Determination of part-per-trillion levels of atmospheric dimethyl sulfide by isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Stable isotopic dilution was applied to the determination of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in ambient air at the low part-per-trillion by volume (pptrv) levels. Perdeuterated DMS was used as an internal standard in the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry determination. The isotopically labelled internal standard provided insensitivity to possible losses of DMS in sampling and analysis. The lower limit of detection (LLD) was 1 pptrv with a sample acquisition time of 2 min.     

Subsurface Transport of Inorganic and Organic Solutes from Experimental Road Spreading of Oil-Field Brine

A study designed to evaluate ground water quality changes resulting from spreading oil-field brine on roads for ice and dust control was conducted using a gravel roadbed that received weekly applications of brine eight times during the winter phase and 11 times during the summer phase of the study. A network of 11 monitoring wells and five pressure-vacuum lysimeters was installed to obtain ground water and soil water samples. Thirteen sets of water- quality samples were collected and analyzed for major ions, trace metals, and volatile organic compounds. Two sets of samples were taken prior to brine spreading, four sets during winter-phase spreading, five sets during summer- phase spreading, and two sets during the interim between the winter and summer phases. A brine plume delineated by elevated specific-conductance values and elevated chloride concentrations developed downgradient of the roadbed during both the winter and summer phases. The brine plume caused chloride concentrations in ground water samples to exceed U.S. EPA public drinking-water standards by two-fold during the winter phase and five-fold during the summer phase. No other major ions, trace metals, or volatile organic compounds exceeded the standards during the winter or summer phases. More than 99 percent dilution of the solutes in the brine occurred between the roadbed surface and the local ground water flow system. Further attenuation of calcium, sodium, potassium, and strontium resulted from adsorption, whereas further attenuation of benzene resulted from volatilization and adsorption.     

Petrology of Peter I Øy (Peter I Island), West Antarctica

Peter I Øy is located in the Bellinghausen Sea, 400 km NE of Thurston Island, West Antarctica. It is a Pleistocene volcanic island situated adjacent to a former tranform fault on the continental rise of the presently passive margin between the Pacific and Antarctica. New K-Ar age determinations ranging from 0.1 to 0.35 Ma show that the volcanism responsible for this island took place at the same time as post-subduction, rift-related volcanism occurred in the nearby Marie Byrd Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The rocks of the island are alkalic basalt and hawaiite, benmoreite and trachyte. The basic tocks typically contain phenocrysts of olivine (Fo_61–84), diopsidic augite, and plagioclase (ca. An₆₀). Small xenoliths are present and consist of mantle-type spinel lherzolite, cumulate clinopyroxenite and gabbro and felsic inclusions that consist of medium-grained strained quartz, plagioclase, and abundant colorless glass. Chemically, the basic rocks are characterized by rather high MgO (7.8–10.2 wt.%) and TiO₂ (3.1–3.7 wt.%) and relatively low CaO (8.4–9.5 wt.%) contents. They have steep REE patterns, [(La/Yb)_N = 20] with HREE only 5 x chrondrite. Y and Sc are almost constant at relatively low levels. Compatible trace elements such as Ni and Cr show considerable variation (190–300 and 150–470 ppm, respectively.), whereas V shows only little variation. Sr and Nd isotope ratios vary slightly with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr averaging 0.70388 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd 0.512782, both typical for ocean island volcanism. Lead isotope ratios are consistently high in basalts; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 19.194, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.728 and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 39.290, whereas benmoreïte is somewhat less radiogenic. Oxygen isotope analyses average δ¹⁸O = +6.0‰. Incompatible trace elements vary by a factor of 1.5–2.0 within the range of the basic rocks. It is proposed that the incompatible trace-element variations represent different degrees (<10%) of partial melting, and that these melts were later modified by minor (<15‰) olivine and spinel fractionation. The very small variation in Y (and Sc) and the very fractionated REE pattern indicate that the source had an Y- and HREE-rich residual phase, most probably garnet. Furthermore, it is suggested that the source was slightly hydrous and that melting took place at 18–20 kbar. Trachyte was derived by multiphase fractionation of ne-normative basalts, and benmoreite from hy-normative parental liquids. The rocks of Peter I Øy are generally of the same type and age as those outcropping in extensional regimes on the nearby continent, and therefore, these occurrences may be related to each other in some way. However, the Peter I Øy rocks are considerably more radiogenic in strontium and less radiogenic in neodymium than the rocks of the Antarctic Peninsula and Marie Byrd Land. Possible explanations are that Peter I Øy represent asthenospheric hot spot activity, or transtensional rifting as subduction ceased.     

