Studies of a regulated dryland river: surface–groundwater interactions

Unlike rivers in humid regions, dryland rivers typically exhibit reduced flow in the downstream direction as a result of transmission losses, which include seepage of streamflow into the aquifer, evaporation, and transpiration. However, much remains to be learned about the nature of the exchange between surface water and groundwater in these landscapes, especially in terms of spatial and temporal variability. Our study focused on streambank seepage and groundwater flow in the alluvial aquifer, specifically on answering questions such as: Is there seasonal variability in seepage losses? Is seepage permanently lost? Can losses be reduced by killing riparian vegetation? To better understand the magnitude, variability, and fate of streambank seepage, we assessed river stages, groundwater hydraulic gradients, and groundwater flow paths at two sites along a reach of the Pecos River, a dryland perennial river in West Texas. We found that along this reach the river was losing water to the aquifer even under low‐flow conditions; but seepage was controlled by a number of different mechanisms. Seepage increased not only during high‐flow events but also when the groundwater level was declining owing to long periods of no irrigation release. Tamarix (saltcedar) control did not affect hydraulic gradients nor reduce streambank seepage and given that this reach of the Pecos River is a losing one, streamflow will not be enhanced by controlling saltcedar. These findings can be used to improve basic conceptual models of dryland river systems and to predict hydrologic responses to changes in the timing and magnitude of streamflows and to riparian vegetation management. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Snowmelt‐driven macropore flow and soil saturation in a semiarid forest

Lateral subsurface flow is generally assumed to occur as a result of the development of a saturated zone above a low‐permeability interface such as at the soil–bedrock contact, and it is often augmented by macropore flow. Our objective was to evaluate the development of lateral subsurface flow and soil saturation at a semiarid ponderosa pine forest in New Mexico with respect to the conceptual model of saturation building above the soil–bedrock contact. At this site, we have long‐term observations of the water budget components, including lateral flow. A 1·5 m deep by 7 m long trench was constructed to observe lateral subsurface flow and development of saturation directly. Our observations are based on flow resulting from a melting snowdrift. The edge of the drift was about 7 m upslope from the trench. Lateral subsurface flow only occurred from root macropores in the Bt soil horizon. Saturation developed and grew outward from flowing root macropores, rather than growing upward from the soil–bedrock interface. This macropore‐centred saturation resulted in a highly heterogeneous distribution of water content until enough macropores began flowing and individual macropore saturated zones grew large enough to coalesce and saturate large volumes of the soil. Our observations are based on one snowmelt event and a relatively short hillslope flow path, and thus do not represent a full range of hydrologic conditions. Nevertheless, the observed behaviour did not conform to the traditional model of soil–bedrock control of saturation and lateral flow. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Savage Jaguars,King Cats,and Ghostly Tigres: Affective Logics and Predatory Natures in Twentieth-Century American Nature Writing

The emerging subfield of historical animal geography provides an opportunity to trace the origins and evolutions of how affective logics framing the conservation of an animal species are co-constituted through embodied interaction between humans and nonhumans, revealing the dynamic ways in which charismatic species are imagined into and out of positions of priority within conservation agendas. This article takes an interest in the shifting perception of predatory species in the environmental conservation movement in the United States, looking to the appearance of jaguars (Panthera onca) in the work of prominent U.S. nature writers Theodore Roosevelt, Ernest Thompson Seton, and Aldo Leopold in the early- to mid-twentieth century. These human–jaguar entanglements reveal a period marked by dynamic changes in the ways in which interspecies encounters were constituted in place; a layering on of affective logics that reveal the complicated origins, practices, and potentialities at the outset of the modern conservation movement. The resulting narratives and images of predatory nature were taken up into dynamic assemblages of jaguar-ness, influencing the formation of new logics that framed public perceptions of predatory natures and provoking a reconsideration of long-held attitudes and policies toward these species.     

