53Mn and 60Fe in iron meteorites—New data,model calculations

We measured specific activities of the long‐lived cosmogenic radionuclides ⁶⁰Fe in 28 iron meteorites and ⁵³Mn in 41 iron meteorites. Accelerator mass spectrometry was applied at the 14 MV Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility at ANU Canberra for all samples except for two which were measured at the Maier‐Leibnitz Laboratory, Munich. For the large iron meteorite Twannberg (IIG), we measured six samples for ⁵³Mn. This work doubles the number of existing individual ⁶⁰Fe data and quadruples the number of iron meteorites studied for ⁶⁰Fe. We also significantly extended the entire ⁵³Mn database for iron meteorites. The ⁵³Mn data for the iron meteorite Twannberg vary by more than a factor of 30, indicating a significant shielding dependency. In addition, we performed new model calculations for the production of ⁶⁰Fe and ⁵³Mn in iron meteorites. While the new model is based on the same particle spectra as the earlier model, we no longer use experimental cross sections but instead use cross sections that were calculated using the latest version of the nuclear model code INCL. The new model predictions differ substantially from results obtained with the previous model. Predictions for the ⁶⁰Fe activity concentrations are about a factor of 2 higher, for ⁵³Mn, they are ~30% lower, compared to the earlier model, which gives now a better agreement with the experimental data.     

EFFECT OF RIVERBED WIDTH ON SEDIMENT TRANSPORT 1

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Primary productivity in the German Bight (1994–1996)

Within the KUSTOS program (Coastal Mass and Energy Fluxes-the Land-Sea Transition in the Southeastern North Sea) 28 to 36 German Bight stations were seasonally surveyed (summer 1994, spring 1995, winter 1995–1996) for light conditions, dissolved inorganic nutrient concentrations, chlorophylla (chla), and photosynthesis versus light intensity (P:E) parameters. Combining P:E curve characteristics with irradiance, attenuation, and chlorophyll data resulted in seasonal estimates of the spatial distribution of total primary production. These data were used for an annual estimate of the total primary production in the Bight. In winter 1996 the water throughout the German Bight was well mixed. Dissolved inorganic nutrient concentrations were relatively high (nitrogen [DIN], soluble reactive phosphorus [SRP], and silicate [Si]: 23, 1, and 10 μM, respectively). Chla levels generally were low (< 2 μg l⁻¹) with higher concentrations (4–16 μg l⁻¹) in North Frisian coastal waters. Phytoplankton was limited by light. Total primary production averaged 0.2 g C m⁻² d⁻¹. Two surveys in April and May 1995 captured the buildup of a strong seasonal thermo-cline accompained by the development of a typical spring diatom bloom. High nutrient levels in the mixed layer during the first survey (DIN, SRP, and Si: 46, 0.45, and 11 μM, respectively) decreased towards the second survey (DIN, SRP, and Si: 30.5, 0.12, and 1.5 μM, respectively) and average nutrient ratios shifted further towards highly imbalanced values (DIN:SRP: 136 in survey 1, 580 in survey 2; DIN:Si: 13.5 in survey 1, 96 in survey 2). Chla ranged from 2 to 16 μg l⁻¹ for the first survey and rose to 12–50 μg l⁻¹ in the second survey. Phytoplankton in nearshore areas continued to be light limited during the second survey, while data from the stratified regions in the open German Bight indicates SRP and Si limitation. Total primary production ranged from 4.0 to 6.3 g C m⁻² d⁻¹. During summer 1994 a strong thermal stratification was present in the German Bight proper and shallow coastal areas showed unusually warm (up to 22°C), mixed waters. Chla concentrations ranged from 2 to 18 μg l⁻¹. P:E characteristics were relatively high despite the low nutrient regime (DIN, SRP, and Si: 2, 0.2, and 1.5 μM, respectively), resulting in overall high total primary production values with an average of 7.7 g C m⁻² d⁻¹. Based on the seasonal primary production estimates of the described surveys a budget calculation yielded a total annual production of 430 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ for the German Bight.     

