First investigations on the quaternary system Na2O-K2O-CaO-SiO2: synthesis and crystal structure of the mixed alkali calcium silicate K1.08Na0.92Ca6Si4O15

Mineralogy and Petrology - In the course of an exploratory study on the quaternary system Na2O-K2O-CaO-SiO2 single crystals of the first anhydrous sodium potassium calcium silicate have been...     

Quantifying Metabolically Driven pH and Oxygen Fluctuations in US Nearshore Habitats at Diel to Interannual Time Scales

We compiled and examined 15 years (2002–2016) of high-frequency monitoring data from the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) to characterize diel to interannual variability of pH and dissolved oxygen (DO, % saturation) across 16 diverse, shallow-water habitats along the US Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Pacific coasts. We asked whether these systems exhibit a common pH/DO relationship, whether there were detectable interannual trends in temperature, pH, and DO within and across systems, and how pH/DO dynamics would relate to measured levels of nutrients and chlorophyll. Our analyses confirmed that large, metabolically driven, and thus concurrent fluctuations of pH and DO are a unifying feature of nearshore habitats. Moreover, we derived well-constrained relationships that predict (i) monthly mean pH or (ii) mean diel pH fluctuations across systems based on habitat mean salinity and (i) mean DO or (ii) mean diel DO fluctuations. This suggests that common metabolic principles drive diel to seasonal pH/DO variations within as well as across a diversity of estuarine environments. Yearly pH and DO anomalies did not show monotonous trends over the study period and differed considerably between sites and regions. However, weekly anomalies of means, diel minima, and diel ranges of pH and DO changed significantly over time and were strongly correlated to temperature anomalies. These general patterns lend strong empirical support to the notion that coastal acidification—in addition to being driven by eutrophication and atmospheric CO₂ increases—is exacerbated simply by warming, likely via increasing community respiration. Nutrient and chlorophyll dynamics were inversely related in these shallow, well-mixed systems, but higher nutrient levels were still associated with lower pH and lower DO levels in most, but not all, systems. Our analyses emphasize the particular dynamics of nearshore habitats and the critical importance of NERRS and its system-wide monitoring program.     

Novel applications of fluid inclusions and isotope geochemistry in unravelling the genesis of fossil travertine systems

The Denizli Basin is a fault‐bounded Neogene–Quaternary depression located in the Western Anatolian Extensional Province, Western Turkey. The basin is a unique geological site with abundant active and fossil (Quaternary) travertine and tufa deposits. Fluid inclusion microthermometry and isotopic analysis were applied to study the genesis of the Ball?k fossil travertine deposits, located in the south‐eastern part of the basin. Microthermometry on fluid inclusions indicates that the main travertine precipitating and cementing fluids are characterized by low salinity (<0·7 wt% NaCl equivalent) and variable temperatures that cluster at <50°C and ca 100°C. Fluids of meteoric origin have been heated by migration to the deeper subsurface, possibly in a local high geothermal gradient setting. A later uncommon cementation phase is related to a fluid with a significantly higher salinity (25·5 to 26·0 wt% bulk). The fluid obtained its salinity by interaction with Late Triassic evaporite layers. Strontium isotopes indicate that the parent carbonate source rock of the different travertine precipitates is very likely to be the Triassic limestone of the Lycian Nappes. Carbon isotopes suggest that the parent CO₂ gas originated from thermal decarbonation of the Lycian limestones with minor contributions of magmatic degassing and organic soil CO₂. Oxygen isotopes confirm the meteoric origin of the fluids and indicate disequilibrium precipitation because of evaporation and degassing. Results were integrated within the available geological data of the Denizli Basin in a generalized travertine precipitation model, which enhanced the understanding of fossil travertine systems. The study highlights the novel application of fluid inclusion research in unravelling the genesis of continental carbonates and provides several recommendations for hydrocarbon exploration in travertine‐bearing sedimentary basins. The findings suggest that travertine bodies and their parent carbonate source rocks have the potential to constitute interesting subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs.     

