Statistical mechanical modeling of the kinetics of order-disorder in omphacitic pyroxenes

A kinetic statistical model based upon a one-dimensional Ising lattice reflecting the nature of the pyroxene octahedral strip, and with nearest-neighbor and mean-field interactions, is applied to the order-disorder transformation in omphacitic pyroxenes. The equilibration temperature of a naturally ordered omphacite and the annealing data of Carpenter (1981a) on omphacites from the same sample, when applied to the model, provide time- temperature-transformation relations for both long-range and short-range ordering. Results indicate that cooling times on the order of tens of millions of years are necessary for the development of significant degrees of long-range order under optimum conditions, whereas short-range order is developed on much shorter time scales. These results are in agreement with observations of naturally ordered and disordered omphacites with the exception of omphacites ordered in a low-temperature subduction-zone regime; the results support the hypothesis that these omphacites crystallize in a highly ordered state.     

Use of salt-marsh peat reefs by small juvenile lobsters on Cape Cod,Massachusetts

The habitats utilized by small juvenile (<40 mm carapace length, CL) lobsters (Homarus americanus) are poorly known. We discovered and studied an undescribed juvenile lobster habitat in Nauset Marsh, Cape Cod. Juvenile lobsters (X=26.7 mm carapace length, 6 to 72 mm, n=38) were collected from suction samples primarily 0144 01 in “peat reef” habitats during the period from August 1985 through October 1986. The reefs consisted of large blocks ofSpartina alterniflora peat that had separated from the marsh surface and fallen into adjacent subtidal marsh channels. The smallest lobsters (6 to 7 mm CL) were collected from peat reefs in October 1985, and April and July 1986. In these habitats, juvenile lobster density averaged 2.5 individuals m^?2 (range 0–5.7) in suction samples. Peat reef habitats occur in other salt marshes in the northeastern United States and may be an important nursery habitat for small juvenile lobsters.     

Deformation of poorly consolidated sediment during shallow emplacement of a basalt sill,Coso Range,California

A 150-m-long, wedge-shaped unit of folded and faulted marly siltstone crops out between undeformed sedimentary rocks on the north flank of the Coso Range, California. The several-meter-thick blunt end of this wedge abuts the north margin of a basaltic sill of comparable thickness. Chaotically deformed siltstone crops out locally at the margin of this sill, and at one locality breccia pipes about one meter in diameter crosscut the sill. The sill extends about 1 km south up the paleoslope, where it merges through continuous outcrop with a lava flow that in turn extends 1.4 km to a vent area marked by more than 100 m of agglutinate and scoria. Apparently, lava extruded at this vent flowed onto unconsolidated sediments, burrowed into them, and fed a sill at about 40 m depth within the sedimentary sequence. The sill initially propagated by wedging between sedimentary beds, but eventually began to push some beds ahead of itself, forming a remarkable train of folds in the process. The sediments apparently were wet at the time of sill emplacement, because hydrothermal alteration is common near the contact between the two rock types and because the breccia pipes that crosscut the sill apparently resulted from phreatic explosions of pore water heated at the base of the cooling sill. Comparison of deformation of the host material at the Coso locality with that reportedly caused by emplacement of sills elsewhere indicates that the character of deformation differs greatly among the various localities. The specific response of host material depends upon such parameters as initial properties of magma and host material, rate of sill growth and attendant rate of strain of host material, and depth of sill emplacement. Some properties may change considerably during an intrusive-deformational episode, thus complicating accurate reconstruction of such an event.     

Chaotic behaviour in a low-order unforced,inviscid barotropic model

A low-order model of the unforced, inviscid barotropic model is examined as a dynamical system. Analytic solutions, consisting of linear and nonlinear oscillations (Rossby waves), are obtained in appropriate limiting initial conditions. These solutions are periodic. With less restrictive initial conditions the system shows quasi-periodic behaviour at low energies and chaotic behviour at high energies. This transition is accompanied by frequency-locking and period-doubling. Quasi-periodic and chaotic behaviour may coëxist in phase space for the same values of the model invariants. The results are interpreted in terms of perturbed integrable Hamiltonian systems. Considerations of the low-frequency variability of the atmosphere are also made.     

Land remote sensing technology and methodology

Remote sensing is a tool for gathering information about the Earth's surface and monitoring how it changes. A large number of remote sensing systems have been developed that exploit different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum and that produce data in different formats at varying scales and costs. These data may be acquired for virtually any place on Earth. A body of manual and automated techniques have evolved for processing and interpreting remote sensing data. The selections of a remote sensing system and of the techniques by which data are processed are driven by information requirements of varying detail and constrained by cost.     

