Air–Sea \mathrm{CO}_{2} Gas Transfer Velocity in a Shallow Estuary

The air–sea transfer velocity of $\mathrm{CO}_{2}\, (k_{\mathrm{CO}_{2}})$ was investigated in a shallow estuary in March to July 2012, using eddy-covariance measurements of $\mathrm{CO}_{2}$ fluxes and measured air–sea $\mathrm{CO}_{2}$ partial-pressure differences. A data evaluation method that eliminates data by nine rejection criteria in order to heighten parametrization certainty is proposed. We tested the data evaluation method by comparing two datasets: one derived using quality criteria related solely to the eddy-covariance method, and the other derived using quality criteria based on both eddy-covariance and cospectral peak methods. The best parametrization of transfer velocity normalized to a Schmidt number of 600 $(k_{600})$ was determined to be: $k_{600} = 0.3\,{U_{10}}^{2.5}$ where $U_{10}$ is the wind speed in m $\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ at 10 m; $k_{600}$ is based on $\mathrm{CO}_{2}$ fluxes calculated by the eddy-covariance method and including the cospectral peak method criteria. At low wind speeds, the transfer velocity in the shallow water estuary was lower than in other coastal waters, possibly a symptom of low tidal amplitude leading to low intensity water turbulence. High transfer velocities were recorded above wind speeds of 5 m $\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ , believed to be caused by early-breaking waves and the large fetch (6.5 km) of the estuary. These findings indicate that turbulence in both air and water influences the transfer velocity.     

Eurekadumpite, (Cu,Zn)16(TeO3)2(AsO4)3Cl(OH)18·7H2O, a new supergene mineral species

A new mineral eurekadumpite found at the Centennial Eureka Mine in the Tintic district of Juab County in Utah in the United States occurs in the oxidation zone along with quartz, macalpineite, malachite, Zn-bearing olivenite, goethite, and Mn oxides. Eurekadumpite forms spherulites or rosettes up to 1 mm in size and their clusters and crusts up to 1.5 cm² in cavities. Its individuals are divergent and extremely thin (up to 0.5 mm across and less than 1 μm thick) hexagonal or roundish leaflets. The mineral is deep blue-green or turquoise-colored. Its streaks are light turquoise-colored. Its luster is satiny in aggregates and pearly on individual flakes. Its cleavage is (010) perfect and micalike. Its flakes are flexible but inelastic. Its Mohs hardness is 2.5–3.0, and D(meas) = 3.76(2) and D(calc) = 3.826 g/cm³. The mineral is optically biaxial negative, and α = 1.69(1), β ∼ γ = 1.775(5), and 2V _meas = 10(5)°. Its pleochroism is strong: Y = Z = deep blue-green, and X = light turquoise-colored. Its orientation is X = b. The wavenumbers of the bands in the IR spectrum (cm⁻¹; the strong lines are underlined, and w denotes the weak bands) are 3400, 2990, 1980w, 1628, 1373w, 1077, 1010, 860, 825, 803, 721w, 668, 622, 528, 461. The IR spectrum shows the occurrence of the tellurite (Te⁴⁺,O₃)²⁻ and arsenate (As⁵⁺,O₄)³⁻ anionic groups and H₂O molecules; Cu and Zn cations are combined with OH⁻ groups. The chemical composition of eurekadumpite is as follows (wt %, average of 14 electron-microprobe analyses; H₂O determined using the Alimarin method): 0.04 FeO, 36.07 CuO, 20.92 ZnO, 14.02 TeO₂, 14.97 As₂O₅, 1.45 Cl, 13.1 H₂O, O = Cl₂ −0.33, total 100.24. The empirical formula based on 2 Te atoms is (Cu_10.32Zn_5.85Fe_0.01)_Σ16.18(TeO₃)₂(AsO₄)_2.97[Cl_0.93(OH)_0.07]_Σ1(OH)_18.45 · 7.29H₂O. The idealized formula is (Cu,Zn)₁₆(TeO₃)₂(AsO₄)₃Cl(OH)₁₈ · 7H₂O. Eurekadumpite is monoclinic (pseudohexagonal), and the most probable space groups are P2/m, P2, or Pm. The unit-cell parameters refined from the powder X-ray data are as follows: a = 8.28(3), b = 18.97(2), c = 7.38(2) ?, β = 121.3(6)°, V = 990(6) ?³, and Z = 1. The strongest reflections of the X-ray powder pattern (d, ? (I) [hkl]) are as follows: 18.92(100) [010], 9.45(19) [020], 4.111(13) [[`2]\bar 2 01], 3.777(24) [050, [`2]\bar 2 21, 041], 2.692(15) [[`3]\bar 3 11, 151, [`3]\bar 3 02], 2.524(41)[170, [`2]\bar 2 52, [`1]\bar 1 71], 1.558(22) [[`4]\bar 4 82, [`3]\bar 3 .10.1, 024]. The name of the mineral means, firstly, that it was found in specimens from dumps of the Centennial Eureka Mine. In addition, it could mean found in a dump (the Greek word eureka means I have found it). There is an allusion to the great role that dumps of abandoned mines have played in the discovery of new minerals. Type specimens are deposited at the Fersman Mineralogical Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, and at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.     

