TitaniQ under pressure: the effect of pressure and temperature on the solubility of Ti in quartz

Quartz and rutile were synthesized from silica-saturated aqueous fluids between 5 and 20 kbar and from 700 to 940°C in a piston-cylinder apparatus to explore the potential pressure effect on Ti solubility in quartz. A systematic decrease in Ti-in-quartz solubility occurs between 5 and 20 kbar. Titanium K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) measurements demonstrate that Ti⁴⁺ substitutes for Si⁴⁺ on fourfold tetrahedral sites in quartz at all conditions studied. Molecular dynamic simulations support XANES measurements and demonstrate that Ti incorporation onto fourfold sites is favored over interstitial solubility mechanisms. To account for the P–T dependence of Ti-in-quartz solubility, a least-squares method was used to fit Ti concentrations in quartz from all experiments to the simple expression

Transforming observational data and theoretical isochrones into the ACS/WFC Vega-mag system

We propose a zero-point photometric calibration of the data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Wide Field Channel (WFC) on board the Hubble Space Telescope , based on a spectrum of Vega and the most up-to-date in-flight transmission curves of the camera. This calibration is accurate at the level of a few hundredths of a magnitude. The main purpose of this effort is to transform the entire set of evolutionary models into a simple observational photometric system for ACS/WFC data, and to make them available to the astronomical community. We provide the zero-points for the most used ACS/WFC bands, and give basic recipes for calibrating both the observed data and the models. We also present the colour–magnitude diagram from ACS data of five Galactic globular clusters, spanning the metallicity range  −2.2 <[Fe/H] < −0.04  , and we provide fiducial points representing their sequences from several magnitudes below the turn-off to the red giant branch tip. The observed sequences are compared with the models in the newly defined photometric system.     

The causes and environmental effects of land use conversion during agricultural restructuring in Northeast China

During the last decade of the 20th century, extensive conversion in agricultural land use took place in Northeast China. The goal of this study is to ascertain its spatial distribution and regional differentiation, determine its causes, and analyze its environmental impact. Especially we attempt to elucidate how institutional constraints have facilitated the change at a time of agrarian restructuring when newly emerging free market was hybridized with the former planned economy. Information on six categories of land use was mapped from interpretation of Landsat TM images recorded in 1990, 1995 and 2000. Most of land use changes took place during the first half of the decade, coinciding with abrupt and chaotic changes in government directives. Farmland was changed mainly to woodland, water body and built-up areas while woodland and grassland were converted chiefly to farmland. Spatially, the change from farmland to woodland was restricted to the west of the study area. The change from grassland to farmland took place in the grazing and farming interlocked west. These chaotic and occasionally conflicting changes were largely caused by lack of stability and consistency in agricultural land use policies promulgated. They have exerted adverse impacts on the local environment, including land degradation, increased flooding, and modified climate regime.     

The influence of amphibole fractionation on the evolution of calc-alkaline andesite and dacite tephra from the central Aleutians,Alaska

Petrologic studies of tephra from Kanaga, Adak, and Great Sitkin Islands indicate that amphibole fractionation and magma mixing are important processes controlling the composition of calc-alkaline andesite and dacite magmas in the central Aleutians. Amphibole is ubiquitous in tephra from Kanaga and Adak Islands, whereas it is present only in a basaltic-andesite pumice from Great Sitkin. Dacitic tephra from Great Sitkin do not contain amphibole. Hornblende dacite tephra contain HB+PLAG+OX±OPX±CPX phenocrysts with simple zoning patterns, suggesting that the dacites evolved in isolated magma chambers. Andesitic tephra from Adak contain two pyroxene and hornbelende populations, and reversely zoned plagioclase, indicating a more complex history involving mixing and fractional crystallization. Mass balance calculations suggest that the andesitic tephra may represent the complements of amphibole-bearing cumulate xenoliths, both formed during the evolution of high-Al basalts. The presence of amphibole in andesitic and dacitic tephra implies that Aleutian cale-alkaline magmas evolve in the mid to lower crust under hydrous (>4 wt.% H₂O) and oxidizing (Ni–NiO) conditions. Amphibole-bearing andesites and pyroxene-bearing dacites from Great Sitkin indicates fractionation at several levels within the arc crust. Despite its absence in many calc-alkaline andesite and dacite lavas, open system behavior involving amphibole fractionation can explain the trace element characteristies of lavas found on Adak Island. Neither open nor closed system fractionation involving a pyroxene-bearing assemblage is capable of explaining the trace element concentrations or ratios found in the Adak suite. We envision a scenario where amphibole was initially a liquidus phase in many calc-alkaline magmas, but was later replaced by pyroxenes as the magmas rose to shallow levels within the crust. The mineral assemblage in these evolved lavas reflects shallow level equilibration of the magma, whereas the trace element chemistry provides evidence for a earlier, amphibole-bearing, mineral assemblage.     