新疆东天山觉罗塔格地区花岗岩类年代学、构造背景及其成矿作用研究

东天山觉罗塔格地区岩浆岩非常发育,以花岗岩类分布最为广泛,对其研究还较为薄弱。本文对觉罗塔格地区主要的花岗岩类岩体系统开展了地质特征研究并进行了同位素精确测年,报道了区内16个主要花岗岩类岩体的锆石LA-ICPMS U-Pb年龄：镜儿泉岩体376.9±3.1Ma、西凤山岩体349.0±3.4Ma、石英滩岩体342±11Ma、长条山岩体337.4±2.8Ma、天目岩体320.2±3.1Ma、百灵山岩体317.7±3.7Ma、白石泉岩体303±18Ma、迪坎岩体288.0±2.5Ma、黄山岩体288±17Ma、白山东岩体284.5±4.5Ma、管道岩体284.1±5.8Ma、红石岩体282.7±4.2Ma、陇东岩体276.2±2.5Ma、多头山岩体271.7±5.5Ma、双岔沟岩体252.4±2.9Ma、土墩岩体246.2±2.6Ma,上述定年结果为研究区岩浆活动与区域构造演化及深部过程的关系研究提供了可靠的年代学支持。结合前人已有的部分年代学成果认为,觉罗塔格地区花岗岩类的形成年龄分布在386~230Ma之间,岩浆活动可分为晚泥盆世(386.5~369.5Ma)、早石炭世(349~330Ma)、晚石炭世-晚二叠世(320~252Ma)、早中三叠世(246~230Ma)等4个阶段。前3个阶段岩浆活动具有持续时间逐渐变长、岩浆活动逐渐加剧的特点,并在第三阶段达到顶峰,而第四阶段岩浆活动则明显变弱。花岗岩类岩浆活动在时空分布上表现为,自哈尔里克-大南湖岛弧带→阿奇山-雅满岛弧带→康古尔-黄山韧性剪切带,岩体侵位由早到晚; 自研究区东部→中西部→沿韧性剪切带,岩体侵位由老到新。结合区域构造演化研究成果认为,觉罗塔格地区花岗质岩浆活动与区域构造演化具有很强的耦合关系,花岗岩类在前碰撞阶段、主碰撞阶段、后碰撞阶段、板内阶段等4个构造演化阶段均有发育,与花岗岩类在时间分布上的4个阶段完全对应,其中尤以后碰撞构造演化阶段花岗岩类的分布最广泛、岩浆活动最强烈。觉罗塔格地区与4个阶段花岗岩类有关的成矿作用由早到晚具有无明显矿化→斑岩型铜矿、火山岩型铁矿→韧性剪切带型金矿、夕卡岩型银(铜)矿→斑岩-石英脉型钼矿的演化特点,其中以对应于主碰撞阶段的斑岩型铜矿和后碰撞阶段的韧性剪切带型金矿最为发育。本文系统阐述了东天山觉罗塔格地区中酸性岩体的时空格架、与区域构造演化的耦合、与成矿作用的关系,为北疆地区晚古生代特别是后碰撞背景下的岩浆演化及其成矿关系的研究提供了有力支持。     

东天山自然铜矿化带玄武岩的起源、演化及成岩构造背景

新疆东天山地区与玄武岩有关的自然铜矿化带位于东天山觉罗塔格构造带内,自西向东有十里坡、黑龙峰、长城山、东尖峰等主要矿(化)点,自然铜矿化主要发育在玄武岩、杏仁状玄武岩及凝灰岩夹层中。本文基于玄武岩的地球化学特征,研究东天山自然铜矿化带玄武岩是否与地幔柱有关、岩浆源区性质、岩浆演化、成岩构造背景等问题。研究显示,东天山自然铜矿化带玄武岩与地幔柱岩浆活动无直接关系,整个天山地区是否存在石炭-二叠纪地幔柱岩浆活动也需要进一步的研究; 玄武岩起源于亏损岩石圈地幔,是演化岩浆的产物; 演化的玄武质岩浆形成后,在岩浆房中或上升至地表的过程中没有发生明显的分离结晶作用,也没有受到明显的地壳物质混染; 与玄武岩对应的地幔橄榄岩平衡原生岩浆演化的高镁岩浆的产物,可能为东天山地区与铜镍硫化物成矿有关的基性-超基性岩,指示这些铜镍硫化物矿床可能与地幔柱岩浆活动也没有关系; 玄武岩形成于新疆北部后碰撞构造阶段的伸展期,是在拉张应力体制下,由于软流圈上涌导致岩石圈地幔部分熔融而形成。     

