A detailed study of the distribution of heat flow and radioactivity in New Hampshire (U.S.A.)

We present a set of 39 new determinations of heat flow and radiogenic heat production for several different geological environments in the State of New Hampshire (U.S.A.). With the extensive data set now available for the state, the linear relation of heat flow and heat production appears as a very useful generalization for the study of the heat flow field of a geological province. Our measurements indicate that the vertical distribution of radiogenic heat production is similar in plutonic and metasedimentary rocks. Our data are compatible with the linear relationship established earlier by F. Birch and his co-workers in 1968. Young granites are markedly enriched in radioactive elements and those which do not outcrop are revealed by anomalies in the general relation of heat flow versus radioactivity.Heat flow is high for plutons by low elsewhere. The mean heat flow through metasedimentary formations is 1.15 μcal/cm² s (48 mW/m²), a value near the mean heat flow for old cratons. The lowest heat flow measured is 0.76 μcal/cm² s (32 mW/m²) for a unit poor in radioactivity. The heat flow field grades smoothly into the low heat flow regions of the Canadian Shield.The New Hampshire region is in thermal equilibrium: its heat flow is in secular equilibrium with the heat generated by crustal sources and that supplied from the mantle. In this area, the thermal perturbations due to orogenic events decrease below the detection level in less than 200–275 Ma. The thickness of the layer which is thermally affected during continent-continent collision-type orogenies cannot be greater than about 190 km.     

Baseline studies of delaware ocean outfall sites

A quarterly sampling programme was conducted during 1973–1974 off the coast of Delaware to provide an environmental baseline for two ocean sewage outfalls. Extensive physical measurements and water quality data, together with biological data (fish, invertebrates, bacteriological samples), were collected. Based on this research the design of sewage treatment for one of the outfalls was improved.     

An expert system for selection of retaining walls and groundwater controls in deep excavation

A rule-based expert system has been built for selection of both retaining wall types and groundwater control methods in deep excavations in Wuhan city. For this expert system, a new type of generation rule is developed in which one condition is able to be defined with a “third state” that not only contributes directly to reaching the conclusion in a rule, but also factors into calculating the reliability of the conclusion. The traditional backward chaining technique has been improved to accommodate the change of a rule type and a fuzzy backward chaining method IRO has been established to increase reasoning flexibility. Using IRO as a fundamental element, it is convenient to form a complicated reasoning network in the inference engine. Finally, two knowledge bases are built from more than 100 case histories and other resources, and the new expert system proves to be effective in case studies.     

Peridotitic diamonds from the Slave and the Kaapvaal cratons—similarities and differences based on a preliminary data set

A comparison of the diamond productions from Panda (Ekati Mine) and Snap Lake with those from southern Africa shows significant differences: diamonds from the Slave typically are un-resorbed octahedrals or macles, often with opaque coats, and yellow colours are very rare. Diamonds from the Kaapvaal are dominated by resorbed, dodecahedral shapes, coats are absent and yellow colours are common. The first two features suggest exposure to oxidizing fluids/melts during mantle storage and/or transport to the Earth's surface, for the Kaapvaal diamond population.

Comparing peridotitic inclusions in diamonds from the central and southern Slave (Panda, DO27 and Snap Lake kimberlites) and the Kaapvaal indicates that the diamondiferous mantle lithosphere beneath the Slave is chemically less depleted. Most notable are the almost complete absence of garnet inclusions derived from low-Ca harzburgites and a generally lower Mg-number of Slave inclusions.

Geothermobarometric calculations suggest that Slave diamonds originally formed at very similar thermal conditions as observed beneath the Kaapvaal (geothermal gradients corresponding to 40–42 mW/m² surface heat flow), but the diamond source regions subsequently cooled by about 100–150 °C to fall on a 37–38 mW/m² (surface heat flow) conductive geotherm, as is evidenced from touching (re-equilibrated) inclusions in diamonds, and from xenocrysts and xenoliths. In the Kaapvaal, a similar thermal evolution has previously been recognized for diamonds from the De Beers Pool kimberlites. In part very low aggregation levels of nitrogen impurities in Slave diamonds imply that cooling occurred soon after diamond formation. This may relate elevated temperatures during diamond formation to short-lived magmatic perturbations.

Generally high Cr-contents of pyrope garnets (inside and outside of diamonds) indicate that the mantle lithosphere beneath the Slave originally formed as a residue of melt extraction at relatively low pressures (within the stability field of spinelperidotites), possibly during the extraction of oceanic crust. After emplacement of this depleted, oceanic mantle lithosphere into the Slave lithosphere during a subduction event, secondary metasomatic enrichment occurred leading to strong re-enrichment of the deeper (>140 km) lithosphere. Because of the extent of this event and the occurrence of lower mantle diamonds, this may be related to an upwelling plume, but it may equally just reflect a long term evolution with lower mantle diamonds being transported upwards in the course of “normal” mantle convection.     

Geochemical evolution of highly alkaline and saline tank waste plumes during seepage through vadose zone sediments

Leakage of highly saline and alkaline radioactive waste from storage tanks into underlying sediments is a serious environmental problem at the Hanford Site in Washington State. This study focuses on geochemical evolution of tank waste plumes resulting from interactions between the waste solution and sediment. A synthetic tank waste solution was infused into unsaturated Hanford sediment columns (0.2, 0.6, and 2 m) maintained at 70°C to simulate the field contamination process. Spatially and temporally resolved geochemical profiles of the waste plume were obtained. Thorough OH⁻ neutralization (from an initial pH 14 down to 6.3) was observed. Three broad zones of pore solutions were identified to categorize the dominant geochemical reactions: the silicate dissolution zone (pH > 10), pH-neutralized zone (pH 10 to 6.5), and displaced native sediment pore water (pH 6.5 to 8). Elevated concentrations of Si, Fe, and K in plume fluids and their depleted concentrations in plume sediments reflected dissolution of primary minerals within the silicate dissolution zone. The very high Na concentrations in the waste solution resulted in rapid and complete cation exchange, reflected in high concentrations of Ca and Mg at the plume front. The plume-sediment profiles also showed deposition of hydrated solids and carbonates. Fair correspondence was obtained between these results and analyses of field borehole samples from a waste plume at the Hanford Site. Results of this study provide a well-defined framework for understanding waste plumes in the more complex field setting and for understanding geochemical factors controlling transport of contaminant species carried in waste solutions that leaked from single-shell storage tanks in the past.     

Nitrogen isotopes in peridotitic diamonds from Fuxian, China: the mantle signature

Nitrogen isotopes in peridotitic diamonds from Fuxian, China, suggest that the upper mantle δ¹⁵N-value has been globally homogeneous since at least the Proterozoic (−5 to −8‰/ATM), with similar values for subcontinental and MORB mantle.
  In addition, Fuxian diamonds retain the memory of a primary nitrogen lower in δ¹⁵N (down to −25‰). For the first time δ¹⁵N- values in diamonds match those of enstatite chondrites, supporting a formation of the Earth from such meteorites and the idea of a heterogeneous accretion of the Earth's volatiles.
  Nitrogen concentrations in diamonds are believed to depend strongly on the rate of the diamond growth and not to be an indicator of C/N ratios of the fluids from which they grew.     

Effect of citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite treatment on fine-grained magnetite and maghemite

Mineral magnetic properties of soils and parent materials have been interpreted in terms of paleoclimate and rates of soil formation but it is important to understand which minerals contribute to the mineral magnetic signal. Citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite (CBD) treatment has been used to determine the amounts of fine-grained, often pedogenic, ferrimagnetic minerals relative to coarse-grained, often inherited, magnetic minerals. However, questions have been raised about the effect of particle size on the efficacy of CBD in dissolving magnetite and maghemite grains. In this paper we use magnetic susceptibility and its frequency dependence, and the low-temperature behavior of a saturation isothermal remanent magnetization, to track the dissolution of carefully sized magnetite grains. We found that the standard CBD procedure dissolves fine magnetite particles (ca. < 1 μm) but leaves larger particles (ca. > 1 μm) essentially intact. Thin oxidized coatings, presumably maghemite, are also dissolved by the CBD procedure. These results support previous interpretations that the CBD procedure can be used to distinguish between pedogenic and lithogenic magnetic grains, assuming that most pedogenic magnetic grains are sufficiently small (ca. < 1 μm) and most lithogenic magnetic grains are sufficiently large (ca. > 1 μm). These results also show that the standard procedure is too harsh to differentiate between 1 μm grains of magnetite and maghemite. A modified CBD extraction that uses half as much dithionite reduces the magnetic susceptibility of 1 μm magnetite grains by only 10%. This method may be useful in distinguishing between magnetite and maghemite grains in this size range.     

