The circumstellar shells of carbon miras

The relation between mass loss rate and pulsation period in carbon Miras is discussed. The dust mass loss rate is very low (about 2 × 10^–10 M/yr) up to aboutP = 380 days, where there is a sudden increase. ForP > 400 days there is a linear relation between logM andP. The change in the mass loss rate near 380 days may be related to radiation pressure on dust becoming effective in driving the outflow.     

The Role of Fluvial and Glacial Erosion in Landscape Evolution: The Ben Ohau Range,New Zealand

A morphometric comparison of valleys has been made for the Ben Ohau Range in the central Southern Alps of New Zealand. The range is undergoing rapid tectonic transport and uplift. The humid north of the range is a glacial trough-and-arête landscape, with a temperate glacial climate. The dry south has rounded divides and plateau remnants dissected by fluvial valleys. Assuming that space–time substitution allows today's spatial valley-form transition to represent evolutionary stages in valley development, the tectonic history allows time constraints to be placed on the rate of transition to an alpine glacial landscape. Morphometric change has been quantified using hypsometric curves, and distance–elevation plots of cirque and valley-floor altitudes. Ancestral fluvial valleys have less concave long profiles but are stepped at altitude owing to the presence of high-level cirques and remnant plateau surfaces, and possess a low proportion of land area at low elevation. Increasing glacial influence is manifest as smoother, more deeply concave long profiles and U-shaped cross-profiles associated with a higher proportion of the land area at lower elevation. The full morphological transition has involved up to 2.4 km of vertical denudation over the 4 Ma lifetime of the mountain range, of which 80 per cent would have occurred by preglacial fluvial erosion. Combining the trajectory of tectonic transport with reconstructed glaciation limits and climatic history, it is indicated that about 200 ka of temperate glacial erosion produces recognizable trough-and areête topography. Mean and modal relief increase where glacial activity is confined to cirques, but decrease when trough incision by ice becomes established as a dominant process in the landscape. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A decline in molluscan carbonate production driven by the loss of vegetated habitats encoded in the Holocene sedimentary record of the Gulf of Trieste

Carbonate sediments in non‐vegetated habitats on the north‐east Adriatic shelf are dominated by shells of molluscs. However, the rate of carbonate molluscan production prior to the 20th century eutrophication and overfishing on this and other shelves remains unknown because: (i) monitoring of ecosystems prior to the 20th century was scarce; and (ii) ecosystem history inferred from cores is masked by condensation and mixing. Here, based on geochronological dating of four bivalve species, carbonate production during the Holocene is assessed in the Gulf of Trieste, where algal and seagrass habitats underwent a major decline during the 20th century. Assemblages of sand‐dwelling Gouldia minima and opportunistic Corbula gibba are time‐averaged to >1000 years and Corbula gibba shells are older by >2000 years than shells of co‐occurring Gouldia minima. This age difference is driven by temporally disjunct production of two species coupled with decimetre‐scale mixing. Stratigraphic unmixing shows that Corbula gibba declined in abundance during the highstand phase and increased again during the 20th century. In contrast, one of the major contributors to carbonate sands – Gouldia minima – increased in abundance during the highstand phase, but declined to almost zero abundance over the past two centuries. Gouldia minima and herbivorous gastropods associated with macroalgae or seagrasses are abundant in the top‐core increments but are rarely alive. Although Gouldia minima is not limited to vegetated habitats, it is abundant in such habitats elsewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. This live–dead mismatch reflects the difference between highstand baseline communities (with soft‐bottom vegetated zones and hard‐bottom Arca beds) and present‐day oligophotic communities with organic‐loving species. Therefore, the decline in light penetration and the loss of vegetated habitats with high molluscan production traces back to the 19th century. More than 50% of the shells on the sea floor in the Gulf of Trieste reflect inactive production that was sourced by heterozoan carbonate factory in algal or seagrass habitats.     

Passive seismic control of cable-stayed bridges with damped resonant appendages

A study is conducted to investigate the effectiveness of attaching to cable-stayed bridges resonant appendages with a relatively small mass and a high damping ratio as a means to reduce their response to earthquake excitations. The study is based on a previously developed formulation that shows that the use of these appendages may increase the inherent damping of building structures and, as a result, may reduce their response to seismic disturbances. It includes numerical and experimental tests that are conducted to assess the validity of such a formulation for the case of cable-stayed bridges and the extent to which such appendages can reduce their seismic response. In the numerical study, an actual cable-stayed bridge is modelled with finite elements and analysed with and without the proposed appendages under different earthquake ground motions. Appendages with damping ratios of 10, 15, 20 and 30 per cent and masses that, respectively, represent 0.67, 1.5, 2.7 and 6.0 per cent of the total mass of the bridge are considered. In the experimental test, a 3.7 m long cable-stayed bridge and an appendage consisting of a small mass, a small spring and a small viscous damper are built and the bridge tested, without and with the appendage, on a pair of shaking tables which are set to reproduce ground acceleration records from past earthquakes. The damping ratio of the appendage in this test is 32 per cent and its mass represents about 8 per cent of the total mass of the bridge model. In the numerical test, it is found that the appendages reduce the longitudinal response of the bridge deck up to 88 per cent. Similarly, in the experimental test it is found that the appendage reduces the longitudinal bridge deck response by about 41 per cent. From these studies, it is concluded that the suggested appendages may indeed be effective in reducing the seismic response of cable-stayed bridges as they are for building structures.     

