The plane of polarization of the solar coronal emission on August 11, 1999

A two-dimensional polarization image of the inner regions of the solar corona (R≤1.5R _?) during the total solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 is presented. This image clearly exhibits both small-and large-scale structure in the distribution of deviations of the plane of polarization from its theoretical direction for coronal emission in the near infrared (570–800 nm). An accuracy for the deviation angles of ≤1° was achieved by reducing the instrumental scattered light in the telescope, installing a continuously rotating polaroid near the image plane of the entrance pupil (i.e., the Lyot stop plane), and developing a special algorithm for constructing the polarization images based on the IDL software, in which the properties of the light are described in terms of the Stokes parameters. This algorithm was used to process 24 digitized polarization images of the corona, corresponding to one complete rotation of the polaroid. Analysis of the polarization image for angles of 0°–5° indicates the existence of significant deviations in the inner corona. The polar and equatorial coronal regions are characterized by diffuse and almost uniform structure of the deviation angles, 0.5° ± 0.5°, corresponding to Thomson scattering of the photospheric radiation by free electrons. Four large-scale structures over the NE, SE, NW, and SW limbs covering about 60° in position angle have deviations of 1°–3°. Numerous small-scale structures with dimensions up to 30″ and deviation angles of 3°–5° tracing strongly curved coronal streamers were detected in active coronal regions, especially over the NE limb. Interpretation of these deviations in terms of flows of moving electrons implies tangential velocities of up to 2.5×10⁴ km/s, i.e., electron energies of up to 2×10³ eV.     

The spray contribution to net evaporation from the sea: A review of recent progress

The part that sea spray plays in the air-sea transfer of heat and moisture has been a controversial question for the last two decades. With general circulation models (GCMs) suggesting that perturbations in the Earth's surface heat budget of only a few W m^–2 can initiate major climatic variations, it is crucial that we identify and quantify all the terms in that heat budget. Thus, here we review recent work on how sea spray contributes to the sea surface heat and moisture budgets. In the presence of spray, the near-surface atmosphere is characterized by a droplet evaporation layer (DEL) with a height that scales with the significant-wave amplitude. The majority of spray transfer processes occur within this layer. As a result, the DEL is cooler and more moist than the atmospheric surface layer would be under identical conditions but without the spray. Also, because the spray in the DEL provides elevated sources and sinks for heat and moisture, the vertical heat fluxes are no longer constant with height. We use Eulerian and Lagrangian models and a simple analytical model to study the processes important in spray droplet dispersion and evaporation within this DEL. These models all point to the conclusion that, in high winds (above about 15 m/s), sea spray begins to contribute significantly to the air-sea fluxes of heat and moisture. For example, we estimate that, in a 20-m/s wind, with an air temperature of 20°C, a sea surface temperature of 22°C, and a relative humidity of 80%, the latent and sensible heat fluxes resulting from the spray alone will have magnitudes of order 150 and 15 W/m², respectively, in the DEL. Finally, we speculate on what fraction of these fluxes rise out of the DEL and, thus, become available to the entire marine boundary layer.     

Finite element modeling of the July 12, 1993 Hokkaido Nansei-Oki tsunami

A fault plane model and a finite element hydrodynamic model are applied to the simulation of the Hokkaido Nansei-Oki tsunami of July 12, 1993. The joint performance of the models is assessed based on the overall ability to reproduce observed tsunami waveforms and to preserve mass and energy during tsunami propagation. While a number of observed characteristics of the waveforms are satisfactorily reproduced (in particular, amplitudes and arrival times at tidal gauges relatively close to the source, and general patterns of energy concentration), others are only marginally so (notably, wave periods at the same gauges, and wave heights along Okushiri); differences between observations and simulations are traceable to both the fault plane and the hydrodynamic models. Nonnegligible losses of energy occur throughout the simulated tsunami propagation. These losses seem to be due to a combination of factors, including numerical damping and possible deficiencies of the shallow water equations in preserving energy.     

The aquatic chemistry of rare earth elements in rivers and estuaries

Laboratory experiments were carried out to determine how pH, colloids and salinity control the fractionation of rare earth elements (REEs) in river and estuarine waters. By using natural waters as the reaction media (river water from the Connecticut, Hudson and Mississippi Rivers) geochemical reactions can be studied in isolation from the large temporal and spatial variability inherent in river and estuarine chemistry. Experiments, field studies and chemical models form a consistent picture whereby REE fractionation is controlled by surface/solution reactions. The concentration and fractionation of REEs dissolved in river waters are highly pH dependent. Higher pH results in lower concentrations and more fractionated composition relative to the crustal abundance. With increasing pH the order of REE adsorption onto river particle surfaces is LREEs > MREEs > HREEs. With decreasing pH, REEs are released from surfaces in the same order. Within the dissolved (<0.22 µm) pool of river waters, Fe-organic colloids are major carriers of REEs. Filtration through filters and ultrafilters with progressively finer pore sizes results in filtrates which are lower in absolute concentrations and more fractionated. The order of fractionation with respect to shale, HREEs > MREEs > LREEs, is most pronounced in the solution pool, defined here as <5K and <50K ultrafiltrates. Colloidal particles have shale-like REE compositions and are highly LREE enriched relative to the REE composition of the dissolved and solution pools. The addition of sea water to river water causes the coagulation of colloidal REEs within the dissolved pool. Fractionation accompanies coagulation with the order of sea water-induced removal being LREEs > MREEs > HREEs. While the large scale removal of dissolved river REEs in estuaries is well established, the release of dissolved REEs off river particles is a less studied process. Laboratory experiments show that there is both release and fractionation of REEs when river particles are leached with seawater. The order of sea water-induced release of dissolved REE(III) (LREEs > MREEs > HREEs) from Connecticut River particles is the same as that associated with lowering the pH and the same as that associated with colloidal particles. River waters, stripped of their colloidal particles by coagulation in estuaries, have highly evolved REE composition. That is, the solution pool of REEs in river waters are strongly HREE-enriched and are fractionated to the same extent as that of Atlantic surface seawater. This strengthens the conclusions of previous studies that the evolved REE composition of sea water is coupled to chemical weathering on the continents and reactions in estuaries. Moreover, the release of dissolved Nd from river particles to sea water may help to reconcile the incompatibility between the long oceanic residence times of Nd (7100 yr) and the inter-ocean variations of the Nd isotopic composition of sea water. Using new data on dissolved and particle phases of the Amazon and Mississippi Rivers, a comparison of field and laboratory experiments highlights key features of REE fractionation in major river systems. The dissolved pool of both rivers is highly fractionated (HREE enriched) with respect to the REE composition of their suspended particles. In addition, the dissolved pool of the Mississippi River has a large negative Ce-anomaly suggesting in-situ oxidation of Ce(III). One intriguing feature is the well developed maximum in the middle REE sector of the shale normalized patterns for the dissolved pool of Amazon River water. This feature might reflect competition between surface adsorption and solution complexation with carbonate and phosphate anions.     

La rétromorphose du talc dans les dolomies métallifères de Boukdema (Algérie); discussion du rôle des fluides

Résumé Les échantillons étudiés proviennent du gîte stratiforme de Boukdema (Algérie), où l'on observe notamment l'association dolomite-quartz-talcsphalérite. L'étude des inclusions fluides primaires des quartz contemporains, selon toute vraisemblance, de la dissolution partielle du talc, montre que ceux-ci se sont développés dans des solutions de salinités très variables (entre 4 et 28% en équivalent pondéral NaCl). L'hypothèse d'une ébullition des solutions (par suite d'une chute brutale de pression) rend compte de ce fait inhabituel. Dans le cadre d'un tel modèle, les corrections dues à la pression sont nulles et l'on peut en déduire à partir des mesures de températures d'homogénéïsation que la croissance du quartz s'est amorcée vers 250 °C. Compte tenu de cette indication thermométrique, on discute enfin du rôle relatif des facteurs physiques et chimiques (T, f_{CO 2}, a_Mg/a_Ca) sur la stabilité du talc dans le contexte minéralogique du gîte de Boukdema.

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The samples studied were collected in the Boukdema stratabound deposit (Algeria), where the association dolomite-quartz-talc-sphalerite occurs. Cryoscopic investigations of fluid inclusions in quartz indicate a wide salinity range in mineral forming fluids (4 to 28 weight % NaCl eq). Boiling of hydrothermal fluids possibly explains this unusual characteristic. In this hypothesis thermometric data need no pressure corrections and one may conclude that quartz growth (and simultaneously talc dissolution) occurred in the 250°–200 °C range. On the basis of this last indication, the relative role of T, f_{CO 2}, a_Mg/a_Ca, on talc stability is discussed in the mineralogical environment of Boukdema.

     

The system diopside-nepheline-leucite

The system diopside-nepheline-leucite, representing a join in the undersaturated part of the system nepheline (Ne)-kalsilite (Ks)-CaO-MgO-SiO₂, has been investigated at atmospheric pressure. The system is pseudoternary and cuts the primary phase volumes of forsterite solid solution (Fo_ss), diopside solid solution (Di_ss), nepheline solid solution (Ne_ss), carnegieite solid solution (Cg_ss), and leucite solid solution (Lc_ss). Melilite (Mel) occurs as a subliquidus phase. The phase diagram has two four-phase points: 1. one at 1275±5° C and Di₆₀Ne₈Lc₃₂ where liquid coexists with Fo_ss, Di_ss and Lc_ss, corresponding to olivine (Ol) leucitite; 2. the other at 1194±5° C and Di_27.5Ne_29.5Lc₄₃ where Ne_ss, Fo_ss and Lc_ss coexist with liquid, corresponding to Ol-Ne italite. With decreasing temperature, liquid moves from point (1) to a five-phase assemblage (3) where liquid is in equilibrium with Fo_ss, Di_ss, Mel and Lc_ss (1258±5°C), which is representative of Ol-Mel-leucitite. From point (2) liquid moves to a second five-phase assemblage (4), where Fo_ss, Mel, Ne_ss, Lc_ss and liquid are in equilibrium (1175±5°C, corresponding to a Lc-Ne katungite. The assemblage Fo_ss+Ne_ss+Di_ss+Mel+Lc_ss+ liquid, is reached between 1168° and 1100° C and corresponds to Ol-Mel-Ne leucitite. Fo_ss reacts with liquid and disappears. Near the point (1) it disappears at 1135±10° C, whereas near the point (2) it reacts out at 1060±10° C. Near the join Di-Ne it disappears at 950±10° C. The final assemblage in the system is representative of Mel-Ne leucitite.Presented at the symposium Recent Advances in the Studies of Rocks and Minerals at High Pressures and Temperatures held in Montreal, 1972. Jointly sponsored by the International Mineralogical Association and the Commission on Experimental Petrologie.     

Abundance of 17 trace elements in carbonaceous chondrites

Seventeen trace elements (Ag, Au, Bi, Br, Cd, Cs, Ge, In, Ir, Rb, Re, Sb, Se, Te, Tl, U and Zn) were measured by neutron activation analysis in 8 C1 samples (1 Alais, 3 Ivuna, 4 Orgueil) and in 3 C2 samples (one each of Mighei, Murchison, Murray). The results show far less scatter than earlier literature data. The standard deviation of a single measurement from the mean of 8 C1 samples lies between 2 and 14 per cent, except for the following 4 elements: Au ±18 per cent, Ag ±22 per cent, Rb ±19 per cent and Br ±33 per cent. The first two probably reflect contamination and sample heterogeneity, the last two, analytical error. Apparently C1 chondrites have a far more uniform composition than some authors have claimed.The new data suggest significant revisions in cosmic abundance for the following elements (old values in parentheses): Zn 1250 (1500), Cd 1.51 (2.12), Ir 0.72 (0.43) atoms/10⁶ Si atoms. The Br value is also lower, 6.8 vs 20.6, but may be affected by analytical error.Relative to C1 chondrites, the C2 chondrites Mighei, Murchison and Murray are depleted in volatile elements by a factor of 0.508 ± 0.038, much more constant than indicated by oldor data. Ordinary chondrites also show a more uniform depletion relative to the new C1 data. The mean depletion factor of Sb, F, Cu, Ga, Ge, Sn, S, Se, Te and Ag is 0.227 ± 0.027 in H-chondrites. This constancy further strengthens the case for the two-component model of chondrite formation.     

Lunar crater Copernicus: search for debris of impacting body at Apollo 12 site

In an attempt to characterize meteoritic material at the Apollo 12 site, 4 KREEP concentrates from soil 12033 have been analyzed by neutron activation analysis. These contain a meteoritic component in which siderophile Ir, Re and Sb are depleted by about a factor of 2, while volatile Se, Zn, Ag and Bi are depleted by a factor of more than 5 relative to Au. This pattern does not closely resemble any major chondrite or iron meteorite group, but is very similar to that observed in high-alkali samples from Apollo 14. The meteoritic component in KREEP at both sites is therefore predominantly derived from Imbrian ejecta. However, a second, small component of primitive composition seems to be present in Apollo 12 KREEP, judging from the slight, uniform enrichments in Ir, Re, Sb, Se and Zn relative to Au. This component does not seem to be due to micrometeorites. If it is attributed to the Copernican projectile, the crater Copernicus may have been formed by a cometary nucleus, 4 km in diameter, with an impact velocity of 30–40 km/sec. These conclusions depend critically on the assumption that the meteoritic component in Apollo 12 KREEP is representative of the entire impact.