Single-crystal x-ray diffraction of brucite to 14 GPa

Single-crystal brucite, Mg(OH)₂, was studied to 14 GPa in a quasi-hydrostatic pressure medium using a diamond anvil cell and energy-dispersive synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The parameters of a third-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state fit to the data are: K _OT=42(2) GPa, and (?K _OT/?P)_T= 5.7(5). The bulk modulus is significantly lower than that obtained in recent shock compression and powder x-ray diffraction experiments under non-hydrostatic conditions. No evidence was found for a transition involving the Mg -O sub-structure over the pressure range of these experiments. This implies that the structural change previously identified at high pressure by Raman spectroscopy probably involves rearrangement of hydrogen atoms, leaving the Mg — O substructure largely unaffected.     

Use of clast shape in determining the sedimentary history of the late devonian keepit conglomerate,Australia

Clasts of the Late Devonian Keepit Conglomerate of northeastern New South Wales, Australia, are predominantly andesites of isotropic nature that lack any apparent initial shape controls. Given adequate time in a particular environment, these clasts could be reasonably expected to develop shapes characteristic of abrasion within that environment.Clasts from both fluvial and marine resedimented conglomerates of the Keepit Conglomerate possess shape characteristics indicative of shaping within a fluvial environment. Maximum projection sphericity, and a plot of sphericity against either the oblate-prolate index or the flatness parameter C/A, were the most useful in indicating fluvial shaping processes. In addition, the $\text{OP}$ Index and the dominant form classes of the Sneed and Folk Sphericity-Form diagram were in support of a fluvial history for the clasts.The occurrence of clasts exhibiting typical fluvial shapes in marine resedimented conglomerates indicates a lack of time and/or insufficient energy in a beach environment for reshaping of the clasts prior to resedimentation into deeper-water submarine-fan environments. This interpretation is consistent with and lends support to the interpretation, based on all other available data, for the Keepit Conglomerate of a history of rapid progradation of fluvial gravels into a relatively low-energy coastline environment, with periodic resedimentation of coarse sediment into deeper water.     

On the linear elastic responses of the 2D bonded discrete element model

The bonded discrete element model (DEM) is a numerical tool that is becoming widely used when studying fracturing, fragmentation, and failure of solids in various disciplines. However, its abilities to solve elastic problems are usually overlooked. In this work, the main features of the 2D bonded DEM which influence Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus, and accuracy when solving elastic boundary value problems, are investigated. Outputs of numerical simulations using the 2D bonded DEM, the finite element method, a hyper elasticity analysis, and the distinct lattice spring model (DLSM) are compared in the investigation. It is shown that a shear interaction (local) factor and a geometric (global) factor are two essential elements for the 2D bonded DEM to reproduce a full range of Poisson's ratios. It is also found that the 2D bonded DEM might be unable to reproduce the correct displacements for elastic boundary value problems when the represented Poisson's ratio is close to 0.5 or the long-range interaction is considered. In addition, an analytical relationship between the shear stiffness ratio and the Poisson's ratio, derived from a hyper elasticity analysis and applicable to discontinuum-based models, provides good agreement with outputs from the 2D bonded DEM and DLSM. Finally, it is shown that the selection of elastic parameters used the 2D bonded DEM has a significant effect on fracturing and fragment patterns of solids.     

A revised evolutionary history of armadillos (Dasypus) in North America based on ancient mitochondrial DNA

The large, beautiful armadillo, Dasypus bellus, first appeared in North America about 2.5 million years ago, and was extinct across its southeastern US range by 11 thousand years ago (ka). Within the last 150 years, the much smaller nine‐banded armadillo, D. novemcinctus, has expanded rapidly out of Mexico and colonized much of the former range of the beautiful armadillo. The high degree of morphological similarity between these two species has led to speculation that they might be a single, highly adaptable species with phenotypical responses and geographical range fluctuations resulting from environmental changes. If this is correct, then the biology and tolerance limits for D. novemcinctus could be directly applied to the Pleistocene species, D. bellus. To investigate this, we isolated ancient mitochondrial DNA from late Pleistocene‐age specimens of Dasypus from Missouri and Florida. We identified two genetically distinct mitochondrial lineages, which most likely correspond to D. bellus (Missouri) and D. novemcinctus (Florida). Surprisingly, both lineages were isolated from large specimens that were identified previously as D. bellus. Our results suggest that D. novemcinctus, which is currently classified as an invasive species, was already present in central Florida around 10 ka, significantly earlier than previously believed.     

