Evidence for extensive diagenesis,Madagascar Basin,Deep Sea Drilling Site 245

Deep Sea Drilling Hole 245 (31°32′S, 52° 18′E) in the southwest Indian Ocean shows pronounced linear concentration-depth gradients in interstitial dissolved Ca, Mg and Sr. Electrical conductivity tests enable us to make the estimate of a constant diffusion coefficient with depth of about 2 × 10^?6 cm²/sec. The shapes of the concentration-depth gradients suggest that the major reaction sites in this hole are situated in the basal sediments and/or underlying basalts. It is proposed that observed interstitial water concentration changes in Ca and Mg are related to alteration of basaltic material, whereas those in Sr are due to calcium carbonate recrystallization processes. Support for the basaltic material alteration hypothesis comes from petrochemical and mineralogical data. Geochemical data also indicate that the high contents in Fe and Mn of the basal sediments can be related to low temperature alteration of basaltic glass and not necessarily to ‘hydrothermal’ activity.     

Effects of fluids on the interaction of granites with limestones: The Notch Peak stock,Utah

In this paper we consider the mechanisms by which the mineralogy and composition of the margins of the Notch Peak granitic stock, Utah, were affected by calcareous argillite country rocks. The contact zone of the granite relative to the unaffected granite is enriched in: K₂O from about 4 to 10 wt.%, Rb from 250 to 510 ppm, Sr from 150 to 790 ppm and Ba from 250 to 2160 ppm. Locally, some of the intrusive rocks at the contact are nearly devoid of quartz and can be classified as syenites. The initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios range from 0.7069 in the unaffected rocks to 0.7100 in the potassium-enriched samples, approaching the values of the calc-silicate country rocks of about 0.7110.Calculations show that the characteristics of the contact zone near the top of the stock are the result of a number of sequential processes. CO₂-rich fluids derived from the heated calcareous argillites apparently caused a shift in the phase boundaries in the magma, enhancing accumulation of K-feldspar and high-Ca augite at the expense of other phases. The accumulation resulted in the high Ba and Sr concentrations in some samples. However, the high K₂O and Rb concentrations and magmatic ¹⁸O values indicate infiltration of magmatic fluid emanating from the solidifying lower portions of the pluton subsequent to solidification of the cap. The minimum fluid-rock ratios of 4.6 by mass, calculated on the basis of K₂O and Rb concentration shifts, indicate that a substantial amount of the fluid was channeled through this contact zone. The desilication of the rocks forming the syenitic samples at the contact apparently occurred when a chemical potential gradient of silica between the granite and wall-rocks was established as quartz was consumed in the wall-rocks during calc-silicate reactions. The infiltrating magmatic fluid probably acted as a medium for transport of silica across the contact and perhaps exchange of Sr between the country rocks and the intrusion where up to 30% of strontium in the granitic and syenitic samples from the contact zone was derived from the calc-silicates. The syenitic rocks cannot be explained by desilication reactions involving assimilation of the calc-silicates by the granite magma. The results of this study show that fluids interacting with the country rocks need to be considered to explain the effects of country rocks on the composition of the margins of granitic intrusions.     

Drainage basins as process-response systems: An example from Central Macedonia,North Greece

Study of two subareas of the same large basin in North Greece determined that differences in processes and form exist between the two subareas. These differences were brought on by man's interference upon one of the subareas. In area A, seminatural vegetation promotes throughflow and protects the surface from overland flow. Hence, natural erosion takes place primarily by channel deepening and infall of side slopes into the channels. In area B, clearing of the seminatural vegetation and the improper ploughing for cultivation increases the overland flow which promotes slope erosion but the augmented debris supply has checked channel erosion. These processes change the form of the drainage basins of the area.     

