Volcanology and lava flow morpho-types from the Koyna-Warna region,western Deccan Traps,India

Flow mapping and physical volcanology of 15 basaltic lavas exposed in three critical road pass sections (ghats) in the Koyna-Warna region of the western Deccan Traps is presented in this paper. Transitional lavas like rubbly pahoehoe are most common morpho-type exposed in these ghat sections. Sinking of rubbly breccia into flow interiors and formation of breccia-cored rosette are common in some lava flows. Few rubbly lavas exhibit slabby tendencies. The amount and nature of the associated rubble is variable and result from the mechanical fracturing and auto-brecciation of the upper vesicular crust in response to distinctive stages in the cooling, crystallization and emplacement history of individual lava flows. Occurrence of aa and pahoehoe morpho-types in the lava flow sequence is subordinate. Three prominent pahoehoe flows separated by red bole horizons are seen in the upper parts of the Kumbharli ghat. These are thick, P-type sheet pahoehoe. The pahoehoe lavas represent compound flow fields that grew by budding, endogenous lava transfer and inflation. Presence of pahoehoe lavas in the Koyna-Warna region hints at possible hitherto unrecorded southern extension of Bushe-like flow fields. This study reconfirms the existence of pahoehoe-slabby-rubbly-aa flow fields and transitions even in the upper echelons of the Deccan Trap stratigraphy. The study of morphology and internal structure of lava flows exposed at the ghat sections in the Koyna-Warna region could guide subsurface core-logging that is critical in deciphering the physical volcanology and emplacement dynamics of basaltic lava flows penetrated by drill holes sunk under the scientific deep drilling programme.     

Optimizing the design of a geothermal district heating and cooling system located at a flooded mine in Canada

Flooded underground mines are attractive for groundwater heat pump systems, as the voids created during mining operations enhance the subsurface permeability and storage capacity, which allows the extraction of significant volumes of groundwater without requiring extensive drilling. Heat exchange at a flooded mine is, however, difficult to predict because of the complex geometry of the underground network of tunnels. A case study is presented here to demonstrate that numerical simulations of groundwater flow and heat transfer can help assess production temperatures required to optimize the design of a heat pump system that uses mine water. A 3D numerical model was developed for the Gaspé Mines located in Murdochville, Canada, where a district heating and cooling system is being studied. The underground mining tunnels and shafts are represented in the model with 1D elements whose flow and heat transfer contributions are superimposed to those of the 3D porous medium. The numerical model is calibrated to simultaneously reproduce the groundwater rebound that occurred when the mine closed and the drawdown measured during a pumping test conducted in a former mining shaft. Predictive simulations over a period of 50 years are subsequently performed to minimize pumping rate and determine maximum heat extraction rate.     

Rare earth element investigation of the Cliefden Outcrop,N.S.W., Australia

The effect of low grade hydrous burial metamorphism (prehnite-pumpellyite facies) upon the rare earth elements (REE) has been studied by using samples from the Cliefden Outcrop, New South Wales. The REE, together with other reputedly immobile elements, have been mobilised during the metamorphism. Although mobile, the REE have behaved remarkably coherently with little light rare earth (LREE) fractionation. This is reflected in the chondrite normalised patterns which are sub-parallel to parallel in shape. High correlations of REE with other elements can be used to predict the maximum likely variation of these elements in the studied outcrop. The high correlations do not necessarily mean that, for similarly metamorphosed terrains, crystallisation-differentiation processes have operated but may rather have resulted from strong geochemical coherence during post-crystallisation elemental redistribution. The REE do not appear to be strongly domain controlled within the Cliefden Outcrop.     

Agpaicity revisited: pattern recognition in the chemistry of nepheline syenite rocks

An attempt is made to describe global variations in the geochemistry of major and minor elements within a population of nepheline syenite samples defined by mineralogical criteria.Using correspondence analysis, a new pattern recognition procedure, it is possible to define a few trends of common behaviour which reflect most of the initial dispersion.As Al and Na participate in the scattering along the two main trends, agpaicity is recorded by them. However, the traditional form of the coefficient which measures it is proved to be unsatisfactory as variations of K are not significant.     

