An observational study of heat fluxes and their relationships with net radiation

Experimental evidence indicates that the diurnal behaviour of the fluxes of heat into the ground and into the atmosphere versus the net flux of radiation can be modelled by closed curves, the hourly values folowing one another in either a clockwise or counter clockfashion. A general formulation to express the different heat fluxes as a function of net radiation is proposed. This relationship between the different heat fluxes and can be expressed as a sum of three terms: the first indicates a direct proportionality to , the second gives the deviation from linearity and depends on /t, and the third gives the value of the flux when = 0. The formulae are then expressed as a function of time and the ratios between the heat fluxes and are evaluated. A comparison with the approximations generally used shows that the latter may be considered as particular cases of the more general equations proposed here.     

Sediment hosted lead–zinc deposits of the Neoproterozoic Bambuí Group and correlative sequences, São Francisco Craton, Brazil: A review and a possible metallogenic evolution model

The Proterozoic sediment-hosted Zn–(Pb) sulfide and non-sulfide deposits of the São Francisco Craton, Brazil, are partially syn-diagenetic and epigenetic and were probably formed during extensional events. The majority of the deposits occur within shallow water dolomites. The Pb isotopic data of sulfides are relatively homogeneous for individual deposits and plot above the upper crust evolution curve of the Plumbotectonic model. Some of the deposits are characterized by highly radiogenic lead (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ≥ 21) originating from the highly radioactive crust of the São Francisco Craton. Pb and S isotopic data suggest the sources of metal and sulfur for the deposits to be the basement rocks and seawater sulfates in the sediments, respectively. The relatively high temperatures of formation (100 to 250 °C) and moderate salinity (3% to 20% NaCl equiv.) of the primary fluid inclusions in the sphalerite crystals suggest the participation of basinal mineralizing fluids in ore formation. The steep paleo-geothermal gradient generated by the radioactively enriched basement rocks probably assisted in heating up the circulating mineralizing fluids.     

The Gleissberg Cycle of Minima

In this short article we show that the sunspot cycle minima exhibit a long cycle (Gleissberg) in addition to the 11-yr cycle. From 1750 onwards, three periods of the Gleissberg cycle can be detected.     

Surficial geology of the Chicxulub impact crater,Yucatan, Mexico

The Chicxulub impact crater in northwestern Yucatan, Mexico is the primary candidate for the proposed impact that caused mass extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The crater is buried by up to a kilometer of Tertiary sediment and the most prominent surface expression is a ring of sink holes, known locally as cenotes, mapped with Landsat imagery. This 165 ± 5 km diameter Cenote Ring demarcates a boundary between unfractured limestones inside the ring, and fractured limestones outside. The boundary forms a barrier to lateral ground water migration, resulting in increased flows, dissolution, and collapse thus forming the cenotes. The subsurface geology indicates that the fracturing that created the Cenote Ring is related to slumping in the rim of the buried crater, differential thicknesses in the rocks overlying the crater, or solution collapse within porous impact deposits. The Cenote Ring provides the most accurate position of the Chicxulub crater's center, and the associated faults, fractures, and stratigraphy indicate that the crater may be 240 km in diameter.     

Cathodoluminescence petrography and isotope geochemistry of KT impact ejecta deposited 360 km from the Chicxulub crater, at Albion Island, Belize

The depositional and diagenetic history of Cretaceous–Tertiary (KT) impact ejecta deposited 360 km from the Chicxulub crater, at Albion Island, Belize, has been investigated using integrated cathodoluminescence and isotopic analyses. A quarry exposes 26 m of Upper Cretaceous Barton Creek Formation dolomitized marine limestone overlain by 16 m of dolomitized Albion Formation impact ejecta. The Albion Formation consists of a lower fine‐grained ≈1‐m‐thick spheroid bed and an upper 15‐m‐thick coarse conglomeratic diamictite bed. A 14‐event paragenetic sequence has been documented and used as a temporal framework to interpret chemostratigraphic trends in bulk rock δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr. The uppermost surface of the Barton Creek Formation was subaerially exposed before the KT impact, as indicated by a brecciated palaeosol that caps upsection decreases in δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O. Small 1‐cm‐diameter spheroids in the spheroid bed exhibit vermicular crystalline textures but lack the concentric zonations common to accretionary lapilli. These spheroids are hypothesized originally to have been impact glass or reactive Ca and Mg oxide dusts that adhered to water vapour particles condensing from the cooling impact vapour cloud. The spheroids were dolomitized soon after deposition. The earliest dolomitization in the matrix sediments of the Albion Formation was also post‐depositional, replacing clays formed by devitrification of impact glass. Dolomite and clay ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr exhibit a distinct symmetrical distribution in the spheroid bed ranging from 0·707745 to 0·707872. Although unproven, this may represent primary changes in the chemical composition of the impact glass. The limestone clasts in the diamictite bed were dolomitized before the KT impact and exhibit upsection decreases in bulk rock ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr. This suggests that the clasts were excavated from strata equivalent in age or older than the Barton Creek Formation at locations closer to, or in, the Chicxulub crater.     