The passivation of calcite by acid mine water. Column experiments with ferric sulfate and ferric chloride solutions at pH 2

Column experiments, simulating the behavior of passive treatment systems for acid mine drainage, have been performed. Acid solutions (HCl or H₂SO₄, pH 2), with initial concentrations of Fe(III) ranging from 250 to 1500 mg L⁻¹, were injected into column reactors packed with calcite grains at a constant flow rate. The composition of the solutions was monitored during the experiments. At the end of the experiments (passivation of the columns), the composition and structure of the solids were measured. The dissolution of calcite in the columns caused an increase in pH and the release of Ca into the solution, leading to the precipitation of gypsum and Fe–oxyhydroxysulfates (Fe(III)–SO₄–H⁺ solutions) or Fe–oxyhydroxychlorides (Fe(III)–Cl–H⁺ solutions). The columns worked as an efficient barrier for some time, increasing the pH of the circulating solutions from 2 to 6–7 and removing its metal content. However, after some time (several weeks, depending on the conditions), the columns became chemically inert. The results showed that passivation time increased with decreasing anion and metal content of the solutions. Gypsum was the phase responsible for the passivation of calcite in the experiments with Fe(III)–SO₄–H⁺ solutions. Schwertmannite and goethite appeared as the Fe(III) secondary phases in those experiments. Akaganeite was the phase responsible for the passivation of the system in the experiments with Fe(III)–Cl–H⁺ solutions.     

Evaluation of riverbed magnetic susceptibility for mapping biogeochemical hot spots in groundwater-impacted rivers

Redox hot spots occurring as metal-rich anoxic groundwater discharges through oxic wetland and river sediments commonly result in the formation of iron (Fe) oxide precipitates. These redox-sensitive precipitates influence the release of nutrients and metals to surface water and can act as ‘contaminant sponges’ by absorbing toxic compounds. We explore the feasibility of a non-invasive, high-resolution magnetic susceptibility (MS) technique to efficiently map the spatial variations of magnetic Fe oxide precipitates in the shallow bed of three rivers impacted by anoxic groundwater discharge. Laboratory analyses on Mashpee River (MA, USA) sediments demonstrate the sensitivity of MS to sediment Fe concentrations. Field surveys in the Mashpee and Quashnet rivers (MA, USA) reveal several discrete high MS zones, which are associated with likely anoxic groundwater discharge as evaluated by riverbed temperature, vertical head gradient, and groundwater chemistry measurements. In the East River (CO, USA), widespread cobbles/rocks exhibit high background MS from geological ferrimagnetic minerals, thereby obscuring the relatively small enhancement of MS from groundwater induced Fe oxide precipitates. Our study suggests that, in settings with low geological sources of magnetic minerals such as lowland rivers and wetlands, MS may serve as a complementary tool to temperature methods for efficiently mapping Fe oxide accumulation zones due to anoxic groundwater discharges that may function as biogeochemical hot spots and water quality control points in gaining systems.     

The climate tourism potential of Alpine destinations using the example of Sonnblick, Rauris and Salzburg

The climate tourism potential of a region can be described by methods used in human biometeorology and applied climatology. Frequency analyses based on complex thermal bioclimatic indices (e.g. physiologically equivalent temperature) and diagrams of precipitation patterns based on thresholds offer new approaches of visualisation. An integral approach for tourism climatologic analyses is provided by the climate?Ctourism/transfer?Cinformation?Cscheme that also bases on frequency distributions of relevant factors and parameters which are important for a destination. The knowledge about the vertical variability of tourism climatologic factors is of high importance because of the several kinds of tourism activities affected by weather. The same holds for a quantification of extreme events like heat waves because of their possible effects on health and recreation over a year's course. The results show that the vertical gradient of bioclimatic and tourism-related parameters can be of value when developing strategies of adaption to climate change.     