Geothermobarometry in albite-garnet orthogneisses: A case study from the Gran Paradiso nappe (Western Alps)

The aim of this paper is to estimate syntectonic P-T conditions within albite- and garnet-bearing orthogneisses. These rocks are generally characterized by the assemblage quartz + albite + biotite + phengite + CaFe-garnet + epidote + titanite. Garnet contains up to 55 mole per cent of grossular. K-feldspar is a relict magmatic phase.

P-T conditions are estimated using several independent methods. First, it is shown that exchange reactions based on the Fe---Mg partitioning between garnet and biotite or garnet and phengite cannot be used to estimate temperatures in these rocks, due to the high grossular content of garnet. Second, maximum and minimum pressures are constrained, respectively, by the occurrence of albite instead of jadeite + quartz and by the assemblage phengite + biotite + quartz. Third, phase equilibria in albite- and garnet-bearing metagranites are modelled in the system K₂O---CaO---FeO---Al₂O₃---SiO₂---H₂O. Equilibrium curves are calculated for the observed phase compositions. Uncertainties in P-T estimates mainly result from the choice of appropriate non-ideal solution models for the garnet.

An application is developed for granites from the Gran Paradiso nappe (Western Alps). These granites show an heterogeneous deformation of Alpine age expressed by mylonitic shear zones cutting across weakly deformed domains. Estimated P-T conditions for the synkinematic assemblages are 10–16 kbar at 550±50°C.     

Phase transformations and inherited lattice preferred orientations: implications for seismic properties

In phase transitions via either the martensitic (diffusionless shear) or nucleation and growth mechanism a specific orientation relationship may exist between the two phases. In cases where the orientation relationship is known, the lattice preferred orientation (LPO) inherited by the new phase may be calculated from the LPO of the old phase. The method of calculation is presented in a form suitable for the spherical harmonic method of texture analysis using the orientation distribution function (ODF). Examples are presented for the -β-quartz, calcite-aragonite, orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene and olivine-spinel transformations.

The seismic properties of the transformed and untransformed phases are calculated from the ODF and the single crystal elastic constants. In particular the -β quartz transformation is considered in detail. The quartz polycrystal is very anisotropic in the alpha field (V_p anisotropy coefficient, A = 8.1%) and almost isotropic in the β-field (A = 2.1%). The transition is accompanied by V_p velocity increase of 0.6 km/s. In the other example discussed, olivine-β-spinel, there is also a decrease in V_p anisotropy coefficient from 11.1% (olivine) to 4.0% (β-spinel). The estimate of the volume fraction of olivine at the 400 km discontinuity (associated with this phase transition) is shown to depend on the direction of wave propagation.     

Study of the crust and mantle using magnetic surveys by Magsat and other satellites

Among the first measurements made from near-Earth orbiting satellites were measurements of the magnetic field. The sources of that field lie both within the Earth, in its core and crust, and in the surrounding ionosphere and magnetosphere. This article summarizes some of the methodology and results for studies of the Earth’s mantle and crust. Mantle conductivity studies can be made either by studying signals impressed on the Earth from outside, e.g., the ionosphere or magnetosphere, or by studying signals originating in the core and transmitted through the mantle. Crustal field studies begin with a careful selection of the data and subsequent removal of core and external fields by some sort of filtering. Average maps from different local times sometimes differ, presumably due to the remaining presence of fields of external origin. Several techniques for further filtering are discussed. Where large-area aeromagnetic maps are available, crustal maps derived from satellite data can be compared with upward continued data. In general, the comparisons show agreement, with some differences, particularly in and near the auroral belts. The satellite data are further reduced by various methods of inverse and forward modelling, sometimes including reduction to the pole (RTP). These techniques are generally unstable at the equator. Common methods of stabilizing the inversions include principle components analysis and ridge regression. Because of the presence of the core field, the entire crustal contribution from the field is not known. Also, there is a basic nonuniqueness to the inverse solutions. Nevertheless, magnetizations that are interpretable can be derived.     

