitic melt. Consequently, diffusive transport of ions acting over a given time in a basaltic melt can produce a wider range of transport distance values than hitherto supposed. Hence, it is concluded that great care should be exercised when applying diffusion data to petrological problems.     

Surfactant and irrigation effects on wettable soils: runoff,erosion, and water retention responses

Surfactants are chemical compounds that can change the contact angle of a water drop on solid surfaces and are commonly used to increase infiltration into water repellent soil. Since production fields with water repellent soil often contain areas of wettable soil, surfactants applied to such fields worldwide will likely be applied to wettable soil, with unknown consequences for irrigation‐induced erosion, runoff, or soil water relations. We evaluated surfactant and simulated sprinkler irrigation effects on these responses for three wettable, Pacific Northwest soils, Latahco and Rad silt loams, and Quincy sand. Along with an untreated control, we studied three surfactants: an alkyl polyglycoside (APG) in solution at a concentration of 18 g active ingredient (AI) kg^?1, a block copolymer at 26 g kg^?1, and a blend of the two at 43 g kg^?1. From 2005 to 2009 in the laboratory, each surfactant was sprayed at a rate of 46·8 l ha^?1 onto each soil packed by tamping into 1·2‐ by 1·5‐m steel boxes. Thereafter, each treated soil was irrigated twice at 88 mm h^?1 with surfactant‐free well water. After each irrigation, runoff and sediment loss were measured and soil samples were collected. While measured properties differed among soils and irrigations, surfactants had no effect on runoff, sediment loss, splash loss, or tension infiltration, compared to the control. Across all soils, however, the APG increased volumetric water contents by about 3% (significant at p≤0·08) at matric potentials from 0 to ? 20 kPa compared to the control. With a decrease in the liquid–solid contact angle on treated soil surfaces, surfactant‐free water appeared able to enter, and be retained in pores with diameters ≥ 15 µm. All told, surfactants applied at economic rates to these wettable Pacific Northwest soils posed little risk of increasing either runoff or erosion or harming soil water relations. Moreover, by increasing water retention at high potentials, surfactants applied to wettable soils may allow water containing pesticides or other agricultural chemicals to better penetrate soil pores, thereby increasing the efficacy of the co‐applied materials. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.