Long-term thinning of the southeast Greenland ice sheet from Seasat, Geosat, and GFO Satellite Radar altimetry

Geosat Follow On (GFO) radar altimeter data are processed with previous altimeter datasets to measure long-term elevation change of higher elevation portions of the southern Greenland ice sheet over time periods from 1978-1988, 1985-2002, and 1978-2002. Average elevation change results indicate approximately zero overall elevation change for all time periods. The results also indicate that upper-elevation thinning in southeast Greenland has been widespread and has existed for several decades.     

Effect of broken clouds on satellite-based columnar water vapor retrieval

We investigate the effect of broken clouds on the satellite-based retrieval of columnar water vapor using a near-infrared radiance ratio technique. A typical difference between the retrieval using only pixels directly illuminated by the Sun and pixels with mixed illumination containing direct sunlight as well as cloud shadows is found to be within 3%.     

Characterization of an alkali alumina-borosilicate glass considered for storage of radioactive waste

A petrologic study of a crucible of Glass Formula 127 revealed physical and compositional heterogeneities. The melting process led to compositional heterogeneity within the glass form and to glass compositions different than that predicted by targeted compositions. Aluminum was incorporated into the melt from the crucible wall, and it is suspected that Si diffused outward into the crucible. Of the elements present as surrogates for radioactive elements of concern in waste material, none appear to follow Si. Differences in composition between batch composition and final glass composition are also caused by volatilization of B, Na, and Li. Aside from the Al:Si exchange, the heterogeneity in trace element contents is more noticeable than that of major oxides. Trace element correlations and heterogeneity, combined with skeletal fluorite concentrated into crystal-rich (up to 60 vol%) and crystal-poor bands, supports a process of melt differentiation through convective crystallization.     

Atrazine in a Stream-Aquifer System: Estimation of Aquifer Properties from Atrazine Concentration Profiles

Lincolns municipal wellfield consists of 44 wells developed in an alluvial aquifer adjacent to the Platte River near Ashland, Nebraska Induced recharge from the river is the primary source of water for the wellfield. Wafer samples were collected on a periodic basis from the Platte River arid two transects of monitoring wells. These samples were analyzed for the herbicide atrazine, which was used as a tracer of induced recharge in this stream-aquifer system. Atrazine concentrations in the river and aquifer were much less than 1.0 ppb during late fall and winter, but increased to as high as 18.9 ppb during spring and summer, associated with runoff from upgradient agricultural lands. There was approximately a 21-day lag time from the first detection of increasing atrazine concentration in the river to the first detection in monitoring wells immediately adjacent to the river. This lag time was relatively constant throughout the year and from one year to the next, even with major fluctuations of river stage and wellfield production. This consistency of lag time indicated that the travel times from the river to the first set of monitoring wells immediately adjacent to the river were fairly constant.
Paths of preferential flow were identified in the aquifer at a depth of 25 to 35 feet below land surface. This aquifer zone appeared to play a significant role in movement of water from beneath the river into the wellfield.
Aquifer dispersivity was calculated using a method described by Hoehn and Santschi (1987). Macrodispersivity (A_L) was shown to increase linearly over the scale of the wellfield. Calculated values of A_L were within limits of other reported values for this type of aquifer material and agreed well with values reported by Hoehn and Santschi (1987); These findings will be extremely beneficial for planning and management of the municipal wellfield.     

Observations concerning the nature of maceral fluorescence alteration with time

Distinctive features of the alteration of maceral fluorescence intensity with upon blue-light or UV excitation are related to the level of organic maturation. Alteration has been measured in different media; the results demonstrate clearly that the negative component of the alteration phenomenon is due to photochemical oxidation. Highly weathered bituminous coals do not display negative alteration because the potential for oxidation quenching has been reduced. The positive component of alteration is thought to be due to the creation of additional absorption centers and increased molecular rigidity as a result of photochemical oxidation and the enhancement of cross-linking among mobile phase and network molecules.     

Rapid upward transport of mid-crustal mylonitic gneisses in the footwall of a Miocene detachment fault,Whipple Mountains,southeastern California

Mylonitic gneisses of upper greenschist to middle amphibolite facies grade are exposed below the Whipple detachment fault in the Whipple Mountains metamorphic core complex. Fabric and microstructural analyses of the thick (>3.5 km) mylonitic sequence indicate that it represents an intracrustal zone of non-coaxial laminar flow with a predominant sense of northeastward shear. The top of this shear zone is the Whipple mylonitic front, the abruptly gradational (locally within several meters) upper limit of pervasive ductile strain between a distinctive sequence of non-mylonitized crystalline rocks and their lower, mylonitized equivalents. Mylonitization of Oligo-Miocene age (26±5 Ma) is estimated to have occurred at depths of 16±4 km (4.4±1.1 kb) and at temperatures between 460–535 °C. Fission track and⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations from the mylonitic rocks collectively document their rapid cooling from above 450 °C to below 200 °C between 20 and 18 Ma ago. Rapid cooling is attributed to post-20 Ma uplift of mylonitic gneisses in the footwall of an evolving low-angle detachment fault system of extensional origin. The NE-rooting Whipple fault system and the mylonites are kinematically coordinated (same sense and direction of shear), but the faults of the system appear to have cut across the mylonites several million years after their formation.Lower-plate mylonites reached the earth's surface, where they were eroded, prior to 16 Ma ago. Minimum uplift rates for the mylonites and detachment fault system slip rates for the period 20–16 Ma ago are 3 and 7.2 mm/yr, respectively, assuming that the mylonites were captured at a minimum depth of 12 km by a fault system that dipped 25° through the upper crust. From available cooling data, higher rates for 20–18 Ma ago are likely. Cumulative displacement of rock units across major faults of the Whipple system appears to exceed 40–45 km.

---

Zusammenfassung Im metamorphen Komplex der Whipple Mountains sind unterhalb der Whipple-Abscherung mylonitische Gneise der oberen Grünschieferfazies und mittleren Amphibolitfazies aufgeschlossen. Gefügeuntersuchungen innerhalb der mächtigen (>3,5 km) Mylonitsequenz zeigen, daß hier eine intrakrustale Zone nichtkoaxialen laminaren Fließens mit vorherrschend nordost gerichtetem Schersinn repräsentiert ist. Den obersten Teil dieser Scherzone bildet die Whipple Mylonitfront. Sie überspannt kontinuierlich innerhalb weniger Meter die Obergrenze durchdringender duktiler Deformation bis zu eindeutig nichtmylonitisierten Abfolgen kristalliner Gesteine und ihren tieferen mylonitisierten Äquivalenten. Es wird angenommen, daß die Mylonitisierung während des Oligo-Miozäns (26 ±1–5 Ma) in einer Tiefe von 16 ±4 km (4,4 ±1,1 kb) und bei Temperaturen zwischen 460–535 °C stattgefunden hat. Spaltspurenuntersuchungen und⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar-Datierungen aus den mylonitischen Gesteinen belegen zusammen ein rasches Abkühlen von über 450°C auf unter 200 °C im Zeitraum vor 20 bis 18 Ma. Die rasche Abkühlung wird dem vor 20 Ma beginnenden Aufstieg der mylonitischen Gneise am Fuß eines sich entwickelnden flachwinkligen, dehnungsbedingten Abscherungssystems zugeschrieben. Das nordost verwurzelte Whipple-Störungssystem und die Mylonite sind kinematisch gleichgerichtet, sie haben dieselbe Richtung und denselben Schersinn, dennoch haben die Störungen die Mylonite einige Millionen Jahre nach ihrer Bildung überschnitten. Tiefere Plattenmylonite erreichten so die Erdoberfläche und wurden vor 16 Ma erodiert. Die Minimalraten für den Aufstieg der Mylonite und die Bewegungen entlang der Abscherungssysteme für den Zeitraum vor 20 bis 16 Ma liegen jeweils zwischen 3 und 7,2 mm/yr. Dies unter der Annahme, daß die Mylonite in einer Tiefe von mindestens 12 km von einem mit 25° einfallenden Störungssystem geschnitten wurden. Aus den verfügbaren Daten müssen für den Zeitraum vor 20–18 Ma höhere Bewegungsraten angenommen werden. Der kumulative Versatz der Gesteinseinheiten entlang der Hauptstörungen des Whipplesystems scheint damit 40–45 km zu überschreiten.

---

Résumé Une série épaisse (>3,5 km) de gneiss mylonitiques allant du facies supérieur des schistes verts au facies moyen des amphibolites affleure sous la faille de décollement de Whipple dans le complexe métamorphique des Whipple Mountains. L'analyse des fabriques et des microstructures de cette série mylonitique montre qu'elle représente une zone intracrustale de flux laminaire non coaxial, avec un glissement prédominant vers le nord-est. Le sommet de cette shear-zone est le front mylonitique de Whipple, qui marque l'apparition brusque (localement en quelques mètres) de la déformation ductile pénétrative, entre une série supérieure cristalline non mylonitique et ses équivalents mylonitiques inférieurs. La mylonitisation, d'âge oligocène-miocène (26±5 Ma) a dû s'effectuer à une profondeur de 16±4 km (4,4±1,1 Kb) et à des températures comprises entre 460° et 535 °C Les traces de fission et des datations⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar montrent que les mylonites ont subi un refroidissement rapide de plus de 450 °C à moins de 200 °C entre 20 et 18 Ma. Ce refroidissement rapide est attribué à la montée, à partir de 20 Ma, des gneiss mylonitiques lors du développement du système de failles de décollement extensionnelles, dont ils formaient le mur. L'ensemble des failles, à pied NE, et les mylonites sont cinématiquement coordonnés; le glissement s'y est effectué dans la même direction et le même sens; cependant, les failles ont coupé les mylonites plusieurs Ma après la formation de celles-ci. Les mylonites de la plaque inférieure ont atteint la surface du sol et y ont été soumise à l'érosion avant 16 Ma. Si on admet une surface de décollement inclinée à 25° coupant les mylonites à une profondeur d'au moins 12 km, les vitesses minimales de la montée des mylonites et du mouvement de long du décollement entre 20 et 16 Ma, ont dû être respectivement de 3 mm/an et 7,2 mm/an. D'après les données fournies par le refroidissement, les vitesses devaient être plus élevées pendant la période de 18 à 20 Ma. Le déplacement des masses rocheuses de long des failles majeures du système de Whipple semble exéder 40 à 45 km.

---

Whipple Mountains Whipple. (3,5 ) , - -. Whipple. , . , (26 + / -1–5 ) 16 + / - 4 (4,4 + /-1,1 ) 460–535 °. (⁴⁰ r/³⁹r) 20 18 450 ° 200 °. , 20 , . Whippie, - , , , . . . 16 . 20 16 3 7,2 / . , , no- , 12 , 25. , 20 18 . Whipple, , . . 40–45 .

     

The correlation of summer precipitation in the southwestern U.S.A. with isotopic records of solar activity during the medieval warm period

Decreased solar activity correlates with positive cosmogenic isotope anomalies, and with cool, wet climate in temperate regions of the world. The relationship of isotope anomalies to climate may be the opposite for areas influenced by monsoonal precipitation, i.e., negative anomalies may be wet and warm. Petersen (1988) has found evidence for increased summer precipitation in the American Southwest that can be shown to be coincident with negative¹⁴C anomalies during the Medieval Warm Period. The present study compares palynological indicators of lake level for the Southwest with Petersen's data and with the¹⁴C isotope chronology. Percentages of aquatic pollen and algae from three sites within the Arizona Monsoon record greater lake depth or fresher water from A.D. 700–1350, between the Roman IV and Wolf positive isotope anomalies, thereby supporting Petersens's findings. Maximum summer moisture coincides with maximum population density of prehistoric people of the Southwest. However, water depth at a more northern site was low at this time, suggesting a climateisotope relationship similar to that of other temperate regions. Further analysis of latitudinal patterns is hampered by inadequate¹⁴C dating.