Ice-core records of global climate and environment changes

Precipitation accumulating on the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets records several key parameters (temperature, accumulation, composition of atmospheric gases and aerosols) of primary interest for documenting the past global environment over recent climatic cycles and the chemistry of the preindustrial atmosphere. Several deep ice cores from Antarctica and Greenland have been studied over the last fifteen years. In both hemispheres, temperature records (based on stable isotope measurements in water) show the succession of glacial and interglacial periods. However, detailed features of the climatic stages are not identical in Antarctica and in Greenland. A tight link between global climate and greenhouse gas concentrations was discovered, CO₂ and CH₄ concentrations being lower in glacial conditions by about 80 and 0.3 ppmv, respectively, with respect to their pre-industrial levels of 280 and 0.65 ppmv. Coldest stages are also characterized by higher sea-salt and crustal aerosol concentrations. In Greenland, contrary to Antarctica, ice-age ice is alkaline. Gas-derived aerosol (in particular, sulfate) concentrations are generally higher for glacial periods, but not similar in both the hemispheres. Marine and continental biomass-related species are significant in Antarctica and Greenland ice, respectively. Finally, the growing impact of anthropogenic activities on the atmospheric composition is well recorded in both polar regions for long-lived compounds (in particular greenhouse gases), but mostly in Greenland for short-lived pollutants.     

A Coupled Riverine-Marine Fractionation Model for Dissolved Rare Earths and Yttrium

Fractionation of yttrium (Y) and the rare earth elements (REEs) begins in riverine systems and continues in estuaries and the ocean. Models of yttrium and rare earth (YREE) distributions in seawater must therefore consider the fractionation of these elements in both marine and riverine systems. In this work we develop a coupled riverine/marine fractionation model for dissolved rare earths and yttrium, and apply this model to calculations of marine YREE fractionation for a simple two-box (riverine/marine) geochemical system. Shale-normalized YREE concentrations in seawater can be expressed in terms of fractionation factors ( _ij ) appropriate to riverine environments ( ) and seawater ( ):

Depth of the base of the Jackson aquifer, based on geophysical exploration, southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA

 A geophysical survey was conducted to determine the depth of the base of the water-table aquifer in the southern part of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA. Audio-magnetotellurics (AMT) measurements at 77 sites in the study area yielded electrical-resistivity logs of the subsurface, and these were used to infer lithologic changes with depth. A 100–600 ohm-m geoelectric layer, designated the Jackson aquifer, was used to represent surficial saturated, unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age. The median depth of the base of the Jackson aquifer is estimated to be 200 ft (61 m), based on 62 sites that had sufficient resistivity data. AMT-measured values were kriged to predict the depth to the base of the aquifer throughout the southern part of Jackson Hole. Contour maps of the kriging predictions indicate that the depth of the base of the Jackson aquifer is shallow in the central part of the study area near the East and West Gros Ventre Buttes, deeper in the west near the Teton fault system, and shallow at the southern edge of Jackson Hole. Predicted, contoured depths range from 100 ft (30 m) in the south, near the confluences of Spring Creek and Flat Creek with the Snake River, to 700 ft (210 m) in the west, near the town of Wilson, Wyoming. Received, May 1997 · Revised, February 1998 · Accepted, April 1998     

Observations of the SW Sextantis star UU Aquarii

We present 14 nights of medium resolution (1–2 Å) spectroscopy of the eclipsing cataclysmic variable UU Aquarii obtained during a high accretion state in 1995 August–October. UU Aqr appears to be an SW Sextantis (SW Sex) star, as noted by Baptista, Steiner & Horne, and we discuss its spectroscopic behaviour in the context of the SW Sex phenomenon. Emission-line equivalent width curves, Doppler tomography, and line profile simulation provide evidence for the presence of a bright spot at the impact site of the accretion stream with the edge of the disc, and a non-axisymmetric, vertically and azimuthally extended absorbing structure in the disc. The absorption has maximum depth in the emission lines around orbital phase 0.8, but is present from φ≈0.4 to φ≈0.95. An origin is explored for this absorbing structure (as well as for the other spectroscopic behaviour of UU Aqr) in terms of the explosive impact of the accretion stream with the disc.     

The compositions of coexisting pyroxenes and garnet in the system CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 at 900°–1,100°C and high pressures

The compositions of coexisting orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and garnet in the CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ system are fixed at any givenP andT. Reversed hydrothermal experiments over theP/T range 15–40 kb/900°–l,100° C indicate that the garnet composition is nearly constant at Py₈₆Gr₁₄; the Alcontent and Ca/Ca+Mg values of the pyroxenes vary significantly, however:

Seawater sulfate reduction and sulfur isotope fractionation in basaltic systems: Interaction of seawater with fayalite and magnetite at 200–350°C

Sulfate reduction during seawater reaction with fayalite and with magnetite was rapid at 350°C, producing equilibrium assemblages of talc-pyrite-hematite-magnetite at low water/rock ratios and talc-pyrite-hematite-anhydrite at higher water/rock ratios. At 250°C, seawater reacting with fayalite produced detectable amounts of dissolved H₂S, but extent of reaction of solid phases was minor after 150 days. At 200°C, dissolved H₂S was not detected, even after 219 days, but mass balance calculations suggest a small amount of pyrite may have formed. Reaction stoichiometry indicates that sulfate reduction requires large amounts of H⁺, which, in subseafloor hydrothermal systems is provided by Mg metasomatism. Seawater contains sufficient Mg to supply all the H⁺ necessary for quantitative reduction of seawater sulfate.Systematics of sulfur isotopes in the 250 and 350°C experiments indicate that isotopic equilibrium is reached, and can be modeled as a Rayleigh distillation process. Isotopic composition of hydrothermally produced H₂S in natural systems is strongly dependent upon the seawater/basalt ratio in the geothermal system, which controls the relative sulfide contributions from the two important sulfur sources, seawater sulfate and sulfide phases in basalt. Anhydrite precipitation during geothermal heating severely limits sulfate ingress into high temperature interaction zones. Quantitative sulfate reduction can thus be accomplished without producing strongly oxidized rocks and resultant sulfide sulfur isotope values represent a mixture of seawater and basaltic sulfur.     

Geothermal resource assessment of the United States

Geothermal resource assessment is the broadly based appraisal of the quantities of heat that might be extracted from the earth and used economically at some reasonable future time. In the United States, the Geological Survey is responsible for preparing geothermal assessments based on the best available data and interpretations. Updates are required every few years owing to increasing knowledge, enlarging data base, improving technology, and changing economics. Because geothermal understanding is incomplete and rapidly evolving, the USGS complements its assessments with a broad program of geothermal research that includes (1) study of geothermal processes on crustal and local scales, (2) regional evaluations, (3) intensive study of type systems before and during exploitation (4) improvement of exploration techniques, and (5) investigation of geoenvironmental constraints.     

Relationship of atmospheric ozone profiles to solar magnetic activity

The observed relationship between atmospheric vorticity variations and solar magnetic sector boundary passages is examined for a possible connection via ionization changes affecting ozone distributions. A superposed epoch analysis was performed on Umkehr distributions for 18 years from Arosa, Switzerland, with use of more than 500 solar sector boundary passages as keyday zero. No significant responses are observed in any Umkehr level or in total observed ozone amounts. Further analyses on shorter records for Belsk, Poland, and Hohenpeissenberg, West Germany, corroborate these results. Another analysis for Arosa with about 100 type IV solar flares as keyday zero also shows no definitive trend. It is concluded that ozone distribution changes cannot be the primary causative mechanism for vorticity variations.Journal Paper No. J-8838 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project No. 1852.