Phylogeographic patterns in Maguimithrax spinosissimus (Decapoda: Mithracidae) from Colombian Caribbean

The Caribbean king crab Maguimithrax spinosissimus is an important artisanal fisheries resource with a distribution range that includes the Florida Keys and Caribbean Sea islands. We carried out a phylogeographic analysis of M. spinosissimus in one oceanic (Old Providence) and two continental islands (Rosario and Tintipán). We analysed 89 and 49 Control Region (CR) and Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) sequences, respectively. We found genetic differentiation between Old Providence and Rosario?+?Tintipán units (F_ST values of 0.84 for CR and 0.91 for COI gene), and gene flow between Rosario and Tintipán (F_ST values ?0.0085 for CR, P?>?.88; ?0.01 for COI gene, P?>?.99). Our analysis showed two genetic stocks and possibly an isolated biogeographic unit of M. spinosissimus. We suggest managing the species as different populations, and conducting more ecological and biological studies for the determination of possible cryptic species.     

Directional interpolation of multicomponent data

A method for interpolation of multicomponent streamer data based on using the local directionality structure is presented. The derivative components are used to estimate a vector field that locally describes the direction with the least variability. Given this vector field, the interpolation can be phrased in terms of the solution of a partial differential equation that describes how energy is transported between regions of missing data. The approach can be efficiently implemented using readily available routines for computer graphics. The method is robust to noise in the measurements and particularly towards high levels of low‐frequent noise that is present in the derivative components of the multicomponent streamer data.     

Spatio-temporal variability of benthic macroalgae in a coral reef system highly influenced by fluvial discharge: Veracruz,Gulf of Mexico

The Veracruz Reef System, in the southern Gulf of Mexico, is a suitable area for the study of the temporal and spatial variability of macroalgae abundance, at reef settings influenced by the fluvial discharge of the Jamapa River, and by human activities in the city and port of Veracruz. With this purpose, the bottom cover of each morpho-functional group of benthic macroalgae (frondoses, turf, and crustose corallines), and hermatypic corals, was determined at ten selected coral reefs, on a seasonal basis (rainy and dry seasons), for the 2009–2015 period. The average cover of benthic macroalgae was high (53.1%), with turf as the dominant morpho-functional group (31.9%), as in several reef ecosystems in the tropical Atlantic, followed by crustose corallines (15.2%), and frondoses (6.1%). Although turf macroalgae is dominant, due to their high temporal and spatial variability, the Veracruz Reef System could not be considered to be in a stable state, but just in an intermediate unstable equilibrium state, which is highly influenced by a high sediment load. As expected, nearshore reefs presented higher macroalgae covers, and unexpectedly, the outer-shelf reefs presented the highest cover of frondoses. Despite fluvial discharge influence, no differences in cover were found between the rainy and dry seasons. There was a negative and significantly correlation between the cover of frondoses and turf, which suggests that the driver/s of the abundance of these macroalgae, act in opposite ways for each group. Three clusters of reefs, defined by community structure and conservation degree, were determined: nearshore or degraded, offshore or moderately conserved, and conserved; and the entire Veracruz Reef System is considered to be in a moderately state of conservation.     

Textural properties vs. CEC and EGME retention of Na–X zeolite prepared from fly ash at room temperature

Zeolite Na–X (FAU type) was synthesized from F-class fly ash in simple and economical way. Several months of storage of fly ash in NaOH solution, at room temperature, without any prior treatment, results in the production of material with ca. 50% content of Na–X zeolite. The most efficient reaction takes place at (OH)⁻ activity of 0.1–0.15 mol (OH)⁻/g of ash and at S/L ratio of 33 to 67 g/dm³. Higher S/L value causes an accelerating dissolution–crystallization equilibrium attainment. Cl⁻ ion acts as the inhibitor of this reaction.