Radiation effects on chemistry

The effects of ionizing radiation on simple solution systems have been studied by computer simulations of radiolysis in salt brine and dilute groundwater. The codes assume a closed homogeneous solution system in which reactants and products cannot enter or leave the system and species cannot diffuse towards or away from the source of radiation. Radiolysis of simple dilute groundwaters appears to be rather insensitive to the expected range of pH, temperature, and pressure in repositories. It is unclear whether this conclusion also holds for salt brine.

The waste-package environment is much more complex than systems that have typically been studied in the past. None of the conceptual models account for potential interactions with the solids present in the waste-package and host rocks. This limitation results primarily from a lack of data and the currént restriction to homogeneous (solution only) reactions. Because the rocks and waste-package materials are the primary pH, Eh, and chemical buffers in the system, radiolysis experiments that neglect their presence cannot definitively address the expected influence of radiation on solution chemistry.

Experimental evidence suggests that radiolysis will not cause significant changes in waste-form leaching, or significant degradation in the physical stability of clays, crystalline host rock, and packing materials. However, experiments in salt suggest that irradiation and heat could produce corrosive species that might affect canister corrosion and waste-form leaching. The possibility of enhanced container corrosion resulting from nitric acid formation in the moist air of an unsaturated tuff repository also warrants attention.     

Hurricanes 2004: An overview of their characteristics and coastal change

Four hurricanes battered the state of Florida during 2004, the most affecting any state since Texas endured four in 1884. Each of the storms changed the coast differently. Average shoreline change within the right front quadrant of hurricane force winds varied from 1 m of shoreline advance to 20 m of retreat, whereas average sand volume change varied from 11 to 66 m³ m⁻¹ of net loss (erosion). These changes did not scale simply with hurricane intensity as described by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The strongest storm of the season, category 4 Hurricane Charley, had the least shoreline retreat. This was likely because of other factors like the storm's rapid forward speed and small size that generated a lower storm surge than expected. Two of the storms, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, affected nearly the same area on the Florida east coast just 3 wk apart. The first storm, Frances, although weaker than the second, caused greater shoreline retreat and sand volume erosion. As a consequence, Hurricane Frances may have stripped away protective beach and exposed dunes to direct wave attack during Jeanne, although there was significant dune erosion during both storms. The maximum shoreline change for all four hurricanes occurred during Ivan on the coasts of eastern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. The net volume change across a barrier island within the Ivan impact zone approached zero because of massive overwash that approximately balanced erosion of the beach. These data from the 2004 hurricane season will prove useful in developing new ways to scale and predict coastal-change effects during hurricanes.     

Accurately measuring volcanic plume velocity with multiple UV spectrometers

A fundamental problem with all ground-based remotely sensed measurements of volcanic gas flux is the difficulty in accurately measuring the velocity of the gas plume. Since a representative wind speed and direction are used as proxies for the actual plume velocity, there can be considerable uncertainty in reported gas flux values. Here we present a method that uses at least two time-synchronized simultaneously recording UV spectrometers (FLYSPECs) placed a known distance apart. By analyzing the time varying structure of SO₂ concentration signals at each instrument, the plume velocity can accurately be determined. Experiments were conducted on Kīlauea (USA) and Masaya (Nicaragua) volcanoes in March and August 2003 at plume velocities between 1 and 10 m s⁻¹. Concurrent ground-based anemometer measurements differed from FLYSPEC-measured plume speeds by up to 320%. This multi-spectrometer method allows for the accurate remote measurement of plume velocity and can therefore greatly improve the precision of volcanic or industrial gas flux measurements. Editorial responsibility: A. Woods