Single-crystal structure and Raman spectroscopy of synthetic titanite analog CaAlSiO<Subscript>4</Subscript>F

Synthetic CaAlSiO₄F, the Al-F analog of titanite, has been investigated using single-crystal synchrotron diffraction experiments at Beamline X06DA (Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland) and Raman spectroscopy. The presented structural model with 40 parameters was refined against 506 unique reflections to a final R _{o b s} of 0.026 (space group A2/a, a = 6.9120(11), b = 8.5010(10), c = 6.435(2) Å, β = 114.670(11)°, and Z = 4) and exhibits less distorted coordination polyhedra than earlier models from powder data. Vibrational spectra were calculated in harmonic approximation at the Γ point from fully relaxed energy optimisations of the crystal structure, using 3D-periodic density functional theory with Gaussian basis sets and the software CRYSTAL06. The lattice parameters of the fully relaxed structure were in good agreement with the experimental values, with the calculated values 0.8 ± 0.4 % too large; the monoclinic angle was calculated 0.4° too large. The agreement of the calculated Raman frequencies with the observed ones was very good, with standard deviation ±3 cm^?1 and maximum deviations of ±7 cm^?1. Furthermore, a detailed discussion of the atomic displacements associated with each Raman mode is given.     

Human-ecosystem interactions in relation to Holocene environmental change in Port Joli Harbour,southwestern Nova Scotia,Canada

A high-resolution pollen record from Path Lake in Port Joli Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada, provides a paleo-ecological perspective on Holocene climate and vegetation variability within the context of local archaeological research. Pollen assemblages in the early Holocene reflect a post-glacial forest dominated by Pinus, Tsuga, Betula and Quercus. During this time, a lower frequency of radiocarbon dated cultural material suggests lower human settlement intensity. Shallow water aquatic (Isoetes) and wetland (Alnus, Sphagnum) taxa increased after 3400 cal yr BP in response to a transition towards wetter climatic conditions. Culturally significant periods, where settlement intensity increased in the Maritimes and Maine, coincide with maximum values of reconstructed total annual precipitation, suggesting that environmental conditions may have influenced prehistoric human activity. European settlement, after 350 cal yr BP, was marked by a rise in Ambrosia. The impact of anthropogenic fire disturbances on the landscape was evidenced by peak charcoal accumulations after European settlement.     

The Kilo-Degree Survey

The Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS) is a 1500 square degree optical imaging survey with the recently commissioned OmegaCAM wide-field imager on the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). A suite of data products will be delivered to the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the community by the KiDS survey team. Spread over Europe, the KiDS team uses Astro-WISE as its main tool to collaborate efficiently and pool hardware resources. In Astro-WISE the team shares, calibrates and archives all survey data. The data-centric architectural design realizes a dynamic ‘live archive’ in which new KiDS survey products of improved quality can be shared with the team and eventually the full astronomical community in a flexible and controllable manner.     

Stellar intensity interferometry: Prospects for sub-milliarcsecond optical imaging

Using kilometric arrays of air Cherenkov telescopes at short wavelengths, intensity interferometry may increase the spatial resolution achieved in optical astronomy by an order of magnitude, enabling images of rapidly rotating hot stars with structures in their circumstellar disks and winds, or mapping out patterns of nonradial pulsations across stellar surfaces. Intensity interferometry (once pioneered by Hanbury Brown and Twiss) connects telescopes only electronically, and is practically insensitive to atmospheric turbulence and optical imperfections, permitting observations over long baselines and through large airmasses, also at short optical wavelengths. The required large telescopes (～10 m) with very fast detectors (～ns) are becoming available as the arrays primarily erected to measure Cherenkov light emitted in air by particle cascades initiated by energetic gamma rays. Planned facilities (e.g., CTA, Cherenkov Telescope Array) envision many tens of telescopes distributed over a few square km. Digital signal handling enables very many baselines (from tens of meters to over a kilometer) to be simultaneously synthesized between many pairs of telescopes, while stars may be tracked across the sky with electronic time delays, in effect synthesizing an optical interferometer in software. Simulated observations indicate limiting magnitudes around m_V = 8, reaching angular resolutions ～30 μarcsec in the violet. The signal-to-noise ratio favors high-temperature sources and emission-line structures, and is independent of the optical passband, be it a single spectral line or the broad spectral continuum. Intensity interferometry directly provides the modulus (but not phase) of any spatial frequency component of the source image; for this reason a full image reconstruction requires phase retrieval techniques. This is feasible if sufficient coverage of the interferometric (u, v)-plane is available, as was verified through numerical simulations. Laboratory and field experiments are in progress; test telescopes have been erected, intensity interferometry has been achieved in the laboratory, and first full-scale tests of connecting large Cherenkov telescopes have been carried out. This paper reviews this interferometric method in view of the new possibilities offered by arrays of air Cherenkov telescopes, and outlines observational programs that should become realistic already in the rather near future.     

