Determining Q of near-surface materials from Rayleigh waves

High-frequency (≥2 Hz) Rayleigh wave phase velocities can be inverted to shear (S)-wave velocities for a layered earth model up to 30 m below the ground surface in many settings. Given S-wave velocity (V_S), compressional (P)-wave velocity (V_P), and Rayleigh wave phase velocities, it is feasible to solve for P-wave quality factor Q_P and S-wave quality factor Q_S in a layered earth model by inverting Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients. Model results demonstrate the plausibility of inverting Q_S from Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients. Contributions to the Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients from Q_P cannot be ignored when Vs/V_P reaches 0.45, which is not uncommon in near-surface settings. It is possible to invert Q_P from Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients in some geological setting, a concept that differs from the common perception that Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients are always far less sensitive to Q_P than to Q_S. Sixty-channel surface wave data were acquired in an Arizona desert. For a 10-layer model with a thickness of over 20 m, the data were first inverted to obtain S-wave velocities by the multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) method and then quality factors were determined by inverting attenuation coefficients.     

Features of coastal upwelling regions that determine net air-sea CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> flux

The influence of the coastal ocean on global net annual air-sea CO₂ fluxes remains uncertain. However, it is well known that air-sea pCO₂ disequilibria can be large (ocean pCO₂ ranging from ∼400 μatm above atmospheric saturation to ∼250 μatm below) in eastern boundary currents, and it has been hypothesized that these regions may be an appreciable net carbon sink. In addition it has been shown that the high productivity in these regions (responsible for the exceptionally low surface pCO₂) can cause nutrients and inorganic carbon to become more concentrated in the lower layer of the water column over the shelf relative to adjacent open ocean waters of the same density. This paper explores the potential role of the winter season in determining the net annual CO₂ flux in temperate zone eastern boundary currents, using the results from a box model. The model is parameterized and forced to represent the northernmost part of the upwelling region on the North American Pacific coast. Model results are compared to the few summer data that exist in that region. The model is also used to determine the effect that upwelling and downwelling strength have on the net annual CO₂ flux. Results show that downwelling may play an important role in limiting the amount of CO₂ outgassing that occurs during winter. Finally data from three distinct regions on the Pacific coast are compared to highlight the importance of upwelling and downwelling strength in determining carbon fluxes in eastern boundary currents and to suggest that other features, such as shelf width, are likely to be important.     

Geomorphic effects of rural-to-urban land use conversion on three streams in the Central Redbed Plains of Oklahoma

This research evaluates the impact of rural-to-urban land use conversion on channel morphology and riparian vegetation for three streams in the Central Redbed Plains geomorphic province (central Great Plains ecoregion) of Oklahoma. The Deep Fork Creek watershed is largely urbanized; the Skeleton Creek watershed is largely rural; and the Stillwater Creek watershed is experiencing a rapid transition from rural to urban land cover. Each channel was divided into reaches based on tributary junctions, sinuosity, and slope. Field surveys were conducted at transects in a total of 90 reaches, including measurements of channel units, channel cross-section at bankfull stage, and riparian vegetation. Historical aerial photographs were available for only Stillwater Creek watershed, which were used to document land cover in this watershed, especially changes in the extent of urban areas (impervious cover).The three streams have very low gradients (< 0.001), width-to-depth ratios < 10, and cohesive channel banks, but have incised into red Permian shales and sandstone. The riparian vegetation is dominated by cottonwoods, ash, and elm trees that provide a dense root mat on stream banks where the riparian vegetation is intact. Channels increased in width and depth in the downstream direction as is normally expected, but the substrate materials and channel units remained unchanged. Statistical analyses demonstrated that urbanization did not explain spatial patterns of changes in any variables. These three channels in the central Redbed Plains are responding as flumes during peak flows, funneling runoff and the wash-load sediment downstream in major runoff events without any effect on channel dimensions. Therefore, local geological conditions (similar bedrock, cohesive substrates and similar riparian vegetation) are mitigating the effects of urbanization.     

