Determination of arsenic concentration and distribution in the Floridan Aquifer System

Here we report on the different sampling strategies for almost seven years of sampling rocks/sediments for the determination of As within the Intermediate Aquifer System (IAS) and upper Floridan Aquifer System (FAS), a very large and productive limestone aquifer spanning from Georgia into Florida. In the FAS, As contamination has become a recurring problem during aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), particularly in central and south Florida.To investigate these phenomena, samples from solid drill cores and rock cuttings were collected from the Hawthorn Group, Suwannee Limestone, Ocala Limestone and Avon Park Formation. Samples were taken along drill cores and rock cuttings (referred to as ‘interval’ samples) or from particular drill core sections and rock cuttings (referred to as ‘targeted’ samples) likely to contain elevated concentrations of As as indicated by the presence of pyrite, hydrous ferric oxide, organic matter, clay minerals, fracture surfaces, and high permeable (moldic) zones.Arsenic was present in all of the stratigraphic units at low concentrations, close to the global average for As in limestone of 2.6 mg/kg. The highest As concentration was 69 mg/kg. In all units, however, the average bulk As concentration in the targeted samples was substantially higher than that in the interval samples. Based on direct spot measurements by electron microprobe and indirect calculations, pyrite was identified as the main source of As in the FAS. Concentrations in pyrite ranged from less than 100 mg/kg to more than 11,000 mg/kg. Because pyrite is heterogeneously distributed, both vertically and horizontally in the sampled stratigraphic units, the same was observed for the distribution of As. However, As concentrations generally decreased with depth, i.e., highest As values in the Hawthorn Group and lowest As values in the Ocala Limestone and Avon Park Formation. Compared to pyrite, other trace minerals contained much less As.The average As concentrations of the two types of sample media (solid cores and rock cuttings) were quite similar. These results indicate that if simply the average bulk rock As concentration of a geologic unit is the desired outcome of an investigation, either interval or targeted sampling of rock cuttings, seems to be sufficient. This is particularly important when time and money are a factor. This approach could work equally well for any other trace element. Structural sedimentary information, such as fractures, etc., is likely lost, however, when sampling rock cuttings. Thus, if this information is required, solid core samples need to be collected by hollow core diamond drilling.     

Detection of a variable interstellar absorption component towards δ Orionis A

Observations of δ Ori A made with the UHRF in its highest resolution mode ( R ≈900 000) have revealed the presence of a cool ( T _k350 K) variable absorption component at a heliocentric velocity of +21.3 km s⁻¹. The component is detected in Na  i D₁, where clear hyperfine splitting is seen, and Ca  ii K. Comparison of our data with existing spectra suggests that the component has consistently increased in strength from 1966 to 1994, and subsequently reduced in intensity by 1999. Following a discussion of the possible origins of this component it is concluded that an interstellar, rather than circumstellar, origin is most likely. This is one of very few detections of variable interstellar absorption reported in the literature, and we suggest an origin within filamentary material associated with the expanding H  i shell surrounding the Orion–Eridanus superbubble.     

Oceanography and marine biology, 10: Harold Barnes (editor). George Allen and Unwin,London, 1972, 565 pp., £10.50

A bathymetric survey of the Gilliss Seamount, in the northwest Atlantic Basin, using a multi-beam sonar array system reveals an extremely complex morphologic character of this feature. A new chart provides the most detailed topographic presentation of an Atlantic seamount published to date and highlights the similarity of the Gilliss Seamount with terrestrial strata-volcanoes. Bottom photographs and samples reveal pillow-Iava formation. Seismic profiles show that the volcanic basement is irregularly covered by acoustically transparent deposits that are as much as 668 m thick. Volcanic debris and sediments locally are displaced down the flanks of the seamount. Bottom photographs and cores indicate that the transparent layer has accumulated slowly by deposition from suspensate-rich (mostly clay and planktonic foraminifera) water masses that flow around the mid to lower sectors of this submarine volcano. Bottom-current activity also modifies the abyssal plain turbidite-hemipelagic sequence surrounding the seamount.     

The two micron all sky survey

This paper describes the design, expectations, and prototyping of a new allsky survey, called 2MASS (Two Micron All Sky Survey) to be carried out with the new generation of infrared array detectors.     

Electron-Positron Plasmas Created by Ultra-Intense Laser Pulses Interacting with Solid Targets

We discuss the necessary requirements to create dense electron-positron plasmas in the laboratory and the possibility of using them to investigate certain aspects of various astrophysical phenomena, such as gamma ray burst engines. Earth-based electron-positron plasmas are created during the interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses impinging on a solid density target. The fact that positrons can be generated during this interaction has already been demonstrated by Cowan et al. (2000). However, several questions concerning the number, energy, and dynamics of these positrons have yet to be answered. Through insight gathered from PIC simulations, we postulate that the e⁺e⁻ plasma leaves the creation region in dense jets, with relativistic energies. In order to estimate the number density of the positrons created, we begin by first experimentally measuring the hot electron temperatures and densities of such interactions using a compact electron spectrometer. Once the electron distribution is known, the positron creation rate, Γ, can be estimated. This same experimental diagnostic can also, with minor modification, measure the energy distribution of positrons. Initial estimates are that, with proper target and laser configurations, we could potentially create one of the densest arraignments of positrons ever assembled on earth. This experimental configuration would only last for a few femtoseconds, but would eventually evolve into astrophysically relevant pure electron-positron jets, possibly relevant to e⁺e⁻ outflow from black holes.     

Great Microwave Bursts and hard X-rays from solar flares

The microwave and hard X-ray characteristics of 13 solar flares that produced microwave fluxes greater than 500 solar flux units have been analyzed. These Great Microwave Bursts were observed in the frequency range from 3 to 35 GHz at Bern, and simultaneous hard X-ray observations were made in the energy range from 30 to 500 keV with the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission spacecraft. The principal aim of this analysis is to determine whether or not the same distribution of energetic electrons can explain both emissions. The temporal and spectral behaviors of the microwaves as a function of frequency and the X-rays as a function of energy were tested for correlations, with results suggesting that optically thick microwave emission, at a frequency near the peak frequency, originates in the same electron population that produces the hard X-rays. The microwave emission at lower frequencies, however, is poorly correlated with emission at the frequency which appears to characterize this common source. A single-temperature and a multitemperature model were tested for consistency with the coincident X-ray and microwave spectra at microwave burst maximum. Four events are inconsistent with both of the models tested, and neither of the models attempts to explain the high-frequency part of the microwave spectrum. A source area derived on the basis of the single-temperature model agrees to within the uncertainties with the observed area of the one burst for which spatially resolved X-ray images are available.Swiss National Science Foundation Fellow from the University of Bern.Also Energy/Environmental Research Group, Incorporated, Tucson, Arizona, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Present address: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland.