Lithification of gas-rich chondrite regolith breccias by grain boundary and localized shock melting

We studied the fine-grained matrices (< 150 μm) of 14 gas-rich ordinary chondrite regolith breccias in an attempt to decipher the nature of the lithification process that converted loose regolith material into consolidated breccias. We find that there is a continuous gradation in matrix textures from nearly completely clastic (class A) to highly cemented (class C) breccias in which the remaining clasts are completely surrounded by interstitial, shock-melted material. We conclude that this interstitial material formed by shock melting in the porous regolith. In general, the abundances of solar-wind-implanted ⁴He and ²⁰Ne are inversely correlated with the abundance of interstitial, shock-melted, feldspathic material. Chondrites with the highest abundance of interstitial, melted material (class C) experienced the highest shock pressures and temperatures and suffered the most extensive degassing. It is this interstitial, feldspathic melt that lithifies and cements the breccias together; those breccias with very little interstitial melt (class A) are the most porous and least consolidated.     

Earthquake strong motion simulated by stress drop models

Shallow strike slip earthquakes on vertical faults are modelled as two-dimensional antiplane strain ruptures in a uniformly prestressed homogeneous halfspace. Behind the rupture front, which is specified, the stress drops to a lower value. The elastodynamic boundary value problem is solved with a finite difference method. Several cases are studied, which include symmetric and one-directional rupture propagation, surface faulting, multiple events, variable rupture velocity, sticking and rebreaking of the fault plane. The time function of displacement, velocity and acceleration are interpreted as signals generated by events in the focus, namely starting, stopping and breaking through the surface of the rupture. The model explains peak velocity and peak acceleration in the near field of M5.5–6 earthquakes; which are typically about 0.2 m/s and 5 m/s² at 10 km epicentral distance, if the rupture velocity is close to the shear wave velocity. Sticking of the fault does not alter the accelerograms significantly, but it increases the seismic moment in simple events and decreases it in multiple events.Contribution No. 226, Geophysical Institute, University of Karlsruhe.     

Two Experimental Methods to Determine the Speciation of Cadmium in Sediment from the River Neckar

The binding forms of Cd to an anaerobic sediment of low sulfide content from Lauffen reservoir (River Neckar, Germany) were studied using two different approaches, i. e. sequential extraction (modified from published protocols) and titrimetric study of the pH-dependent Cd release. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations were applied to calculate both the release pattern of Cd during the titrations and the speciation of Cd within the single fractions of the extraction protocol. The calculations were based on measured sediment parameters such as hydrous ferric oxide (HFO), acid volatile sulfide, carbonate content and total Cd content, and the extractants (oxalate, acid etc.) used. The results of the two independent approaches coincided well in that they both assigned more than two thirds of the total Cd content to be adsorbed to organic matter. Cd bound as CdS is of little importance. Sequential extraction after a 3-month oxidation period at pH 7 revealed a shift of Cd from being mainly bound in stronger surface complexes with organic matter to being mainly bound in weaker surface complexes with organic matter and HFO, and thus becoming more bioavailable. This study suggests that the use of sequential extraction although being frequently criticized due to its operational character can be used to determine binding forms of metal ions if they are accompanied by 1) careful supporting experiments, 2) analysis of important sediment parameters, and 3) the use of thermodynamic equlibrium models which can help to understand Cd speciation within the extraction fractions.     

Naturally Enhanced Ion-Acoustic Spectra And Their Interpretation

Incoherent scatter radars are designed to detect scatter from thermalfluctuations in the ionosphere. These fluctuations contain, among other things,features associated with ion-acoustic waves driven by random motions within theplasma. The resulting spectra are generally broad and noisy, but neverthelessthe technique can, through a detailed analysis of spectra, be used to measure arange of physical parameters in the Earth's upper atmosphere, and provides apowerful diagnostic in studies of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling,thermosphere dynamics and the geospace environment in general. In recent yearsthere has been much interest in naturally occurring (as opposed to artificiallystimulated) enhanced ion-acoustic spectra seen in the auroral zone andcusp/cleft region. A study of the plasma instability processes that lead tosuch spectra will help us to better understand auroral particle acceleration,wave-particle and wave-wave interactions in the ionosphere, and theirassociation with magnetospheric processes. There is now a substantial body ofliterature documenting observations of enhanced ion-acoustic spectra, but thereremains controversy over generation mechanisms. We present a review ofliterature documenting observations of naturally enhanced ion-acoustic spectra,observed mainly along the geomagnetic field direction, along with a discussionof the theories put forward to explain such phenomena.     