Approximate copula-based estimation and prediction of discrete spatial data

The present paper reports on the use of copula functions to describe the distribution of discrete spatial data, e.g. count data from environmental mapping or areal data analysis. In particular, we consider approaches to parameter point estimation and propose a fast method to perform approximate spatial prediction in copula-based spatial models with discrete marginal distributions. We assess the goodness of the resulting parameter estimates and predictors under different spatial settings and guide the analyst on which approach to apply for the data at hand. Finally, we illustrate the methodology by analyzing the well-known Lansing Woods data set. Software that implements the methods proposed in this paper is freely available in Matlab language on the author’s website.     

MOISTURE TRAJECTORIES ASSOCIATED WITH HEAVY RAINFALL IN THE APPALACHIAN REGION OF THE UNITED STATES

Synoptic data associated with a sample of 554 heavy rainfall events is utilized to carry out a trajectory analysis that identifies the movements of moisture towards regions of heavy rain. Both seasonal and regional variations are found in the moisture trajectories associated with heavy rain events occurring in three regions in the Appalachian study area. Numerous events in the region west of the mountain range are tied to westerly and south-southwesterly circulations that bring moisture from the Mississippi River Valley and the Gulf of Mexico during the warm and cool seasons, respectively. Many events southeast of the mountain range are associated with southerly to southeasterly circulations that advect moisture from the Atlantic Ocean. Because of orographic precipitation enhancement and a good exposure to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, the southern and southeastern slopes of the Appalachian mountains display high frequencies of heavy rainfall, particularly during the cool season. The interior portions of the mountain range and the adjacent plateau to the northwest, on the other hand, are sheltered from moisture source regions and, therefore, exhibit low heavy rain frequencies. [Key words: precipitation, synoptic climatology, Appalachia.]     

Leaf Surface Wettability and Implications for Drop Shedding and Evaporation from Forest Canopies

Wettability and retention capacity of leaf surfaces are parameters that contribute to interception of rain, fog or dew by forest canopies. Contrary to common expectation, hydrophobicity or wettability of a leaf do not dictate the stickiness of drops to leaves. Crucial for the adhesion of drops is the contact angle hysteresis, the difference between leading edge contact angle and trailing edge contact angle for a running drop. Other parameters that are dependent on the static contact angle are the maximum volume of drops that can stick to the surface and the persistence of an adhering drop with respect to evaporation. Adaption of contact angle and contact angle hysteresis allow one to pursue different strategies of drop control, for example efficient water shedding or maximum retention of adhering water. Efficient water shedding is achieved if contact angle hysteresis is low. Retention of (isolated) large drops requires a high contact angle hysteresis and a static contact angle of 65.5°, while maximum retention by optimum spacing of drops necessitates a high contact angle hysteresis and a static contact angle of 111.6°. Maximum persistence with respect to evaporation is obtained if the static contact angle amounts to 77.5°, together with a high contact angle hysteresis. It is to be expected that knowledge of these parameters can contribute to the capacity of a forest to intercept water.