EUREC<Superscript>4</Superscript>A: A Field Campaign to Elucidate the Couplings Between Clouds,Convection and Circulation

Trade-wind cumuli constitute the cloud type with the highest frequency of occurrence on Earth, and it has been shown that their sensitivity to changing environmental conditions will critically influence the magnitude and pace of future global warming. Research over the last decade has pointed out the importance of the interplay between clouds, convection and circulation in controling this sensitivity. Numerical models represent this interplay in diverse ways, which translates into different responses of trade-cumuli to climate perturbations. Climate models predict that the area covered by shallow cumuli at cloud base is very sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, while process models suggest the opposite. To understand and resolve this contradiction, we propose to organize a field campaign aimed at quantifying the physical properties of trade-cumuli (e.g., cloud fraction and water content) as a function of the large-scale environment. Beyond a better understanding of clouds-circulation coupling processes, the campaign will provide a reference data set that may be used as a benchmark for advancing the modelling and the satellite remote sensing of clouds and circulation. It will also be an opportunity for complementary investigations such as evaluating model convective parameterizations or studying the role of ocean mesoscale eddies in air–sea interactions and convective organization.     

Sea surface winds derived from cloud motion vectors over the tropical Atlantic

The relationship between satellite-derived low-level cloud motion, surface wind and geostrophic wind vectors is examined using GATE data. In the trades, surface wind speeds can be derived from cloud motion vectors by the linear relation: V = 0.62 V _s + 1.9 m s^–1 with a mean scatter of ±1.3 m s^–1. The correlation coefficient between surface and satellite wind speed is 0.25. Considering baroclinicity, i.e., the influence of the thermal wind, the correlation coefficient does not increase, because of the uncertainty of the thermal wind vectors. The ratios of surface to geostrophic wind speed and surface to satellite wind speed are 0.7 and 0.8, respectively, with a statistical uncertainty of ±0.3. Calculations of the ratio of surface to geostrophic wind speed on the basis of the resistance law yield V/V _g = 0.8 ± 0.2, in agreement with experimental results. The mean angle difference between the surface and the satellite wind vectors amounts to - 18 °, taking into account baroclinicity. This value is in good agreement with the mean ageostrophic angle - 25 °.     

Henry's law constant and hydrolysis of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN)

The effect of temperature on the solubility of PAN and on its hydrolysis rate in near-neutral and slightly acidic water were studied in a bubble column apparatus. The results obtained are a Henry's law coefficient H=10^–9.04±0.6 exp[(6513±376)/T] M atm^–1, and a first-order hydrolysis rate constant k=10^6.60±1.0 exp[(–6612±662)/T] s^-1, which was independent of pH in the range 3.2pH6.7. The products formed are nitrite and nitrate in approximately equal proportions under near-neutral conditions. At a pH<4, nitrite is oxidized in a secondary reaction, and nitrate becomes the only product at low pH. Previously measured deposition velocities of PAN on stagnant water surfaces are shown to be hydrolysis rate limited.     

Time constraints for low-angle shear zones in the Central Rhodopes (Bulgaria) and their significance for the exhumation of high-pressure rocks

In the Central Rhodopes of southern Bulgaria, an eclogite-bearing rock sheet belonging to the Middle Allochthon (Starcevo Unit) is over- and underlain by eclogite-free, amphibolite-facies rock units along low-angle shear zones, the Borovica Shear Zone at the top and the Starcevo-Ardino Shear Zone at the base. The age of these shear zones is determined by U–Pb zircon dating of pre-, syn- and posttectonic magmatic rocks, mostly pegmatite veins, using LA–SF–ICP–MS. Zircons from pre- to syntectonic pegmatites within the Borovica Shear Zone yielded ages of ca. 45–43?Ma, indicating that the shear zone was active at that time, and zircons from a pretectonic pegmatite and a posttectonic granitoid body within the Starcevo-Ardino Shear Zone yielded ages of ca. 45 and ca. 36?Ma, respectively, giving a time frame for the activity of that shear zone which probably rather postdated the activity of the Borovica Shear Zone. By combining the ages with the kinematics of the shear zones and the metamorphic history of the rock units, the following scenario is sketched: Soon after the Starcevo Unit reached peak pressure (eclogite facies), it was exhumed to a mid-crustal level by top-to-the-north-west, extensional unroofing along the Borovica Shear Zone, in a kinematic framework of orogen-parallel extension. Beginning at ca. 40?Ma, the partly exhumed Starcevo Unit was underthrust from the south-west by continental crust of the foreland (Apulia), forming the Lower Allochthon of the Rhodopes, along the Starcevo-Ardino Shear Zone. These results underline the significance of orogen-parallel extension for the exhumation of high-pressure rocks. With respect to regional geology of the Hellenides and the Aegean, it is found that the tectonic architecture of the Rhodopes is essentially of Tertiary age. Cretaceous syn-metamorphic shear zones do exist but are largely restricted to higher levels of the nappe stack (Upper Allochthon). The Rhodopes do not represent an older essentially Mesozoic core of the Hellenides but are formed by the internal, higher-metamorphic portions of the same major nappe systems as occur in the Hellenides.     

