Olympic Alliance oil spillage

Despite the 1967 traffic separation scheme for the Straits of Dover another loaded tanker was damaged in a Channel collision. On this occasion approximately 2000–3000 tonnes of oil were spilt and despite extensive and rapid measures to disperse it at sea, the English coastline was again affected.     

Plate Tectonics and mineralization in the Tethyan region

The association between mineralization and plate movements is becoming evident in the American Cordillera and the Pacific Island Arcs. This paper attempts to show how these ideas apply to the zone along which the Eurasian and Afro-Arabia plates collided during the late Mesozoic, between the Alps and the Himalayas. The study highlights some of the outstanding problems concerned with plate collision and the important question of the origin of ophiolite complexes. Some of the major mineralized districts in Greece, Turkey and Iran can be related to active plate edges, to island arc development and to related tectonism around pre-Mesozoic crystalline massifs. The study reinforces the view that the younger tectonic zones traversing the Middle East will become major mineral-producing areas in the future.     

A Landsat-based evaluation of lake water clarity in Maine lakes

Temporal trends in water clarity and land-use/land-cover (LULC), as well as the relationship between changes in water clarity and LULC, were analyzed using water clarity values extracted from Landsat images from 1986 to 2008, acquired for east-central Maine. Of 40 lakes identified using satellite imagery, our analysis found one lake with a significant decrease in water clarity. In a second data-set, with 99 lakes, we identified two lakes with a significant increase in water clarity. Analyses of the relationship between temporal changes in the water clarity and LULC did not identify any clear, consistent, relationships between changes in the water quality variables and LULC. Overall, the results of this study aid in the identification of the relationship between water clarity and LULC, and identify temporal changes in water clarity. The findings of this study support the previous research that demonstrates the ability of satellite imagery to be used in assessments of water clarity, thus enabling evaluation at broader spatial scales and longer temporal scales than assessments that rely solely on ground-based data.     

Early dismissals in public schools on potential severe weather days

Survey responses from 76 public school districts in Mississippi and Alabama were analyzed along with county-level demographics, tornado-path data, and tornado warning data to investigate the emerging trend of early dismissals. No two districts had identical responses, but the concern of safety was consistently mentioned. The highest number of reported dismissals would have resulted in a loss of <2 % of total annual class time. The rates of dismissals reported by districts were compared with tornado warning days to identify potential over-dismissal, which was found in 51 % of districts. Rates of dismissal and over-dismissal were analyzed with variables from survey responses, tornado warning data, tornado-path data, and county census data to determine variables that influence differences among districts. Various stepwise models indicate that districts with higher poverty levels could be less likely to dismiss. Permutation tests and stepwise models show that early dismissal and over-dismissal are more likely when a district: (1) has a higher number of killer tornadoes in the last 5 years, (2) has a higher number of recent injury-causing tornadoes, (3) has a higher number of total killer tornadoes since 1950, (4) is in a smaller county, (5) has dismissal decisions made by a team, (6) is a county district rather than a city district, and (7) has a lower level of poverty. The inverse relationship with poverty suggests that schools in poorer areas may be holding students in school because they consider them to be safer there than at home, or it could be due to a lack of resources at the school. All of these are based on a district’s location and plans, things that can be determined before a potential dismissal. These indicators can be used to highlight districts most likely to dismiss and possibly reduce rates of over-dismissal by alerting districts to their predisposed tendencies.     

Impact of climate warming on upper layer of the Bering Sea

The impact of climate warming on the upper layer of the Bering Sea is investigated by using a high-resolution coupled global climate model. The model is forced by increasing atmospheric CO₂ at a rate of 1% per year until CO₂ reaches double its initial value (after 70 years), after which it is held constant. In response to this forcing, the upper layer of the Bering Sea warms by about 2°C in the southeastern shelf and by a little more than 1°C in the western basin. The wintertime ventilation to the permanent thermocline weakens in the western Bering Sea. After CO₂ doubling, the southeastern shelf of the Bering Sea becomes almost ice-free in March, and the stratification of the upper layer strengthens in May and June. Changes of physical condition due to the climate warming would impact the pre-condition of spring bio-productivity in the southeastern shelf.     

Dryland salinity in a subcatchment at Glenthompson,Victoria

Dryland salinity is a widespread and serious environmental problem in western Victoria. As a result river environs and farmland have been seriously degraded with loss of habitat, reduced farm production and increased erosion. Until recently, the preferred method of salinity investigation was centred around expensive drilling programs to obtain information on groundwater provinces. More recently, electromagnetic surveys have provided the means of rapidly assessing the levels of soil and water salinities present within the landscape. At a site south of Glenthompson, Victoria, the results of an electromagnetic survey together with an investigation of relevant soil properties are being used to plan salinity control options. High recharge areas do not appear to be present in the study district. The effects of agronomic control options, such as the establishment of perennial grasses, can be predicted by the use of a monthly water balance whereby climatic factors and the crop's efficiency in plant water use can be related. The likely reduction in deep infiltration can then be estimated.     