Dissolved nitrous oxide (N2O) dynamics in agricultural field drains and headwater streams in an intensive arable catchment

Indirect nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions produced by nitrogen (N) leaching into surface water and groundwater bodies are poorly understood in comparison to direct N₂O emissions from soils. In this study, dissolved N₂O concentrations were measured weekly in both lowland headwater streams and subsurface agricultural field drain discharges over a 2‐year period (2013–2015) in an intensive arable catchment, Norfolk, UK. All field drain and stream water samples were found to have dissolved N₂O concentrations higher than the water–air equilibrium concentration, illustrating that all sites were acting as a net source of N₂O emissions to the atmosphere. Soil texture was found to significantly influence field drain N₂O dynamics, with mean concentrations from drains in clay loam soils (5.3 μg N L^?1) being greater than drains in sandy loam soils (4.0 μg N L^?1). Soil texture also impacted upon the relationships between field drain N₂O concentrations and other water quality parameters (pH, flow rate, and nitrate (NO₃) and nitrite (NO₂) concentrations), highlighting possible differences in N₂O production mechanisms in different soil types. Catchment antecedent moisture conditions influenced the storm event mobilisation of N₂O in both field drains and streams, with the greatest concentration increases recorded during precipitation events preceded by prolonged wet conditions. N₂O concentrations also varied seasonally, with the lowest mean concentrations typically occurring during the summer months (JJA). Nitrogen fertiliser application rates and different soil inversion regimes were found to have no effect on dissolved N₂O concentrations, whereas higher N₂O concentrations recorded in field drains under a winter cover crop compared to fallow fields revealed cover crops are an ineffective greenhouse gas emission mitigation strategy. Overall, this study highlights the complex interactions governing the dynamics of dissolved N₂O concentrations in field drains and headwater streams in a lowland intensive agricultural catchment.     

Über stratigraphische Untersuchungsmethoden in rezenten Tiefseesedimenten

Zusammenfassung Durch Bestimmung der Foraminiferenanzahl in I g Sediment wird die biostratigraphische Untersuchungsmethode, die mittels einer qualitativen und quantitativen Erfassung der Foraminiferenfauna in den Tiefseekernen der deutschen Meteor-Expedition und schwedischen Albatroß-Expedition durchgeführt werden ist, auf ihre Richtigkeit hin geprüft. Die Untersuchung hat die Anwendbarkeit dieser stratigraphischen Methode bestätigt. Sie hat daneben wiederum gezeigt, daß die Verbreitung und Entwicklung der einzelnen Foraminiferenarten vor allem von der Temperatur des Meerwassers abhängig sind; andere Faktoren wie Phosphatgehalt des Wassers usw. scheinen in dieser Hinsicht eine mehr untergeordnete Rolle zu spielen. Unter gewissen Voraussetzungen können Tiefseekerne durch Bestimmung der Foraminiferenanzahl je 1 g Sediment in groben Zügen stratigraphisch gegliedert werden; auch kann die Individuenanzahl der einzelnen Foraminiferenarten aus der Foraminiferenanzahl in 1 g Sediment und aus der prozentualen Zusammensetzung der Gesamtfauna errechnet werden. Mit den hier gewonnenen Erkenntnissen wird versucht, die engen Bezichungen zwischen dem prozentualen Anteil der Warmwasserforaminiferen in der Gesamtfauna und dem CO₂-Gehalt des Sedimentes, dieOvey im Kern 241 der schwedischen Albatroß-Expedition beobachtet hat, zu deuten.Herrn Professor Dr.Carl W. Correns zum 60. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

