Amorphous silica solubilities—III. Activity coefficient relations and predictions of solubility behavior in salt solutions, 0–350°C

Activity coefficients of amorphous silica in added salt solutions, obtained from solubility measurements, were calculated on the basis of concentration (molarity) and composition (molality). The logarithm of the activity coefficients based on concentration when plotted against molarity of added salt, as previous observations would dictate, yielded straight line relations even to 6 M. The use of composition units produced instead curves at the highest molalities and caused divergences in behavior from the single straight lines for 1-1 salts of a common cation. Introduction of the activity of water also caused divergences in behavior. Thus, it might appear that amorphous silica is fully hydrated at 25°C as a solid in equilibrium with solution. Lack of densities of aqueous sodium nitrate necessitated using units of molality in interpretations at high temperatures. Nevertheless, approximately straight line behavior of log activity coefficient vs m was still observed to reasonably high molalities, and allowed a simple equation to describe activity coefficient behavior as a function of both molality of sodium nitrate and temperature. The simplicity of the relation, with some assumptions, might be used to predict solubility of amorphous silica at high temperatures in other added aqueous salt solutions.     

The thermal regime of the San Juan basin since late cretaceous times and its relationship to San Juan mountains thermal sources

Heat-flow and coal-maturation data suggest that the thermal history of the San Juan Basin has been influenced by magmatic and volcanic activity in the San Juan Mountains-San Juan volcanic field located to the north of the Basin. Time-dependent isothermal step models indicate that the observed heat flow may be modelled by a (near) steadystate isothermal step extending from 30–98 km depth whose edge underlies the northern San Juan Basin. The observed maturation levels of the Fruitland formation coals in the northern and central Basin, however, require more heat than can be associated with conduction from a deep thermal source (steady-state step) and from the shallow crustal batholith which underlies the San Juan volcanic field. Magmatic activity within the Basin does not appear to be a reasonable source of additional heat. Increased burial depths of the coals may explain some of the elevated maturation levels observed in the central and northern Basin, but it seems likely that an additional source of heat is still required. Heat advection by groundwater movement may have influenced the coal maturation levels in the Basin as well. Both magmatic activity associated with the emplacement of the San Juan batholith and elevated geothermal gradients associated with the steady-state thermal source at depth may have contributed to heating of the groundwater. An appreciation of heat advection by groundwater flow may therefore be most important to understanding regional patterns of heat flow and hydrocarbon maturation.     

F-OH substitution in natural tremolite,talc, and phlogopite

The distribution of F between tremolite and talc has been determined in metamorphosed siliceous carbonates from the Grenville Province, Ontario. Wavelength dispersive electron microprobe analyses of contiguous, texturally compatible tremolite-talc pairs indicate that the substitution of F for OH is the most significant deviation from end-member stoichiometry in the samples studied. Mixing of F and OH components has been represented by an ideal solution model for F in tremolite and an asymmetric model for F in talc. Both linear and nonlinear regression techniques have been used to derive activity coefficients for the exchange of one equivalent of OH and F components in talc. The following expressions are the result of nonlinear regression of 32 analyses from coexisting mineral pairs: $$\begin{gathered} \ln \gamma _{TC(OH)} = X_{TC(F)}^2 [2.447 - 2.845X_{TC(OH)} ] \hfill \\ \ln \gamma _{TC(F)} = X_{TC(OH)}^2 [1.024 + 2.845X_{TC(F} ] \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ Isobaric \(T - X_{CO_2 } \) sections constructed using these equations show an enhanced stability for the assemblages talc+calcite and phlogopite+quartz+calcite with F substituting for OH. Projection of isothermal invariant points into P-T space predicts a shift in the stability of the assemblage talc-calcite from lower grade into the sillimanite field with increasing substitution of F for OH in talc.     