A demonstration of 1–2 parts in 107 accuracy using GPS

By interferometric analysis ofGPS phase observations made at Owens Valley, Mojave, and Mammoth Lakes, California, we determined the coordinate components of the71–245–313 km triangle of baselines connecting these sites. A separate determination was made on each of four days, April 1–4, 1985. The satellite ephemerides used in these determinations had been derived from observations on other baselines. Therms scatters of the four daily determinations of baseline vector components about their respective means ranged from a minimum of6 mm for the north component of the71-km baseline to a maximum of34 mm for the vertical component of the245-km baseline. To test accuracy, we compared the mean of ourGPS determinations of the245-km baseline between Owens Valley and Mojave with independent determinations by others using very-long-baseline interferometry(VLBI) and satellite laser ranging(SLR). TheGPS-VLBI difference was within 2 parts in10 ⁷ for every vector component. TheGPS-SLR difference was within6 parts in10 ⁸ in the horizontal coordinates, but83 mm in height.     

Experimental studies to 10 kb of the bulk composition tremolite50-tschermakite50+excess H2O

Phase relations for the magnesio-hornblende bulk composition, 2 CaO·4 MgO·Al₂O₃·7 SiO₂+ excess H₂O, have been investigated to 10 kb employing hydrothermal and piston-cylinder techniques. The low-temperature limit of amphibole in this system lies at 519° C, 1,000 bars, 541° C, 2,000 bars, and 718° C, 10 kb. The low-T assemblage consists of an+chl+di+tc(+f), and is related to the adjacent high-T equilibrium assemblage, amph+an+chl+f, by the solid-solid reaction (A): 2 di+tc=tr. Small amounts of aluminum, hypothesized to be preferentially dissolved in the cpx (and in the tc) relative to amph, may account for the broad P-T stability range of the di+tc assemblage in the synthetic work relative to systems involving stoichiometric tr, Ca₂Mg₅Si₈O₂₂(OH)₂, such as are common in natural, Al-poor calc-silicate parageneses. Alternatively, the low-temperature assemblage produced in the experiments may be metastable. For the investigated bulk composition, synthetic tremolitic-cummingtonitic amphibole contains relatively modest amounts of ts, Ca₂Mg₃Al₂ ^IVSi₆-Al₂ ^IVO₂₂(OH)₂; at pressures of 1,000–3,000 bars, solid solution extends from near tremolite only to about cu₁₁tr₆₉ts₂₀, analogous to most analyzed natural magnesio-hornblendic specimens. At 10 kb fluid pressure, the solid solution reaches approximately cu₀₆tr₅₃ts₄₁ for the investigated bulk composition, and appears to be virtually independent of temperature. Amphibole and 14 Å chl react within the amphibole stability field, along curve (B), at about 704° C and 2,000 bars, to produce an, en, fo and f (H=40.9 kcal/ mole); at pressures greater than approximately 7kb, due to the incompatibility of an and fo, the higher temperature assemblage consists of amph, an, en, sp and f. Above P _fluid– T curve (B), the amphibole coexists with an+en+fo+f at low pressures; at higher pressures, the amphibole, which is in equilibrium with an+en+sp+f, is relatively more aluminous. The high-T stability limit of aluminous tr+fo lies approximately 20–25° C below the dehydration curve for stoichiometric tremolite on its own bulk composition. Reaction (C), tr+fo=2 di+5 en+f (H = 39.4 kcal/mole), produces an+di+en+f, the highest temperature subsolidus assemblage investigated for the tr₅₀ts₅₀ bulk composition. Hydrous melt is encountered at temperatures at least as low as 900° C at 10 kb, and at that fluid pressure coexists with amphibole over an interval of more than 60° C. Limited solid solution observed between tr and ts in nature (tr_100-70) is accounted for by the restricted range of amphibole compositions produced in the present study. Such amphiboles, moreover, appear to have both high- and low-temperature stability limits, as demonstrated by the experimental results.Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Publication No. 2811     

Geodesy and geodynamics

Man's interest in the dynamics of the earth's crust goes back several centuries. Ekman recently pointed out the theory of post-glacial uplift in Fennoscandia. In the 15th century, towns along the Baltic-Sea experienced receding of the sea. In this century, Bowie had started a program for repeating surveys in seismically active regions. Wegeners' hypothesis of Continental Drift aroused the interest of scientists. In January 1985, Walter Sullivan traced the evolution from Wegener's continental drift through plate tectonics to the latest suggestion of the formation of continents from “terranes”. Spatial techniques. Laser Ranging, VLBI, GPS have given geodesists the ability to monitor continental drift, intracontinental deformations and other phenomena.

Along faults, such as the San Andreas Fault, the conventional geodetic approach to deformation has been to use a linear concept, except for episodic events such as earthquakes and so on.

Wayne Thatcher's model on the declining strain rate is justified if sufficient geodetic data, well distributed, are available. Strain components can be computed from distortion patterns which might develop when an earlier survey is adjusted to be made consistent with a later survey. There exists a correlation of the movement of the instantaneous pole of rotation with the energy release of all earthquakes.