Negative water vapour skewness and dry tongues in the convective boundary layer: observations and large-eddy simulation budget analysis

This study focuses on the intrusion of dry air into the convective boundary layer (CBL) originating from the top of the CBL. Aircraft in-situ measurements from the IHOP_2002 field campaign indicate a prevalence of negative skewness of the water vapour distribution within the growing daytime CBL over land. This negative skewness is interpreted according to large-eddy simulations (LES) as the result of descending dry downdrafts originating from above the mixed layer. LES are used to determine the statistical properties of these intrusions: their size and thermodynamical characteristics. A conditional sampling analysis demonstrates their significance in the retrieval of moisture variances and fluxes. The rapid CBL growth explains why greater negative skewness is observed during the growing phase: the large amounts of dry air that are quickly incorporated into the CBL prevent a full homogenisation by turbulent mixing. The boundary-layer warming in this phase also plays a role in the acquisition of negative buoyancy for these dry tongues, and thus possibly explains their kinematics in the lower CBL. Budget analysis helps to identify the processes responsible for the negative skewness. This budget study underlines the main role of turbulent transport, which distributes the skewness produced at the top or the bottom of the CBL into the interior of the CBL. The dry tongues contribute significantly to this turbulent transport.     

A simple mass estimate for central black holes in cuspy galaxies

We argue that the temperature of the stellar phase is likely a monotically decreasing function of radius in the central regions of elliptical galaxies with cusps. We show that it requires the presence of a central mass concentration. An estimate of its minimum mass based on few parameters is given. This lower bound is consistent with current mass values of the central objects in galaxies derived from detailed models. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Estrogenic responses of larval sunshine bass (Morone saxatilis x M. Chrysops) exposed to New York City sewage effluent

To determine the estrogenicity of effluents from sewage treatment plants (STPs) to larval fish, 2-day-old sunshine bass were exposed to effluents from three STPs serving New York City (NYC), varying in size and treatment level. Estrogenic response was evaluated by measuring vitellogenin (VTG) and estrogen receptor (ER) expression in cytosolic fractions of whole body homogenates. Concentrations of the presumptive endocrine disruptors in the effluents were also measured. VTG and ER levels in sewage-exposed fish were 3-5 times that observed in controls. Combined concentrations of estradiol and estrone ranged from 5 to 13 ng/l and nonylphenol-ethoxylate metabolites (NPEOs: 4-nonylphenol, and 1-, 2-, and 3-nonylphenol-ethoxylates) ranged from 180 to 470 microg/l in chlorinated effluent. Results indicate that both ER and VTG can be used as biomarkers for endocrine disruption in larval fish, and that 4-day exposure to sewage effluent is sufficient to elicit significant expression of these markers in sunshine bass larvae. The extremely higher concentrations of NPEOs found in effluent relative to hormones (approximately 40,000-fold) indicates that surfactant metabolites may be contributing significantly to the estrogenic effects observed.     

Tectonique transpressive en terre Adélie au Paléoprotérozoı̈que (Est Antarctique)Palaeoproterozoic transpression in Terre Adélie (East Antarctica)

The Palaeoproterozoic units of Terre Adélie show two types of structural domains associated with HT–LP metamorphic conditions: domes and NS–N340° striking vertical shear zones. Shear zones reflect dextral transpressive motions. Domes reflect sub-vertical shortening and principal stretching subparallel to shear zones. They could partly result from longitudinal flow coeval with transpression. Deformations are comparable to those described along the eastern and western boundaries of the Archean Gawler Craton (South-East Australia), which underlines the continuity between these two areas before opening of the Austral Ocean. To cite this article: A. Pelletier et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 505–511.     

Using Hydrogeochemical Methods To Evaluate Complex Quaternary Subsurface Stratigraphy Block Island,Rhode Island,USA