Properties of the 1979 Monte Negro (southwest Yugoslavia) seismic sequence

Focal properties of the Monte Negro earthquake (15 April 1979,M=7.1) and its seismic sequence (foreshocks and aftershocks), which occurred near the southwestern coast of Yugoslavia, are investigated. Fault plane solutions of the main shock and its largest aftershock (24 May 1979,M=6.3) and the spatial distribution of the shocks of this sequence show that the seismic fault strikes about southeast-northwest (parallel to the coast) and dips northeast (towards the continent). It is a strike-slip left-lateral fault with a considerable thrust component. Its length is 95 km and its width 12 km. An aseismic belt, which separated the aftershock foci into two groups (the northwestern and southeastern), is interpreted as a section of the fault that slipped smoothly during the main shock. The aftershock foci were barriers where stress had been induced. One of these barriers broke later and produced the largest aftershock of 24 May.     

An error analysis of profile flux,stability, and roughness length measurements made in the marine atmospheric surface layer

An analytical error analysis of profile-derived fluxes of heat, moisture, and momentum, along with stability and roughness length, is performed using the accuracies of the constituent temperature, humidity, and wind speed measurements. Five experiments, representing more than two thirds of the existing marine profile data presently contained in the literature, are compared. Much of the profile data examined was used to develop the transfer coefficients presently employed by a large number of competing bulk aerodynamic flux schemes. Depending upon the experiment, typical profile-method measurement errors were found to range from 15 to 35% for a sensible heat flux of ± 10 W m^-2, from 15 to 105% for a latent heat flux of ± 100 W m^-2, from 10 to 40% for a stress of 0.05 N m^-2, from 15 to 60% for a Monin-Obukhov stability of ± 0.05, and from 25 to 100% for a roughness length of 2 × 10^-4 m. Smaller magnitude flux values were found to contain typical errors as large as 100% for sensible heat flux, 300% for latent heat flux, and 60% for stress.     

Intercomparison of Two Box Models of the Chemical Evolution in Biomass-Burning Smoke Plumes

Results from two independently developed biomass-burning smoke plume models are compared. Model results were obtained for the temporal evolution of two nascent smoke plumes originating from significantly different fire environments (an Alaskan boreal forest and an African savanna). The two smoke plume models differed by 1%–10% for [O₃], with similar differences for NO _x and formaldehyde (relative percent differences). Smaller intermodel differences were observed for the African savanna smoke plume as compared to the plume from the Alaskan boreal fire. Mechanistic differences between the models are heightened for the Alaskan smoke plume due to the higher VOC emission ratios as compared to the African savanna fire. The largest deviations result from the differences in oxidative photochemical mechanisms, with a smaller contribution attributable to the calculation of photolysis frequencies. The differences between the two smoke plume models are significantly smaller than the uncertainties of available photokinetic data or field measurements. Model accuracy depends most significantly on having the fullest possible VOC data, a requirement that is constrained by currently available instrumentation.     

Generalized thin sheet analysis in magnetotellurics: an extension of Price's analysis

Summary. Price's thin sheet analysis for electromagnetic fields has been extended in order to model the effects of crustal resistivity and conductivity variations on magnetotelluric fields. These extensions allow for a general layered medium below the crust and also account for the vertical resistance of the crust as well as its horizontal conductance. An important parameter emerges from the analysis which determines the distance it takes for the crustal current levels to readjust to changes in the crustal conductance. This adjustment distance is given by the square root of the conductivity thickness product multiplied by the resistivity thickness product. Approximate analytical solutions were developed for two-dimensional geometries in order to demonstrate these effects as well as the modifications produced by finite source wavelengths.     

Diffuse interstellar band formation in dense clouds

Measurements of the strengths of the diffuse interstellar bands at 4430, 5780 and 5797 Å show that the bands tend to be week with respect to extinction in dense interstellar clouds. Data on 10 stars in the ? Ophiuchi cloud complex show further that the diffuse band-producing efficiency of the grains decreases systematically with increasing grain size. It is concluded that the diffuse bands are not formed in the mantles which accrete on the grains in interstellar clouds, but that they could be produced in the cores of grains or in some molecular species.