Martian rampart crater ejecta: Experiments and analysis of melt-water interaction

Viking images of Martian craters with rampart-bordered ejecta deposits reveal distinct impact ejecta morphology when compared to that associated with similar-sized craters on the Moon and Mercury. Topographic control of distribution, lobate and terraced margins, cross-cutting relationships, and multiple stratigraphic units are evidence for ejecta emplacement by surface flowage. It is suggested that target water explosively vaporized during impact alters initial ballistic trajectories of ejecta and produces surging flow emplacement. The dispersal of particulates during a series of controlled steam explosions generated by interaction of a thermite melt with water has been experimentally modeled. Preliminary results indicate that the mass ratio of water to melt and confining pressure control the degree of melt fragmentation (ejecta particle size) and the energy and mode of melt-ejecta dispersal. Study of terrestrial, lobate, volcanic ejecta produced by steam-blast explosions reveals that particle size and vapor to clast volume ratio are primary parameters characterizing the emplacement mechanism and deposit morphology. Martian crater ramparts are formed when ejecta surges lose fluidizing vapors and transported particles are deposited en masse. This deposition results from flow yield strength increasing above shear stress due to interparticle friction.     

Meridional transport of sensible heat in contrasting monsoon activity: Spherical harmonic analysis

Spherical harmonic analysis is made of the grid point values of geopotential heights at 700 mb and 300 mb levels for the months April to August for the years 1967 and 1972. The year 1967 is a good monsoon year and 1972 is a bad monsoon year in India. Meridional transport of sensible heat is obtained in wave number domain using spherical harmonic coefficients at 500 mb level form=1 to 10 andn–m=0 to 10, wherem represents the wave number round the globe andn–m gives the numbers of zero points from north pole to south pole excluding the poles themselves.Large northward transports of sensible heat in the month of May and in the monsoon months at the subtropics are characteristic of bad monsoon. Wave 1 transports sensible heat southward (forn–m=0) and wave 2 transports sensible heat northward (forn–m=4). Strengthening of wave 1 is conducive to good monsoon year and strengthening of wave 2 is conducive to bad monsoon year. These are the same features obtained in Fourier analysis. The contrasting features exist in waves 1 and 2 both in good and in bad monsoon and are better defined in the present analysis than in the Fourier analysis of the earlier study. However, waves 1 and 2 reveal clearer contrast in the present analysis than in the Fourier analysis. Bad monsoon activity is associated with large divergence of heart at subtropics and large convergence of heat at extra tropics.     

First Data on the Isotopic Age of Zircons from Rocks of the Roseta Ultramafic Massif,Southern Margin of the São Francisco Craton (Brazil)

Doklady Earth Sciences - The results of isotope U–Pb dating of zircons from lherzolite and vein olivine orthopyroxenite composing the Roseta ultramafic massif are presented. The zircons...     

Influence of wind upon water quality in Liverpool Bay

Comprehensive distribution patterns of physical and chemical characteristics have been obtained from a series of cruises in Liverpool Bay. The marked feature of these distributions was their temporal variability, suggesting that the surface residual circulation is also temporally variable. The influence of wind stress upon the circulation pattern and hence water quality of this sea area is illustrated.     

Multidimensional statistical technique for detection of low contrast geochemical anomalies

In this article we propose an advanced technique for detecting low contrast geochemical anomalies using a set of features. There are three principal elements in this technique: (1) a statistical measure of the contrast of the anomaly, denoted as τ; (2) selection of a background population; and (3) reduction of the dimensionality of the feature space. In the frame of the model, which describes the statistical distribution of geochemical background as a multidimensional normal distribution of logarithms of concentrations, the index, τ, is a powerful test statistic for the hypothesis of abnormality of an observation. Maps of τ anomalies can be rigorously interpreted on the basis of statistical inferences. Under all equal conditions this technique allows the detection of geochemical anomalies with at least the same contrast (if the chemical elements in a background population are correlated, then even the better) as using selective extractions of metals from soil or other techniques for data processing. The advantages of the proposed technique are demonstrated both theoretically and on examples of rare-metal and copper–nickel mineral deposits.     

Bildung bromhaltiger Desinfektionsnebenprodukte nach Chlorung von Bodenseewasser in Abhängigkeit von Aufbereitungsschritten und der Bromidkonzentration

Formation of Brominated Disinfection By-products after Chlorination of Water from Lake Constance Depending on Treatment Steps and Bromide Concentration The formation of halogenated disinfection by-products (DNP) (trihalomethanes (THM), haloacetic acids (HES), haloacetonitriles (HAN), haloketones (HKE) and chloropicrin (TCNM)) was studied after chlorination (0.5 mg/L) of raw water and drinking water from Lake Constance. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of bromide ion on the distribution of DNP-species resulting from chlorination and to draw up a bromide mass-balance. The treatment of water from Lake Constance with ozone decreased the formation of DNP about 35% and of total organic halogens (AOX) about 45%. This decline in DNP-formation is mainly due to the formation of chloroform, dichloro- and trichloroacetic acid. Though there is only a small amount of bromide (6.2 μg/L) in water from Lake Constance, about 32% of THM, 16% of HES, and 30% of HAN contained bromine after chlorination of treated water. The addition of bromide ion (up to 1 mg/L) shifted the DNP-composition to more brominated species. The distribution of the DNP-species depends on the initial molar bromide-to-chlorine ratio. A mathematic model showed the same pattern of DNP-species depending on the initial molar bromide-to-chlorine ratio that was observed experimentally in microstrained raw water and drinking water from Lake Constance. After chlorination of microstrained raw water, 27% of the bromide were incorporated in known DNP, 34% in unknown substances, and about 39% of bromide were not converted to organic bromine. After chlorination of treated water, only 16% of the bromide were incorporated in unknown substances, whereas 34% were found in known DNP. About 50% were found as bromide again. After addition of bromide (up to 25 μg/L) to ozonated and treated water from Lake Constance, between 60 and 72% of the bromide that had reacted after chlorination were found in analyzed low-molecular DNP.     

Deformability properties of model granular soils under true triaxial compression conditions

The study presents a review of modifications to the design of true triaxial test apparatuses and described a new mixed boundary apparatus to study the stress-strain behavior of coarse-grained soil under true triaxial compression conditions. It was shown that the deviatoric component plays an important role in affecting the volumetric compression of coarse-grained soil. The study analyzed the influence of different stress-strain characteristics on the development of lateral earth pressure.     

Archaeal Communities of Frozen Quaternary Sediments of Marine Origin on the Coast of Western Spitsbergen

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The archaeal composition of permafrost samples taken during the drilling of frozen marine sediments in the area of the Barentsburg coal mine on the east...