Grain‐size distributions on high‐energy sandy beaches and their relation to wave dissipation

Grain size and sorting represent two key parameters when characterizing sediments or modelling beach morphology and sediment transport. Traditionally, an average value for grain size or sorting is often assumed for the entire area, determined from only a few sediment samples, ignoring any spatial (or temporal) variability in sediment characteristics. This contribution uses a data set of physical surface sediment samples from 53 beach locations around the south‐west peninsula of the United Kingdom, in addition to bi‐monthly, high spatial resolution (mean 240 samples) digital grain‐size surveys from a high‐energy, oceanic, sandy beach (Perranporth, North Cornwall). Systematic spatial variations in grain size and sorting were consistently observed in the seaward direction across the intertidal zone of sandy beaches, with grain‐sizes coarsening and sorting improving by up to 51·7% and 64·3%, respectively. This variability was deterministically related to the time‐averaged, antecedent‐adjusted energy dissipated by breaking waves, with the observed maximum grain‐size and sorting values correlating with the location of peak wave energy dissipation (r² = 0·998, P < 0·01).     

Lateglacial palaeoenvironments and palaeoclimates from Conty and Houdancourt, northern France, reconstructed from Beetle remains

Two Lateglacial insect sequences are described (a) from Conty, in the Selle valley and (b) from Houdancourt in the Oise valley, both in northern France. These investigations are part of a multidisciplinary investigation involving archaeology, sedimentology, geomorphology, geochronology and palaeontology (pollen, macroscopic plant remains, vertebrates, molluscs and insect fossils). The sequences of insect assemblages date from the latter part of the Bølling to the end of the Allerød periods. Environmental analysis of these faunas shows that rivers with riffles and pools meandered across flood plains. The river was extensively fringed with reedy vegetation. The only trees growing close to the river were of Salix and/or Populus. All the insect assemblages indicate that the thermal climates during the Bølling and Allerød periods were similar to one another and during both periods were very nearly as warm as that of the present day. No insect fossils were recovered from the sediments attributed to the Older Dryas interval though other evidence from these sites suggests that this event was decidedly colder than those immediately preceding and succeeding it. Comparisons are made between Lateglacial climatic patterns in northern France with those elsewhere in Europe.     

Relationships among some locally conservative discretization methods which handle discontinuous coefficients

This paper presents the relationships between some numerical methods suitable for a heterogeneous elliptic equation with application to reservoir simulation. The methods discussed are the classical mixed finite element method (MFEM), the control-volume mixed finite element method (CVMFEM), the support operators method (SOM), the enhanced cell-centered finite difference method (ECCFDM), and the multi-point flux-approximation (MPFA) control-volume method. These methods are all locally mass conservative, and handle general irregular grids with anisotropic and heterogeneous discontinuous permeability. In addition to this, the methods have a common weak continuity in the pressure across the edges, which in some cases corresponds to Lagrange multipliers. It seems that this last property is an essential common quality for these methods. T.F. Russell: Partially supported by the National Science Foundation Grant Nos. DMS-0084438 and DMS-0222300.     

Evidence of multiple late-Wisconsin floods from glacial Lake Missoula in Badger Coulee,Washington

Catastrophic floods from glacial Lake Missoula entered the Pasco Basin in south-central Washington and backflooded its marginal valleys. Badger Coulee, one such valley, contains beds of fine-grained slackwater sediment deposited by these floods. The slackwater sediment contains two ash layers of the Mount St. Helens set S tephra, about 13,000 yr old. The ash was deposited on a ground surface developed atop slackwater sediment deposited during preash flooding. Evidence of the former ground surface includes the reworked ash, inferred trace fossils, stream and debris-flow deposits, slopewash and/or eolian sediment, and colluvium at the ash horizon. These features and the ash were buried by slackwater sediment deposited during postash flooding. Nonflood, subaerial deposits are not present atop other beds. Instead, beds commonly are reversely graded across “contacts,” suggesting that multiple beds were continuously deposited. The exposed beds thus record at least two late-Wisconsin floods, one preash, the other postash. The pre- and postash floods may be correlative with earlier-reported floods thought to have occurred 17,500-14,000 and 14,000–13,000 yr B.P., respectively.     

Analytical derivation of water retention for random monodisperse granular media

The mechanics of water retention in unsaturated granular media is of critical importance to a broad range of disciplines including soil science, geotechnical engineering, hydrology and agriculture. Fundamental to water retention is the relationship between degree of saturation and suction, referred to as the water retention curve (WRC). The majority of WRC models are empirically based and seldom incorporate physically meaningful parameters. This study presents an analytical model for the WRC that considers separate contributions from fully filled pores and partially filled pores containing liquid bridges. A recently established unique k-gamma pore volume distribution function for randomly assembled monodisperse granular materials is adopted to determine the contributions of fully filled pores. Calculation of the contribution of residual pore water retained in partially filled pores is undertaken by representing pores as individual cells shaped as platonic shapes of various sizes and determining the volume of all liquid bridges suspended between particles within the pore cells. Weighting factors for the various cell types are obtained from the pore volume distribution to determine the relative contribution of different pore cell geometries to the total residual pore water. The combined model accurately describes experimental data for monodisperse spherical glass beads for both wetting and drying, even though the underlying assumptions do not reflect exactly the complex, interconnected and highly irregular geometry of the pore space. A single parameter provides the lateral shift between the wetting and drying curves. The results of this study provide a geometric understanding of the mechanisms of water retention in granular media.