Age and chemical characteristics of some pre-Pan-African rocks in the Egyptian Shield

UPb ages on zircons from several types of sialic rocks, together with a variety of geochemical data on one sample of early plutonic activity within the Egyptian Shield are presented.The earliest autochthonous granitic rocks in the Egyptian Shield are probably quartz diorites (tonalites) emplaced just prior to the main peak of Pan-African igneous activity (550–650 Ma). The studied example has an age of 711 Ma ± 7 Ma, and is characterized by very low initial Sr ratio (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.7026) and very low abundances of K₂O and related large-ion lithophile trace elements. REE contents are low (less than 20 × chondritic abundances). Abundance patterns show only moderate light rare-earth enrichment (La/Yb = 4.5). These characteristics are inconsistent with any models requiring fractional fusion of pre-existing continental crustal material.Granitic and arkosic cobbles occur in rare conglomerate beds within volcanoclastic and greywacke sedimentary sequences. The cobbles show a wide range in ages (1.1–2.3 Ga) and have no obvious source within the Egyptian Shield. It is suggested that they are not indicative of any sialic plutons in the Egyptian Shield which might predate deposition of the enclosing immature sediments. More probably, they were derived from adjacent continental areas such as the Uweinat region to the west, and were deposited in an evolving arc-ocean basin complex.     

Lead isotope systematics of some igneous rocks from the Egyptian shield

Lead isotope data on late Precambrian igneous rocks from the eastern desert of Egypt are presented. Previous work has indicated that this igneous suite is characterized by uniformly low initial ratios of ${}^{37}\text{Sr}{}^{86}\text{Sr}$ (< 0.7035). The Pb data define three groups, loosely corresponding to age. An older tonalite to granodiorite (OTG) suite, with ages in the range 610–710 Ma, has Pb isotope characteristics similar to modern, mantle-derived oceanic mafic rocks. The age-corrected initial Pb isotope ratios of the OTG group lie near the “ocean regression line” in correlation diagrams of ${}^{206}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ vs. ${}^{207}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ and ${}^{203}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$. The isotope data imply an origin for the OTG group analogous to calc-alkalic igneous rocks in modern intra-oceanic island arcs.A younger suite of K-rich plutonic rocks (570–595 Ma) has similar ${}^{206}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ and ${}^{208}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ initial ratios relative to the OTG suite, but have higher ${}^{207}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ initial ratios when calculated from measured whole-rock U and Pb contents. However, K-feldspar and galena, associated with this suite, indicate initial Pb isotope ratios close to the OTG suite. We interpret this to indicate that the younger granites could have originated by anatexis of OTG-type material, but they probably experienced an episode of metasomatism after emplacement.A suite of volcanic rocks (the Dokhan Volcanics) from the central eastern desert are intermediate between the younger granites and OTG in both age (～ 610 Ma) and Pb isotope characteristics.Limited data on initial ${}^{208}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ ratios suggest that all the Egyptian samples originated from a source with anomalously low $\text{Th}\text{Pb}$ ratios.Although the relative abundance of granitic rocks in the Egyptian Shield decreases to the south, no evidence of north-south heterogeneity in the Pb isotope composition of the respective source regions is apparent in the data. However, the westernmost sample studied, from the Aswan area, contains distinctly more radiogenic Pb relative to the mean. This location may mark the boundary between the Late Precambrian ensimatic orogen now outcropping in the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian Shields, and an older sialic craton to the west.     

Experimental simulation of martian gully forms

Gullies are widespread on slopes on the surface of Mars and have been investigated by numerous authors, yet their formation processes remain elusive. In an attempt to understand the possibility of a water-based origin for these forms, we undertook a series of flume experiments at Earth surface temperatures and pressures. Our objectives were to produce forms that resemble those most commonly observed on Mars, documenting their morphometric characteristics and identifying any statistically significant relationships between form and controlling factors of slope and flow rate. Experiments were conducted in a 1×1.5 m² flume filled with medium grain size sand. The experiments were run over a slope angle range of 10–30°, corresponding to the range for gullies on Mars. Water from a constant-head tank fed through 5 mm silicone hose to a rotameter and then released just below the surface at the top of the slope. Gullies were produced at slope angle values of 10°, 20°, and 30° and flow rate values of 445, 705, 965, and 1260 mL min^?1 at each angle. Eighteen parameters were identified and subsequently measured on each gully produced in the flume. Gully forms were successfully reproduced and displayed development of the fundamental morphological components observed on Mars: alcove, channel, and apron. Slope–gully form relationships for each component revealed the following results: higher slope angles formed shorter gullies with thicker apron deposits. Moreover, longer gullies were seen at higher flow rates. We concluded that forms visually similar to those observed on Mars can be created by water in the laboratory flume under terrestrial conditions. Morphometric parameters can be measured and permit identification of controlling factors. Experimental simulation of gullies appears possible with proper scaling of experimental parameters. Although not directly scalable to Mars, flume gully parameters may be used to develop numerical models in the future.