Nucleation and crystallization of otavite, witherite, calcite, strontianite, hydrozincite, and hydrocerussite by CO2 membrane diffusion technique

Otavite, witherite, calcite, strontianite, hydrozincite and hydrocerussite nucleation was induced by CO₂ diffusion through a polyethylene membrane into a metal bearing solution. Nucleation and ongoing precipitation was followed at 25 ± 1 °C by the chemical evolution of the solution and the consumption of sodium hydroxide (pH-stat conditions). X-ray diffraction patterns as well as FT-infrared and Raman spectra confirmed the formation of well crystallized solids, except for less crystalline hydrozincite. In several experiments simonkolleite and laurionite precipitated concurrently with hydrozincite and hydrocerussite. The carbonate end-member minerals, smithsonite and cerussite, however were not formed. Carbonate minerals crystallized as spherical aggregates of thin layered otavite, spherical orientated witherite needles, rhombohedral calcite, pseudo-hexagonal strontianite laths, fibrous lumps of hydrozincite and planar hexagonal hydrocerussite crystals. Crystal and aggregate sizes range between 1 and 100 μm. Nucleation occurred at well defined reaction times and distinct critical supersaturation indices (SI_crit). The time for nucleation at constant pH decreased as the initial metal concentration increased for a given solid. The SI_crit values decreased in the order of hydrocerussite (3.2), otavite (2.5), strontianite (1.6), witherite (0.9) and calcite (0.7).     

On steep isogradic surfaces in the Simplon area

The Simplon tunnel (19.7 km long) in the Central Alps crosses, at an altitude of 640–700 m, a mountain chain that culminates in Monte Leone (3 553 m). Along the tunnel axis the metamorphic grade of Mesozoic sediments, recrystallized during the Lepontine phase of the Alpine orogenesis, increases from NW to SE. Investigations on rock samples from the tunnel and from surface exposures give information in three dimensions on conditions during the culmination of Alpine regional metamorphism in the Simplon group. The succession of isograds from km 3 from the NW entrance of the tunnel in SE direction is: First occurrence of biotite, of garnet, last occurrence of albite in paragenesis with calcite, entry of feldspars of the peristerite gap and of oligoclase alone in calc-schists, marbles and amphibolites, coming in of plagioclase An > 30 associated with calcite, first occurrence of staurolite and kyanite, entry of tremolite and calcite, occurrence of plagioclase An >50 in calcschists. Correlation of the data from tunnel and surface samples shows that, in the northwestern and central part of the section, the isogradic surfaces are steeply inclined to the NW, the average dip is 60–75°, with uncertainty between 55 and 90°. In the southeastern part of the section the isogradic surfaces are overturned and dip to the E. No observations indicate gently inclined isogradic surfaces. Geological evidence excludes postmetamorphic tilting of originally subhorizontal isogradic surfaces in such a scale. It is assumed that, during the Lepontine phase, the isobaric surfaces have been subhorizontal, but that the isotherms (which roughly correspond to isograds) have formed angles greater than 45° with isobars. During the culmination of metamorphism vertical and lateral temperature gradients differed considerably from place to place in the Simplon area, and gradually changed also in one and the same direction. The Simplon area is situated near the western edge of the high-grade metamorphic zones of the Ticino complex. The metamorphic conditions described are believed to have been strongly influenced by the eastern adjacent vast thermal bulge of the Central Alps. Thus, not only in Val Bregaglia, with its quite different geological environment, at the E end of the highgrade zone and of the same thermal antiform, but also in the Simplon area in the W, isogradic surfaces are steeply inclined.     

Behaviour of radiogenic Pb in zircon during ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism: an ion imaging and ion tomography case study from the Kerala Khondalite Belt,southern India

Zircon crystals from a locally charnockitized Paleoproterozoic high-K metagranite from the Kerala Khondalite Belt (KKB) of southern India have been investigated by high-spatial resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis of U–Th–Pb and rare earth elements (REE), together with scanning ion imaging and scanning ion tomography (depth-profiled ion imaging). The spot analyses constrain the magmatic crystallization age of the metagranite to ca. 1,850 Ma, with ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism occurring at ca. 570 Ma and superimposed charnockite formation at ca. 520–510 Ma, while the ion imaging reveals a patchy distribution of radiogenic Pb throughout the zircon cores. Middle- to heavy-REE depletion in ca. 570 Ma zircon rims suggests that these grew in equilibrium with garnet and therefore date the UHT metamorphism in the KKB. The maximum apparent ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age obtained from the unsupported radiogenic Pb concentrations is also consistent with formation of the Pb patches during this event. The superimposed charnockitization event appears to have caused additional Pb-loss in the cores and recrystallization of the rims. The results of depth-profiling of the scanning ion tomography image stack show that the Pb-rich domains range in size from <5 nm to several 10 nm (diameter if assumed to be spherical). The occurrence of such patchy Pb has previously been documented only from UHT metamorphic zircon, where it likely results from annealing of radiation-damaged zircon. The formation of a discrete, heterogeneously distributed and subsequently immobile Pb phase effectively arrests the normal Pb-loss process seen at lower grades of metamorphism.