The role of iron and sulfur in the visual appearance of lake sediment varves

Easily discernible sediment varves (annual laminations) may be formed in temperate zone lakes, and reflect seasonal changes in the composition of the accumulating material derived from the lake and its catchment (minerogenic and organic material). The appearance of varves may also be influenced by chemical processes. We assessed the role of iron (Fe) and sulfur (S) in the appearance of varves in sediments from Lake Nylandssjön in northern Sweden. We surveyed Fe in the lake water and established whether there is internal transport of Fe within the sediment. We used a unique collection of seven stored freeze cores of varved sediment from the lake, collected from 1979 to 2004. This suite of cores made it possible to follow long-term changes in Fe and S in the sediment caused by processes that occur in the lake bottom when the sediment is ageing. We compared Fe and S concentrations using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) in specific years in the different cores. No diagenetic front was found in the sediment and the data do not suggest that there is substantial vertical transport of Fe and S in the sediment. We also modeled Fe and S based on thermodynamic, limnological, and sediment data from the lake. The model was limited to the five components H⁺, e^?, Fe³⁺, SO₄ ^2?, H₂CO₃ and included the formation of solid phases such as Fe(OH)₃ (amorphous), FeOOH (aged, microcrystalline), FeS and FeCO₃. Modeling showed that there are pe (redox) ranges within which either FeS or Fe(OH)₃/FeOOH is the only solid phase present and there are pe ranges within which the two solid phases co-exist, which supports the hypothesis that blackish and grey-brownish layers that occur in the varves were formed at the time of deposition. This creates new possibilities for deciphering high-temporal-resolution environmental information from varves.     

Experimental petrology of alkalic lavas: constraints on cotectics of multiple saturation in natural basic liquids

Experimental study of natural alkalic lava compositions at low pressures (pO₂QFM) reveals that crystallization of primitive lavas often occurs in the sequence olivine, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, nepheline without obvious reaction relation. Pseudoternary liquidus projections of multiply saturated liquids coexisting with plagioclase (±olivine±clinopyroxene±nepheline) have been prepared to facilitate graphical analysis of the evolution of lava compositions during hypabyssal cooling. Use of (TiAl₂)(MgSi₂)_–1 and Fe³⁺ (Al)_–1 exchange components is a key aspect of the projection procedure which is succesful in reducing a wide range of compositions to a systematic graphical representation. These projections, and the experiments on which they are based, show that low pressure fractionation plays a significant role in the petrogenesis of many alkalic lava suites from both continental and oceanic settings. However, the role of polybaric fractionation is more evident in the major element chemistry of these lava suites than in many tholeiitic suites of comparable extent. For example, the lavas of Karisimbi, East Africa, show a range of compositions reflecting a polybaric petrogenesis from primitive picrites at 1360° C/18 kb and leading to advanced low pressure differentiates. Evolved leucite-bearing potassic members of this and other suites may be treated in a nepheline-diopside-kspar (+olivine+leucite) projection. Compositional curvature on the plagioclase+clinopyroxene+olivine+leucite cotectic offers a mechanism to explain resorption of plagioclase in alkalic groundmass assemblages and the incompatibility of albite and leucite. This projection is useful for evaluating the extent of assimilation of the alkalic portions of crustal granulites. Assimilation appears to have played some role in the advanced differentiates from Karisimbi.     

Micromechanical approach to swelling behavior of capillary-porous media with coupled physics

A detailed multiscale analysis is presented of the swelling phenomenon in unsaturated clay-rich materials in the linear regime through homogenization. Herein, the structural complexity of the material is formulated as a three-scale, triple porosity medium within which microstructural information is transmitted across the various scales, leading ultimately to an enriched stress-deformation relation at the macroscopic scale. As a side note, such derived relationship leads to a tensorial stress partitioning that is reminiscent of a Terzaghi-like effective stress measure. Otherwise, a major result that stands out from previous works is the explicit expression of swelling stress and capillary stress in terms of micromechanical interactions at the very fine scale down to the clay platelet level, along with capillary stress emerging due to interactions between fluid phases at the different scales, including surface tension, pore size, and morphology. More importantly, the swelling stress is correlated with the disjoining forces due to electrochemical effects of charged ions on clay minerals and van der Waals forces at the nanoscale. The resulting analytical expressions also elucidate the role of the various physics in the deformational behavior of clayey material. Finally, the capability of the proposed formulation in capturing salient behaviors of unsaturated expansive clays is illustrated through some numerical examples.