The impact of spatial and temporal distribution of satellite observations on tropical cyclone data assimilation: Preliminary results

Summary Preliminary work gauging the impact of varying the spatial and temporal resolution of Cloud Drift Wind (CDW) data using different assimilation techniques is presented, particularly within the framework of a generalised inverse data assimilation scheme. Results are presented for the NW Pacific and Australian regions. There were three main findings for the cases examined. Firstly, hourly and 12-hourly highdensity CDWs produced lower mean forecast errors (relative to intermittent assimilation) than those produced using operational CDWs from the Global Telecommunication System (GTS). This is consistent with Le Marshall et al. (1994). Secondly, intermittent assimilation was significantly worse than both the nudging and variational procedures. Finally, there was little improvement using the variational as opposed to the nudging scheme when using 12-hourly data insertion and operational winds from the GTS. There, the variational procedure proved to be about 4 per cent superior to the nudging. This result is of note, given the variational procedure takes about an order of magnitude longer to produce the initial field than does nudging, and should be contrasted with an earlier finding by one of the authors (LML) where the variational procedure was found to be clearly superior to the nudging approach (Bennett et al., 1993) where an enhanced CDW field was used.With 2 Figures     

A Variscan pressure-temperature-time path for the N-E Mont Blanc massif

The northeastern portion of the Mont Blanc massif in western Switzerland is predominantly comprised of the granitic rocks of the Mont Blanc intrusive suite and the Mont Blanc basement gneisses. Within these metamorphic rocks are a variety of sub-economic Fe skarns. The mineral assemblages and fluid inclusions from these rocks have been used to derive age, pressure, temperature and fluid composition constraints for two Variscan events. Metamorphic hornblendes within the assemblages from the basement amphibolites and iron skarns have been dated using ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, and indicate that these metamorphic events have a minimum age of approximately 334 Ma. Garnet-hornblende-plagioclase thermobarometry and stable isotope data obtained from the basement amphibolites are consistent with metamorphic temperatures in the range 515 to 580 °C, and pressures ranging from 5 to 8 kbar. Garnet-hornblende-magnetite thermobarometry and fluid inclusion studies indicate that the iron skarns formed at slightly lower temperatures, ranging from 400 to 500 °C in the presence of saline fluids at formational pressures similar to those experienced by the basement amphibolites. Late Paleozoic minimum uplift rates and geothermal gradients calculated using these data and the presence of Ladinien ichnofossils are on the order of 0.32 mm/year and 20 °C/km respectively. These uplift rates and geothermal gradients differ from those obtained from the neighbouring Aiguilles Rouges massif and indicate that these two massifs experienced different metamorphic conditions during the Carboniferous and Permian periods. During the early to late Carboniferous period the relative depths of the two massifs were reversed with the Aiguilles Rouges being initially unroofed at a much greater rate than the Mont Blanc, but experiencing relatively slower uplift rates near the termination of the Variscan orogeny. Received: 23 April 1996 / Accepted: 27 August 1996     

Drivers of Change and Sustainability in Linked Social–Ecological Systems: An Analysis in the Volta River Basin of Ghana,West Africa

Understanding the nature and relative importance of various drivers of change is crucial for sustainable management of natural resources and in prioritizing management efforts, allocating limited resources, and understanding cumulative effects. For this article, we employed structured an expert judgments approach to identify, characterize, and assess the relative importance of the key biophysical and socioeconomic drivers of change within the Volta River Basin, West Africa. Precipitation variability, water availability, land use change, drought events, and population growth were perceived as most important, while biodiversity loss, social conflicts, pest and disease occurrence, urbanization, and pollution were viewed as less critical. A majority of these drivers were characterized as “slow” acting processes as compared to rapidly changing drivers. Intra- and interexpert groups agreement were found to be significant and convergent, indicating the reliability of the results. The implications of these results for sustainable water resources management and agricultural production are discussed.     