Discharge of Salt Groundwater in the Estuary of the Razdol’naya River (Amur Bay) in February 2020

Water Resources - In February 2020, geochemical tracers along with hydrochemical and hydrological characteristics were used to reveal a discharge site of salt groundwaters in the head of the...     

Assessment of potential transport of pollutants into the Barents Sea via sea ice--an observational approach

The present estimates of ice drift in the Arctic include utilization of satellite imagery data (special sensor microwave/imager) and a reconstruction of air pressure for the period 1899-1998. A significant part of the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has its origin in the Kara Sea and melts in the Greenland and the Barents Sea (BS). Consequently there may be a particular risk of pollutants in the Kara Sea entering the food webs of the Greenland and BS. The ice export from the Kara Sea between 1988 and 1994 was about 208,000 km2 (154 km3) per year. The import of ice into the BS was during the same period 161,000 km2 (183 km3) per year while the ice drift through the Fram Strait into the Greenland Sea was 583,000 km2 (1859 km3) per year. Ice which formed adjacent to the Ob and Yenisey rivers in early January, drifted into the BS within two years (with a probability of about 50%.     

Geomagnetic Pc3 Pulsations During the Total Solar Eclipse on Aug 11, 1999

The solar eclipse on August 11, 1999, observed in the region covered by many geomagnetic observatories, has offered a unique opportunity to look for an effect of the eclipse on geomagnetic pulsations. The pulsation activity digital data have been taken from Budkov Observatory in the Czech Republic (in the X component only), from observatories in Germany (Niemegk, Fürstenfeldbruck, Bad Bergzabern), in Hungary (Nagycenk), and for comparison in South Africa (Hermanus, conjugate-point station), and in Finland (Sodankylä, far from the eclipse zone). At all these stations the field in all three component has been recorded. The pulsation amplitudes in the X component exhibit a long-term minimum near the time of the eclipse. Spectral analysis of selected short intervals confirmed this decrease and also revealed a decrease of the average pulsation period during the eclipse. Such a change in the amplitude or in the period was not observed outside of the eclipse interval or in other days. Investigation in some narrower frequency bands showed that the maximal decrease occurred in the 15–20 s band. All these changes can be found in records from all the stations near the eclipse totality belt, also in records at the conjugate-point station, where no eclipse occurred. No signature has been found in records at the station situated far from the eclipse zone.     

Biogeochemical processes in the Chukchi Sea

Study of biogeochemical processes in water and sediments of the Chukchi Sea in August 2004 revealed atypical maximums of the concentration of biogenic elements (N, P, and Si) and the rate of microbial sulfate reduction in the surface layer (0–3 cm) of marine sediments. The C: N: P ratio in the organic matter (OM) of this layer does not fit the Redfield-Richards stoichiometric model. Specific features of biogeochemical processes in sea are likely related to the complex dynamics of water, high primary productivity (110–1400 mg C/(m² day)), low depth of basin (<50 m in 60% of the water area), reduced food chain due to low population of zooplankton, high density of zoobenthos (up to 4230 g m^?2), and high activity of microbial processes. Drastic decrease in the concentration of biogenic elements, iodine, total alkalinity (Alk), and population of microorganisms beneath the 0–3 cm layer testify to a large-scale OM decay at the water-seafloor barrier. Our original experimental data support the high annual rate of OM mineralization at the bottom of the Chukchi Sea.     

Avalanche risk assessment for mountain roads: a case study from Iceland

This paper presents an assessment of the avalanche hazard potential and the resulting risks on mountain roads for a 38.7-km-long section of road no 76 (Siglufjarearvegur) in northern Iceland following a regional scale approach developed in the Alps. The assessment of the individual avalanche death risk proved applicable to distinguish areas of avalanche hazard with a risk above the accepted level, which should be given priority in following detailed investigations and the planning of possible protective measures, from road sections where the avalanche death risk is low and accepted according to international practice. The cumulative individual and collective avalanche death risks in the investigated road section provide a comparable measure for assessing the avalanche hazard both within the Icelandic public road network and on an international scale. The case study on road no 76 in northern Iceland shows that a standardised regional scale risk-based approach is practical to determine, analyse and assess the avalanche hazard situation on mountain roads in Iceland and guarantees comprehensible, reproducible and comparable results as a basis for a sustainable planning of measures.