One of the major problems in hydrogeologic investigations of glaciated regions is the determination of complex stratigraphic relationships in the subsurface where insufficient information is available from drilling and geophysical records. In this paper, chemical characteristics of groundwater were used to identify stratigraphic changes in glacial deposits that were previously inferred on Block Island, Rhode Island, USA, an emergent remnant of the late Wisconsinan terminal moraine, located approximately 16 km south of the Rhode Island mainland. Two chemically distinct water types are recognized on the island: 1) high-iron, characterized by dissolved silica levels in excess of 20 mg/L, bicarbonate greater than 30 mg/L and dissolved iron ranging from 1-20 mg/L; and 2) low-iron, characterized by dissolved silica levels below 16 mg/L, bicarbonate less than 30 mg/L, and less than 0.3 mg/L dissolved iron. The spatial distribution of iron-bearing minerals and organic matter and the resulting redox conditions are believed to control the occurrence of high-iron groundwater. The high-iron waters occur almost exclusively in the eastern half of the island and appear to coincidence with the presence of allochthonous blocks of Cretaceous-age coastal-plain sediments that were incorporated into Pleistocene-age deposits derived from the Narragansett Bay-Buzzard's Bay lobe of the Late Wisconsinan Laurentide ice sheet. The low-iron waters occur in the western half of the island, where the occurrence of these Cretaceous-age blocks is rare and the sediments are attributed to a sublobe of the Hudson-Champlain lobe of the Late Wisconsinan ice-sheet. RÉSUMÉ: L'un des principaux problèmes dans les études hydrogeologiques des régions qui ont été englacées est la définition des relations stratigraphiques complexes sous la surface, lá où les informations fournies par les forages et par la géophysique sont insuffisantes. Dans l'exemple traité, les caractéristiques chimiques de l'eau souterraine sont utilisées pour identifier les variations stratigraphiques dans les dépôts glaciaires qui avaient auparavant été supposées, sur l'île de Block (Rhode Island), restes émergeant d'une moraine terminale du Wisconsinien récent, situé à environ 16 km au sud de Rhode Island. Deux types d'eau chimiquement distincts ont été reconnus dans l'île: 1) à fortes teneurs en fer, caractérisées par des concentrations en silice supérieures à 20 mg/L, en bicarbonates supérieures à 30 mg/L et en fer comprises entre 1 et 20 mg/L; et 2) à faibles teneurs en fer, marquées par des concentrations en silice inférieures à 16 mg/L, en bicarbonate inférieures à 30 mg/L et en fer dissous inférieures à 0.3 mg/L. La distribution spatiale des minéraux riches en fer et de la matière organique et les conditions redox résultantes contrôlent probablement la présence de fer dans les eaux souterraines à fortes concentrations. Les eaux à fortes teneurs en fer sont connues presque exclusivement dans la moitié orientale de l'île et semblent coïncider avec la présence de blocs allochtones provenant des sédiments côtiers crétacés, introduits dans les formations pléistocènes liées au lobe glaciaire des baies de Narragansett et du Busard de la calotte glaciaire laurentide du Wisconsinien récent. Les eaux à faibles teneurs en fer apparaissent dans la moitié occidentale de l'île, là où ces blocs de Crétacé sont rares et où les sédiments sont attrbués à une digitation du lobe de l'Hudson-Champlain de la calotte glaciaire du Wisconsinien récent. RESUMEN: Uno de los mayores problemas en la investigación hidrogeológica en regiones glaciares es la determinación de las complejas relaciones estratigráficas en el subsuelo, donde la información procedente de registros de perforaciones y de geofísica no es suficiente. En este artículo, se han usado las características químicas del agua subterránea para identificar unos cambios estratigráficos que se habían predicho previamente en unos depósitos glaciares en Block Island, Rhode Island (Estados Unidos), un remanente emergente de la morrena terminal del Winsconsiniense tardío, situada unos 16 km al sur de la Rhode Island continental. En la isla se encuentran dos tipos de agua distintos: 1) de alto contenido en hierro, caracterizada por niveles de sílice disuelto superando los 20 mg/L, bicarbonatos por encima de 30 mg/L y hierro disuelto oscilando entre 1-20 mg/L; y 2) de bajo contenido en hierro, caracterizada por niveles de sílice disuelto inferiores a 16 mg/L, bicarbonatos por debajo de 30 mg/L y menos de 0.3 mg/L de hierro disuelto. La distribución espacial de los minerales ricos en hierro y de la materia orgánica, así como las condiciones redox resultantes se supone que condicionan la presencia de aguas de alto contenido en hierro. Estas aguas aparecen casi exclusivamente en la mitad oriental de la isla y parecen coincidir con la presencia de bloques alóctonos de sedimentos costeros, de edad cretácica, que se incorporaron a los depósitos de edad pleistocena procedentes del lóbulo de la Bahía de Narragansett-Bahía de Buzzard, correspondiente a la capa glaciar del Winsconsiniense-Lauréntido tardío. Las aguas de bajo contenido en hierro aparecen en la mitad occidental de la isla, donde la presencia de estos sedimentos de edad cretácica es rara y los sedimentos se suponen procedentes de un sublóbulo del lóbulo de Hudson-Camplain, correspondiente a la capa glaciar del Winsconsiniense tardío.     

A first deep seismic survey in the Sea of Marmara: Deep basins and whole crust architecture and evolution

Increased source strength, streamer length and dense spatial coverage of seismic reflection profiles of the SEISMARMARA Leg 1 allow to image the deep structure of the marine North Marmara Trough (NMT) on the strike-slip North Anatolian Fault (NAF) west of the destructive Izmit 1999 earthquake. A reflective lower crust and the Moho boundary are detected. They appear upwarped on an E-W profile from the southern Central Basin eastwards, towards more internal parts of the deformed region. Thinning of the upper crust could use a detachment suggested from an imaged dipping intracrustal reflector that would allow upper crustal material to be dragged from beneath it and above the lower crust, accounting for the extensional component but also southwest motion of the southern margin of the NMT. Sections across the eastern half of the NMT, crossing the Cinarcik and Imrali basins, reveal several faults that are active reaching into the basement and have varying strike and proportions of normal and strike-slip displacement. They might be viewed as petals of a large scale negative flower-structure that spreads over a width of 30 km at surface and is rooted deeper in the lithosphere. Under the Central Basin a very thick sediment infill is revealed and its extensional bounding faults are active and imaged as much as 8 km apart down to 6 km depth. We interpret them as two deep-rooted faults encompassing a foundering basement block, rather than being merely pulled-apart from a jog in a strike-slip above a décollement. The deep-basin lengthening would account for only a modest part of the proposed 60 km finite motion since 4 Myr along the same direction oblique to the NMT that sidesteps the shear motion from its two ends. Thus differential motion occurred much beyond the deep basins, like subsidence involving the NMT bounding faults and the intracrustal detachments. The complex partitioned motion localized on active faults with diverse natures and orientations is suggested to represent the overburden deformation induced from horizontal plane simple shear occurring in depth at lithospheric scale, and in front of the North Anatolian Fault when it propagated through the region.