Effects of hopper dredging and sediment dispersion,chesapeake bay

Hopper dredging operations release suspended sediment into the environment by agitation of the bed and by discharge of overflow slurries. Monitoring of turbidity and suspended sediment concentrations in central Chesapeake Bay revealed two plumes: (1) an upper plume produced by overflow discharge and (2) a near-bottom plume produced by draghead agitation and rapid settling from the upper plume. The upper plume dispersed over 5.7 km² extending 5,200 meters form the discharge point. Redeposited sediment accumulated on channel flanks covering an area of 6.4 km² and reached a thickness of 19 cm. Altogether dredging redistributed into the environment an estimated 100,000 tons of sediment or 12 percent of the total material removed.Near-field concentrations of suspended sediment, less than 300 m from the dredge, reach 840 to 7,200 mg/L or 50 to 400 times the normal background level. Far-field concentrations (>300 m) are enriched 5 to 8 times background concentrations and persist 34 to 50 percent of the time during a dredging cycle (1.5 to 2.0 h). The overflow discharge plume evolves through three dispersion phases: (1) convective descent, (2) dynamic collapse, and (3) long-term passive diffusion (Clark and others 1971). The bulk of the material descends rapidly to the bottom during the convective descent phase, whereas the cloud that remains in suspension is dispersed partly by internal waves. Although suspended sediment concentrations in the water column exceed certain water quality standards, benthic communities survived the perturbation with little effect.     

Sensitivity analysis for the effects of meteorological and radioactive release conditions on radiation doses from nuclear power plant accidents

This paper briefly reviews several large-scale modeling systems for nuclear power plant accidents in the United States, and summarizes our recent modeling results for the effects of key meteorological conditions, radioactive release characteristics, and evacuation strategies on radiation doses. This work was intended to be useful in the formulation of emergency plans for nuclear power plant accidents. The sensitivity analyses establish a scale for comparing impacts at various locations and over time depending on the variation of those key parameters, and have clear implications for emergency planning.     

Calculated mineral equilibria in the greenschist-blueschist-eclogite facies in Na2O−FeO−MgO−Al2O3−SiO2−H2O

The new, greatly expanded internally-consistent dataset of Holland and Powell includes thermodynamic data for a wide range of mineral end-members in common rock-forming minerals, in particular, including FeMg_-1 substitutions in glaucophane, garnet, chloritoid and carpholite, and FeMg_-1 and MgSiAl_-1Al_-1 substitutions in talc and chlorite. Moreover, we have the uncertainties and correlations for these data. With the data, we have calculated the full pressure-temperature phase diagram for the system Na₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O (NFMASH) for quartz (or coesite) and H₂O in excess, in the range 300°–800°C and 5–50 kbars. By solving the set of non-linear equations formed by the equilibrium relationships for an independent set of equations between the end-members in an assemblage in NFMASH, the compositions of the minerals (and PT) can be calculated. Thus the changes in MgSiAl_-1Al_-1 along NMASH reactions, and FeSiAl_-1Al_-1 along NFASH reactions, are calculated, and the changes in FeMg_-1 and MgSiAl_-1Al_-1 along NFMASH reactions are calculated. From this information it is straightforward to generate PT diagrams for specific rock compositions. Mineral assemblages and mineral compositional changes in the phase diagram are discussed in relation to greenschist, blueschist and eclogite facies assemblages in metapelitic rocks. It is found that the correspondence between the predictions of the phase diagrams and the observations on rocks is remarkably good. When semiquantitative extensions of the phase diagram to include Ca(MgFe)_-1, NaSiCa_-1Al_-1, Fe³⁺Al_-1 and KNa_-1 substitutions are taken into account the agreement is essentially complete.