Designing science web sites

From a scientist’s viewpoint a web site is one tool used to conduct research. From an artist’s viewpoint web sites are a form of visual composition. From a developer’s point of view a web site is a type of application. While web sites are a relatively new medium with a particular set of constraints, they do adhere to the same basic design principles that apply to other art forms. These design principles are the basic assumptions that affect the arrangement of elements within a composition. A successful design uses the principles and elements to achieve a visual goal in the composition. A web site designed for scientists has unique properties which are not shared by many other types of web sites. These properties influence the overall visual design of the web sites. Recently at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at UCLA undertook a re-design of a number of its websites. In the effort, the use of visual design principles combined with the properties of a science web site were put to the test. In all, six different web sites were designed each with a difference science focus. We describe the process used to design the web sites which involve forming teams of designers, scientists and developers. We present example pages from each design and conclude with a discussion of what was learned during the process.     

Preliminary report on a dinosaur tracksite from Lower Cretaceous strata in Mount Lebanon

A dinosaur tracksite was discovered in Batha on the side of the road from Harissa to Ghosta (Keserwan, Lebanon). About ten trackways are exposed at the top of two beds of Lower Cretaceous limestones over an area of approximately 1000 m². These footprints were probably made by at least two dinosaur species, Sauropoda and either Theropoda or Ornithopoda. The site, which is the first record from Lebanon, should be protected to allow further scientific investigations.     

Ion dynamics associated with substorm dipolarization fronts

We report where and how ions are accelerated in the proximity of earthward propagating dipolarization fronts(DFs) in the magnetotail during a magnetospheric substorm on February 15, 2008. Two DFs were observed by multiple THEMIS spacecraft in the near-Earth magnetotail(~?10 Re). We studied the ion dynamics associated with these DFs by comparing observed results with large scale kinetic(LSK) simulation results. The LSK simulation reproduced the sudden ion energy flux enhancement concurrent with the arrival of the DF at the satellite locations. We found that ions can be accelerated to more than 100 keV energy at the DF. These ions were initially non-adiabatically accelerated near magnetic reconnection site and then still non-adiabatically accelerated at the DF structure.     

Estimates of New and Total Productivity in Central Long Island Sound from In Situ Measurements of Nitrate and Dissolved Oxygen

Biogeochemical cycles in estuaries are regulated by a diverse set of physical and biological variables that operate over a variety of time scales. Using in situ optical sensors, we conducted a high-frequency time-series study of several biogeochemical parameters at a mooring in central Long Island Sound from May to August 2010. During this period, we documented well-defined diel cycles in nitrate concentration that were correlated to dissolved oxygen, wind stress, tidal mixing, and irradiance. By filtering the data to separate the nitrate time series into various signal components, we estimated the amount of variation that could be ascribed to each process. Primary production and surface wind stress explained 59 and 19 %, respectively, of the variation in nitrate concentrations. Less frequent physical forcings, including large-magnitude wind events and spring tides, served to decouple the relationship between oxygen, nitrate, and sunlight on about one quarter of study days. Daytime nitrate minima and dissolved oxygen maxima occurred nearly simultaneously on the majority (>80 %) of days during the study period; both were strongly correlated with the daily peak in irradiance. Nighttime nitrate maxima reflected a pattern in which surface-layer stocks were depleted each afternoon and recharged the following night. Changes in nitrate concentrations were used to generate daily estimates of new primary production (182?±?37 mg?C?m^?2?day^?1) and the f ratio (0.25), i.e., the ratio of production based on nitrate to total production. These estimates, the first of their kind in Long Island Sound, were compared to values of community respiration, primary productivity, and net ecosystem metabolism, which were derived from in situ measurements of oxygen concentration. Daily averages of the three metabolic parameters were 1,660?±?431, 2,080?±?419, and 429?±?203 mg?C?m^?2?day^?1, respectively. While the system remained weakly autotrophic over the duration of the study period, we observed very large day-to-day differences in the f ratio and in the various metabolic parameters.