Optically stimulated luminescence age of the Old Cedar midden, St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, Florida

We report optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating results from the Old Cedar midden in St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, located between the Gulf of Mexico and St. Joseph Bay near Port St. Joe, FL, USA. The Old Cedar site (8GU85) is located on top of a relict beach ridge which is actively eroding into St. Joseph Bay. Old Cedar is noted for its conch shell tool assemblage, otherwise rare at northwest Florida archaeological sites, and is believed to have been utilized during the Late Woodland Weeden Island and possibly the Fort Walton periods [Benchley, E.D., Bense, J.A., 2001. Archaeology and history of St. Joseph Peninsula State Park: Phase I investigations. Report of Investigations, No. 89, University of West Florida Archaeology Institute]. After removing surficial erosion deposits, we extracted OSL core samples from both the midden layer and the underlying beach ridge. The resulting OSL age is compared with the age of another beach ridge on St. Joseph Peninsula. We hope that this study will aid in the investigation and conservation of Old Cedar specifically and other Weeden Island sites in the St. Joseph Bay area.     

The influence of porosity gradients on mixing coefficients in sediments

The surface layer of aquatic sediments is a zone characterized by both porosity gradients and intensive mixing. In the standard approach, porosity gradients are ignored when estimating mixing intensity. Here, model formulations with both constant and varying porosity are contrasted to estimate mixing coefficients D_b from tracer depth profiles. Complementing the well-known exponential solution of the constant-porosity model, we present a general solution to the variable-porosity model in terms of hypergeometric functions. When using these models in a forward way, the tracer activities predicted by the variable-porosity model are higher than those generated by the constant-porosity model. Similarly, when inverse modelling, D_b values estimated by the variable-porosity model are systematically higher than those derived from the constant-porosity model. Still, differences in D_b values remain relatively small. When applying both mixing models to excess ²¹⁰Pb data profiles from slope sediments, a maximal difference of 30% is obtained between D_b values, the average deviation being 16%. A systematic exploration of parameter space predicts a maximal underestimation of 60% when deriving D_b values from the constant-porosity mixing model. Given the uncertainty imposed by other model assumptions underlying the diffusive mixing model, the influence of porosity gradients on D_b values must be classified as rather modest. Hence, the current mixing coefficient database is not biased by the constant porosity approximation.     

Intercomparison of Boron Isotope and Concentration Measurements. Part II: Evaluation of Results

The Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse (IGG), on behalf and with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), prepared eight geological materials (three natural waters and five rocks and minerals), intended for a blind interlaboratory comparison of measurements of boron isotopic composition and concentration. The materials were distributed to twenty seven laboratories - virtually all those performing geochemical boron isotope analyses in the world -which agreed to participate in the intercomparison exercise. Only fifteen laboratories, however, ultimately submitted the isotopic and/or concentration results they obtained on the intercomparison materials. The results demonstrate that interlaboratory reproducibility is not well reflected by the precision values reported by the individual laboratories and this observation holds true for both boron concentration and isotopic composition. The reasons for the discrepancies include fractionations due to the chemical matrix of materials, relative shift of the zero position on the δ¹¹B scale and a lack of well characterized materials for calibrating absolute boron content measurements. The intercomparison materials are now available at the IAEA (solid materials) and IGG (waters) for future distribution.     

Desiccation tolerance ofEurypanopeus depressus (smith) (Decapoda: Xanthidae) and the exploitation of microhabitat

Investigations into zonation of estuarine invertebrates often indicate that animals living higher in the intertidal region have greater tolerance to effects of aerial exposure. Desiccation tolerances ofEurypanopeus depressus, a xanthid mud crab, were measured in the laboratory for both intertidal and subtidal populations to determine whether intertidal distribution is the result of either increased physiological resistance to drying or other factors. Initially, both populations had a similar percentage of body weight due to water, and at time of death both had lost a similar percentage of water. Desiccation tolerance increased exponentially with size. In laboratory experiments,E. depressus appears very susceptible to desiccation stress with loss of tactile response occurring at 30% depletion of body water. This crab may be able to avoid desiccation and survive in the intertidal zone by remaining in the shelter and moisture of oyster shells and mud at low tide. However,E. depressus may not be limited strictly by physical factors of its environment. Biotic factors such as behavior leading to predator avoidance are possibly more important components in limiting distribution.     

A freshwater population of the mummichog,Fundulus heteroclitus,from the Susquehanna River drainage in Pennsylvania

An established population of mummichog,Fundulus heteroclitus, in the Susquehanna drainage is reported from Pennsylvania for the first time. Three year classes of this brackish water species were taken on 17 August 1976 from Letort Spring Run, a tributary of the Conodoguinet Creek in Cumberland County. A survey of unpublished records and museum specimens revealed occurrences in Wissahickon Creek, Montgomery County, and Brandywine Creek, Chester County; both Delaware drainage. Presence in these drainages is believed the result of bait bucket introduction.     

Detection of centripetal heat-island circulations from tower data in St. Louis

Hourly averaged meteorological data gathered by a 25-tower network about St. Louis during 1976 are used in a search for centripetal circulations generated by the urban heat island. Considering data collected when the network resultant speed was less than 1.5 m s^-1, two data classes of several hundred hours each are formed. One class is associated with weak heat islands, daytime hours, and convective instability, while the other class is associated with strong heat islands, nighttime hours, and extreme rural stability. Mean centripetal flows are clearly discernible from data of both classes, but the convergence is stronger for the flows associated with the weaker heat islands. This unexpected result is explained in terms of the ease with which sustained vertical motions can be generated over the city by the available forcing under different stability regimes. The detectability of the heat-island influence diminishes very rapidly with increasing speed of the large-scale flow.On assignment from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U. S. Department of Commerce.     

Copper-nickel-enriched ferromanganese nodules and associated crusts from the Bauer Basin,northwest Nazca plate

Analysis of a suite of ferromanganese nodules and crusts from the dredge Y73-3-22D in the Bauer Deep (13°40′S, 102°08′W) shows distinct differences between the nodules and crusts. Ultra-slow-scan X-ray diffraction shows that the nodules are more enriched in todorokite while the crusts are more enriched in δ MnO₂. Both have phillipsite and smectite as accessory minerals as well as minor amounts of apatite, barite, and quartz. Chemical analyses show that the nodules also have higher abundances of Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Ba, while crusts are more enriched in Fe, Co, and Ca. We suggest that normal authigenic precipitation of ferromanganese oxyhydroxides from seawater controls the mineralogy and chemistry of the crusts, while nodule mineralogy and chemistry are governed by small-scale diagenetic reactions in the sediment. Todorokite may form because iron in the Fe-Mn oxyhydroxide material dispersed in the sediment reacts with amorphous silica to form iron-rich smectites. The remaining oxyhydroxide material recrystallizes as todorokite.