A comparison of phytoplankton assemblages and environmental relationships in three estuarine rivers of the lower Chesapeake Bay

A 16-month data set of phytoplankton assemblages and environmental parameters were studied in the lower James, York (-Pamunkey), and Rappahannock rivers using several exploratory statistical approaches. Based on species composition and river station relationships, three site groups were established and subsequently identified as predominantly tidal fresh, oligo-mesohaline, and mesohaline sites. Phytoplankton assemblages within these rivers were influenced and subsequently augmented by the onset of the spring freshet which was different in 1986 and 1987. Five temporal assemblages of phytoplankters were also identified and designated into seasonal groupings of spring 1986, summer-fall, summer-winter, fall-winter, and winter-spring 1987. Discriminant analysis (MANOVA) evaluations were made for water quality parameters to site and seasonal phytoplankton assemblages and these relationships are discussed. Moving downstream along an oligohaline-mesohaline gradient, the nitrogen and phosphorus levels decreased and the phytoplankton composition was more similar at several corresponding site locations in the different rivers than at stations relatively close to each other in the same river. Within these data sets approximately 58% of the explained variance was associated with site (spatial) effects, 30% with temporal effects, and 12% with site-temporal interactions. A transition from dominant bloom-producing freshwater diatoms to estuarine species occurs from the tidally influenced freshwater zone downstream. This change may be rapid as the decline ofSkeletonema potamos, or more gradual, as withCyclotella striata andCyclotella meneghiania. These are replaced downstream bySkeletonema costatum, Cyclotella caspia, andLeptocylindrus minimus as dominant species.     

Accumulation Rate Measurements at Taylor Dome, East Antarctica: Techniques and Strategies for Mass Balance Measurements in Polar Environments

Accumulation rate measurements on the East Antarctic plateau are challenging due to both spatial and temporal variability. Annual stratigraphy is often not reliably or consistently preserved in the firn, and so accumulation cannot be determined from snow pit stratigraphy. We present a suite of accumulation rate measurements collected over several seasons at Taylor Dome, East Antarctica. We compare net accumulation results from direct burial rate measurements and β -activity firn cores along a 35 km traverse. The two methods are consistent and show that the net accumulation varies from greater than 10 cm a⁻¹ to about 1 cm a⁻¹ (ice equivalent) southwest to northeast across the dome. We map the depth of shallow radar layering to interpolate and extrapolate these point-location measurements and show that considerable variations occur over kilometer scales resulting from subtle surface topography. We also present accumulation rates estimated from concentration of the cosmogenic isotope ¹⁰Be and from activity profiles of ²¹⁰Pb. Finally, satellite passive microwave data are used to estimate spatially averaged accumulation rates on the regional to continental scale to provide a context for these local observations. We show that robust mass balance measurements in this environment must rely on spatial and/or temporal averaging.     

Natural responses of Neoproterozoic dynamic karst springs to rainfall events,São Miguel Watershed,Minas Gerais,Brazil

Karst aquifers consist of complex networks of conduits in which groundwater flows and recharge/discharge processes are generally more dynamic than in other types of aquifers. Due to their intrinsic heterogeneity and anisotropy, monitoring, quantifying, and analysing natural responses of karst springs is an efficient tool. Unlike Cenozoic and Mesozoic rocks, in Neoproterozoic karst systems, groundwater circulates and stores generally in dissolution features known as tertiary porosity, as the rock's primary porosity is recrystallized, considered negligible. This article studies the hydrodynamics of a karst portion of the São Miguel River basin, southwest of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The region is predominantly composed of Neoproterozoic carbonate rocks, dating from about 570 to 540 million years ago. During a hydrological year (2019–2020), three karst springs (S1, S2, and S3) were daily monitored through their natural responses (variations of electrical conductivity, EC, temperature, T, and discharge, Q) to rainfall episodes. The data were interpreted based on the analysis of spring hydrographs, time series, recession curves (seasonal and intra-annual), and statistics of EC, T, and Q variations. The results show the three springs generally exhibit quick flow, typically karstic, in the case of hydrosystems with a well-structured and functional underground drainage network. The time series indicate the hydrosystem drained by S1 presents slower circulation and a lower degree of linearity, resulting from the higher sinuosity of the system, while the hydrosystems of S2 and S3 have similar behaviours, of quick water circulations immediately after a rainy episode. The degrees of karstification classify S1 and S2 as complex and extensive karst systems consisting of several subsystems, and S3 as a system in which the conduit network is more developed at the upper epiphreatic zone than near the outlet.