The elastic properties of single-crystal fayalite as determined by dynamical measurement techniques

We present new elasticity measurements on single-crystal fayalite and combine our results with other data from resonance, pulse superposition interferometry, and Brillouin scattering to provide a set of recommended values for the adiabatic elastic moduliC _ij and their temperature variations. We use a resonance method (RPR) with specimens that were previously investigated by pulse superposition experiments. The nineC _ij of fayalite are determined from three new sets of measurements. One set of our newC _ij data is over the range 300–500 K. We believe that the relatively large discrep ncies found in someC _ij are due in large part to specimen inhomogeneities (chemical and microstructural) coupled with differences in the way various techniques sample, rather than only systematic errors associated with experimental procedures or in the preparations of the specimens.Our recommendeaC _ij's (GPa) and (C _ij/T) _p (GPa/K) are: The resulting values for the isotropic bulk and shear moduli,K _s and , and their temperature derivatives are:K _s=134(4) GPa; =50.7(0.3) GPa; (K _s/T) _p =–0.024(0.005) GPa/K; and (/T) _p =–0.013(0.001) GPa/K. An important conclusion is thatK _s increases as the Fe/(Fe+Mg) ratio in olivine is increased.     

Delineating groundwater potential zones in a hard-rock terrain using geospatial tool

Abstract

Geospatial techniques have become one of the leading tools in the field of natural sciences for assessment, monitoring and management of natural resources, particularly in groundwater research. The paper discusses the demarcation and assessment of groundwater potential zones using geospatial techniques in the Deccan Volcanic Province of Maharashtra, India, using multi-criteria analyses. The study incorporates integration of thematic information (geomorphology, lithology, drainage density, slope and lineaments) in a GIS environment in order to identify groundwater potential zones. The methodology adopted can be used as a rapid assessment tool in groundwater exploration and is helpful in predictive groundwater resource management. Multi-criteria evaluation techniques were used to integrate all the thematic layers. Individual themes and their corresponding categories were assigned a knowledge base ranking from 1 to 5, depending on their importance for groundwater potential. Using the Raster calculator tool in Arc GIS software, all thematic maps were integrated to produce a composite groundwater potential map of the study area. The identified groundwater potential zones were classified into four classes, from excellent to poor. The generated groundwater potential zones were validated with field checks and borewell/dugwell yield data, and showed consistency with the observations.

Citation Singh, P., Thakur, J. K., and Kumar, S. (2013) Delineating groundwater potential zones in a hard-rock terrain using geospatial tools. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (1), 1–11.     

Chronostratigraphy and lake-level changes of Laguna Cari-Laufquén, Río Negro, Argentina

Evidence from shoreline and deep-lake sediments show Laguna Cari-Laufquén, located at 41°S in central Argentina, rose and fell repeatedly during the late Quaternary. Our results show that a deep (> 38 m above modern lake level) lake persisted from no later than 28 ka to 19 ka, with the deepest lake phase from 27 to 22 ka. No evidence of highstands is found after 19 ka until the lake rose briefly in the last millennia to 12 m above the modern lake, before regressing to present levels. Laguna Cari-Laufquén broadly matches other regional records in showing last glacial maximum (LGM) highstands, but contrasts with sub-tropical lake records in South America where the hydrologic maximum occurred during deglaciation (17–10 ka). Our lake record from Cari-Laufquén mimics that of high-latitude records from the Northern Hemisphere. This points to a common cause for lake expansions, likely involving some combination of temperature depression and intensification of storminess in the westerlies belt of both hemispheres during the LGM.     

Control strategies for the Clam Wave Energy Device

A promising wave energy device being currently investigated is the ‘clam’. The clam extracts energy by pumping air through a specially designed (Wells) turbine. Although operation of the Wells turbine does not require a rectified air flow, some additional control will be necessary to optimize the phase of the clam motion for good efficiencies. An examination of the equation of motion in the time domain suggests the possibility of phase control by mechanical, power take-off, or pneumatic latching. Latching can be shown to increase the efficiency of the device in the longer wavelengths of the wave spectrum, i.e. those of high incident wave power. Equivalently latching could be used to keep the device efficiency high while reducing its size, possibly resulting in cheaper power extraction.     

Grassland productivity in an alpine environment in response to climate change

Situated in a climatically stressful environment, alpine grassland is sensitive to subtle climate changes in its productivity. We remedy the current deficiency in studying grassland productivity by taking the integrated effect of all relevant factors into consideration. The relative importance of temperature, rainfall and evaporation to the alpine grassland productivity in western China was determined through analysis of their relationship with the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) between 1981 and 2000. Climate warming stimulated grassland productivity in the 1980s, but hampered it in the 1990s. Temperature is more important than rainfall to grassland productivity early in the growing season. However, their relative importance is reversed late in the growing season. Monthly summer month rainfall modified by maximum monthly temperature is a good predictor of alpine grassland productivity at 62.0 per cent. However, the best predictor is water deficiency, which is able to improve the estimation accuracy to 78.3 per cent. Hence, the impact of temperature on grassland productivity is better studied indirectly through evaporation.