A new method of magnetograph observation of the photospheric brightness,velocity, and magnetic fields

Several improvements have been made to the Mount Wilson Observatory solar magnetograph, including changes to the guider, the Doppler compensator, and the data-handling system. The improved magnetograph has been used for a new type of solar observation consisting of several hundred scans back and forth along a straight line of length 3/4 R ₀ perpendicular to central meridian. The data reduction, which is done entirely with a computer, eliminates those effects which have their origin in the earth-sun geometry. The spatial and temporal properties of the 5-min oscillations are discussed.     

The quasi-stationary coronal magnetic field and electron density as determined from a Faraday rotation experiment

Pioneer VI was launched into a circumsolar orbit on December 16, 1965, and was occulted by the sun in the latter half of November, 1968. During the occultation period, the 2292-MHz S-band telemetry carrier underwent Faraday rotation due to the interaction of this signal with the plasma and magnetic field in the solar corona. The NASA/JPL 210-ft diameter antenna of the Deep Space Network near Barstow, California, was used for the measurement. The antenna feed was modified for automatic polarization tracking for this experiment. The measurement results are interpreted with a theoretical model of the solar corona. This model consists of a modified Allen-Baumbach electron density and a coronal magnetic field calculated both from Mount Wilson magnetograph observations using a source surface model and field extrapolations from the Explorer 33 satellite magnetometer. The observations and the calculated rotation show general agreement with respect to magnitude, sense, and timing, suggesting the source-surface model and field extrapolations from 1 AU are a valid technique to obtain the magnetic field in the corona from 4 to 12 solar radii. Variations present can easily be ascribed to density enhancements known to be present in the corona. Longitudinal variations of the density in the corona cannot be obtained from coronagraph observations, and thus a purely radial variation was assumed. An improved fit to the Faraday rotation data is obtained with an equatorial electron density $$N = 10^8 \left( {\frac{{6000}}{{R^{10} }} + \frac{{0.002}}{{R^2 }}} \right)...{\text{ cm}}^{{\text{ - 3}}} {\text{ (4 < }}R < 12){\text{ }}...$$ where R is in solar radii. The work of W. V. T. Rusch and J. E. Ohlson was supported in part by research sponsored by the Joint Services Electronics Program through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grant AF-AFOSR 69-1622A at the University of Southern California. The work done by K. H. Schatten was in part supported by the National Academy of Science on a National Research Council postdoctoral fellowship. The work of J. M. Wilcox was supported in part by the Office of Naval Research under Contract Nonr 3656(26), by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant NGR 05-003-230, and by the National Science Foundation under Grant GA-1319 at the University of California at Berkeley.     

Photospheric magnetic field rotation: Rigid and differential

An autocorrelation of the direction of the large-scale photospheric magnetic field observed during 1959–1967 has yielded evidence that the field structure at some heliographic latitudes can display both differential rotation and rigid rotation properties.     

Average photospheric poloidal and toroidal magnetic field components near solar minimum

Average (over longitude and time) photospheric magnetic field components are derived from 3 Stanford magnetograms made near the solar minimum of cycle 21. The average magnetograph signal is found to behave as the projection of a vector for measurements made across the disk. The poloidal field exhibits the familiar dipolar structure near the poles, with a measured signal in the line Fe i 5250 Å of 1 G. At low latitudes the poloidal field has the polarity of the poles, but is of reduced magnitude ( 0.1 G). A net photospheric toroidal field with a broad latitudinal extent is found. The polarity of the toroidal field is opposite in the nothern and southern hemispheres and has the same sense as subsurface flux tubes giving rise to active regions of solar cycle 21.These observations are used to discusse large-scale electric currents crossing the photosphere and angular momentum loss to the solar wind.Now at Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. 85726, U.S.A.