GGR Biennial Critical Review: Analytical Developments Since 2012

Advances in the chemical, crystallographic and isotopic characterisation of geological and environmental materials can often be ascribed to technological improvements in analytical hardware or to innovative approaches to data acquisition and/or its interpretation. This biennial review addresses key laboratory methods that form much of the foundation for analytical geochemistry; again, this contribution is presented as a compendium of laboratory techniques. We highlight advances that have appeared since January 2012 and that are of particular significance for the chemical and isotopic characterisation of geomaterials. Prominent scientists from the selected analytical fields present publications they judge to be particular noteworthy, providing background information about the method and assessing where further opportunities might be anticipated. In addition to the well‐established technologies such as thermal ionisation mass spectrometry and plasma emission spectroscopy, this publication also presents new or rapidly growing methods such as electron backscattered diffraction analysis and atom probe tomography – a very sensitive method providing atomic scale information.     

Microphysical and chemical characteristics of cloud droplet residuals and interstitial particles in continental stratocumulus clouds

During June and July 2003 the Sources and Origins of Atmospheric Cloud Droplets experiment (SOACED) was carried out on a mountain-top site in central Sweden. The main objective of the experiment was to characterise the microphysical and chemical properties of cloud droplet residuals and interstitial aerosol particles in continental clouds and to understand the processes controlling cloud properties at this location.Interstitial and residual aerosol size distributions, cloud liquid water content and species- and size-resolved aerosol mass concentrations are the main variables employed to address questions pertaining to the cloud droplet number concentration and scavenging efficiency during a stratocumulus cloud event observed on July 28, 2003. In this cloud event, about 56% of the aerosol mass was associated with organic species, whilst SO₄ accounted for 23% and NH₄ for 14%. NO₃ and Cl made up about 7% of the total mass.The partitioning of the aerosol particles between cloud droplets and interstitial air has been studied in terms of their microphysical properties. The scavenging efficiency, defined as the fraction of particles activated into cloud elements compared to the total amount of particles, was investigated as a function of size. The scavenging efficiency curves displayed different shapes during the cloud event, from an S-shaped curve, with low scavenging efficiency in the Aitken mode and larger scavenging efficiency in the accumulation mode, to more unusual shapes where Aitken-mode particles were either solely activated or activated in addition to accumulation-mode particles.This study suggests that alterations of the aerosol chemical composition occurred during the measurement period, changing the hygroscopic nature of the CCN and decreasing their activation diameter. It is also hypothesized that entrainment of drier air aloft may have introduced inhomogeneities in the supersaturation field and modified the S-shaped scavenging curves.     

Free convection scaling over the ocean derived from buoy measurements during gate

The structure of atmospheric turbulence in the surface layer over the open ocean is examined under conditions of local free convection. The raw data consist of profile and fluctuation measurements of wind and temperature as obtained from a meteorological buoy. For near neutral conditions and for waves running approximately along the wind direction, wave-induced wind fluctuations can be described by a simplified linear theory based on Miles (1957). In this case, the spectrum of wind velocity is given as the sum of two parts; for the turbulent part, the parameterization as obtained by Kaimal et al. (1972) applies, while the wave-induced part is parameterized using a simplification of Miles' linear theory. For cases of local free convection, the measurements of the vertical component of the wind velocity are well described by similarity theory; as expected, _w /(-uw)^1/2 is proportional to (- z/L)^1/3. In order to scale the longitudinal wind velocity component, it seems to be reasonable to extend the list of relevant parameters by the height of the mixed layer z _i. We obtain _u /(- uw)^1/2 (z/z _i)^1/3(- z/L)^1/3 with only a poor correlation coefficient of r = 0.6. Overall, the results of local free convection scaling obtained from direct measurements show good agreement with those obtained from profile measurements. A comparison between direct and indirect determination of turbulent fluxes of momentum shows an unexplained difference of about 20%. This discrepancy is mainly due to a gap in the uw-cospectrum at the swell frequency.