Detection of Cyclic Patterns Using Wavelets: An Example Study in the Ormskirk Sandstone, Irish Sea

This study shows how wavelet analysis can be used on well log and drill core data to identify cyclicity in sedimentary sequences. Three possible methods for determining wavelength were investigated: the Morlet wavelet, the Fourier transform, and the semivariogram. When applied to several hypothetical signals similar to those observed in petrophysical measurements in hydrocarbon reservoirs, all three methods could identify the presence of cyclicity. Only the wavelet scalogram, however, gave a clear indication of when the cyclic element was present and where frequency changes occurred in the signal. To illustrate the wavelet analysis, we processed well log and core data from a well in the Ormskirk Sandstone and determined the wavelet coefficients for each zone and the wavelengths of the strongest cyclicities. The cyclicities observed corresponded well with sedimentary features of the formation (e.g., channels and channel sets). Also, ratios of the cyclicity wavelengths corresponded with ratios of the Milankovitch precession, obliquity, and eccentricity periods. This result is in agreement with other investigators, who have proposed that Milankovitch-driven climate changes exercised an important control on Ormskirk Sandstone deposition.     

Lateral coherence in isotropic turbulence and in the natural wind

A short review of experimental findings is given, followed by a theoretical derivation, based on Taylor's hypothesis, of formulas for lateral coherences. It is assumed that the flow is stationary and homogeneous. Explicit formulas are derived assuming an energy spectrum pertaining to the inertial subrange. Even when the last assumption is not fulfilled, there are only four different types of non-zero velocity coherences. These four coherences correspond to the combinations uu, vv, ww, and uv, where u, v, and w are the longitudinal, the transversal, and the vertical component of the turbulent velocity with respect to the direction of the horizontal mean wind velocity U. In the case of small displacements relative to the scale of turbulence, the coherences are shown to be universal functions of the non-dimensional frequency nD/¦U¦, where n is the frequency and D the lateral displacement. It is shown that these theoretical formulas for spectral coherences are in good agreement with atmospheric data. Finally, the role of the scale of the turbulence is discussed.     

Groundwater recharge and evapotranspiration for two natural ecosystems covered with oak and heather

The evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge from two natural areas with high (oak) and low (heath) vegetation were estimated by calibrating a semi-physical numerical soil water and heat model to fit 8 and 7 years of TDR-measurements of water content, respectively. The measurements were made between the surface and 7 m depth. For the oak stand, the estimated annual recharge for the years 1992–1999 is 390 mm, the evaporation from soil and interception is 205 mm, and the transpiration is 285 mm. For the heath area estimation was carried out for the years 1993–1999. However, the heath was struck by a heavy beetle attack in 1994, which strongly affected the vegetation and thus the water balance for the following 3 years. For years not affected, the estimated recharge is 733 mm (about 50% larger than for the oak stand for the same years), the evaporation is 316 mm, and the transpiration is 128 mm. The estimated recharge values compare fairly well to estimates obtained from bromide tracer experiments. However, the recharge estimates obtained from the tracer experiments are very uncertain. The uncertainty is mainly due to spatial heterogeneity making the three replicate samples taken here for each time and depth insufficient.

The analyses of TDR-measurements and tracer data showed that water front movement depends on the antecedent soil water content. Some layers are bypassed, especially at low water contents, and at high soil water contents preferential flow was observed at the heath site.     

A synoptic parameterization of the drag coefficient

Abstract

The problem areas affecting the evaluation of hail suppression experiments are reviewed. These include the hail sensors and networks, trop damage data, statistical analysis, the hail‐suppression hypothesis, and the technology of cloud seeding. General directions of needed research are proposed.     

CO2 emission accompanying the fracture of calcite

Time resolved mass spectroscopy of the emissions accompanying the fracture of calcite (rhombohedral CaCO₃) show that the principle volatile product, CO₂, is released in bursts milliseconds after the fracture event. Similar measurements during the abrasion of calcite and during low temperature thermal decomposition of pulverized calcite show similar CO₂ bursts. We argue that the observed bursts reflect localized decomposition of the calcite during the relaxation of reversible plastic deformation created by fracture and abrasion. This implies that mechanical, non-thermal processes play an important role in producing the observed decomposition products.     

Multisite campaign on the open cluster M67 – I. Observations and photometric reductions

We report on an ambitious multisite campaign aimed at detecting stellar variability, particularly solar-like oscillations, in the red giant stars in the open cluster M67 (NGC 2682). During the six-week observing run, which comprised 164 telescope nights, we used nine 0.6-m to 2.1-m class telescopes located around the world to obtain uninterrupted time series photometry. We outline here the data acquisition and reduction, with emphasis on the optimization of the signal-to-noise ratio of the low-amplitude (50–500 μmag) solar-like oscillations. This includes a new and efficient method for obtaining the linearity profile of the CCD response at ultrahigh precision (∼10 parts per million). The noise in the final time series is 0.50 mmag per minute integration for the best site, while the noise in the Fourier spectrum of all sites combined is 20 μmag. In addition to the red giant stars, this data set proves to be very valuable for studying high-amplitude variable stars such as eclipsing binaries, W UMa systems and δ Scuti stars.