Origin and Extent of Fresh Paleowaters on the Atlantic Continental Shelf, USA

While the existence of relatively fresh groundwater sequestered within permeable, porous sediments beneath the Atlantic continental shelf of North and South America has been known for some time, these waters have never been assessed as a potential resource. This fresh water was likely emplaced during Pleistocene sea-level low stands when the shelf was exposed to meteoric recharge and by elevated recharge in areas overrun by the Laurentide ice sheet at high latitudes. To test this hypothesis, we present results from a high-resolution paleohydrologic model of groundwater flow, heat and solute transport, ice sheet loading, and sea level fluctuations for the continental shelf from New Jersey to Maine over the last 2 million years. Our analysis suggests that the presence of fresh to brackish water within shallow Miocene sands more than 100 km offshore of New Jersey was facilitated by discharge of submarine springs along Baltimore and Hudson Canyons where these shallow aquifers crop out. Recharge rates four times modern levels were computed for portions of New England's continental shelf that were overrun by the Laurentide ice sheet during the last glacial maximum. We estimate the volume of emplaced Pleistocene continental shelf fresh water (less than 1 ppt) to be 1300 km³ in New England. We also present estimates of continental shelf fresh water resources for the U.S. Atlantic eastern seaboard (10⁴ km³) and passive margins globally (3 × 10⁵ km³). The simulation results support the hypothesis that offshore fresh water is a potentially valuable, albeit nonrenewable resource for coastal megacities faced with growing water shortages.     

Grounding mobile policies: Ad hoc networks and the creative city in Bandung,Indonesia

This paper explores the ad hoc networks that form to move policies to new sites by examining the process through which the city of Bandung, Indonesia adopted a creative city policy. As revealed through the Bandung case, attention to the formation of these networks highlights the way that power operates within them, privileging certain ideas and structuring the ways in which information flows through their channels. This insight suggests that the concept of policy mobilities would be enriched by a closer attention to the way power is used to construct networks that promote specific policies and places as sites of ‘best practice’. Furthermore, this paper extends the concept of policy mobilities to a city ‘off the map’. In contrast to most existing policy mobilities research that tends to focus on the stable, large‐scale networks through which policies travel and on the high‐profile cities constructed as policy models, the case of Bandung provides a study of how policy mobilities may occur differently outside of its well‐established locations.     

Petrogenesis of lunar highlands meteorites: Dhofar 025, Dhofar 081, Dar al Gani 262, and Dar al Gani 400

Abstract— The petrogenesis of four lunar highlands meteorites, Dhofar 025 (Dho 025), Dhofar 081 (Dho 081), Dar al Gani 262 (DaG 262), and Dar al Gani 400 (DaG 400) were studied. For Dho 025, measured oxygen isotopic values and Fe‐Mn ratios for mafic minerals provide corroboratory evidence that it originated on the Moon. Similarly, Fe‐Mn ratios in the mafic minerals of Dho 081 indicate lunar origin. Lithologies in Dho 025 and Dho 081 include lithic clasts, granulites, and mineral fragments. A large number of lithic clasts have plagioclase AN# and coexisting mafic mineral Mg# that plot within the “gap” separating ferroan anorthosite suite (FAN) and high‐magnesium suite (HMS) rocks. This is consistent with whole rock Ti‐Sm ratios for Dho 025, Dho 081, and DaG 262, which are also intermediate compared to FAN and HMS lithologies. Although ion microprobe analyses performed on Dho 025, Dho 081, DaG 262, and DaG 400 clasts and minerals show far stronger FAN affinities than whole rock data suggest, most clasts indicate admixture of ≤12% HMS component based on geochemical modeling. In addition, coexisting plagioclase‐pyroxene REE concentration ratios in several clasts were compared to experimentally determined plagioclase‐pyroxene REE distribution coefficient ratios. Two Dho 025 clasts have concordant plagioclase‐pyroxene profiles, indicating that equilibrium between these minerals has been sustained despite shock metamorphism. One clast has an intermediate FAN‐HMS composition. These lunar meteorites appear to represent a type of highland terrain that differs substantially from the KREEP‐signatured impact breccias that dominate the lunar database. From remote sensing data, it is inferred that the lunar far side appears to have appropriate geochemical signatures and lithologies to be the source regions for these rocks; although, the near side cannot be completely excluded as a possibility. If these rocks are, indeed, from the far side, their geochemical characteristics may have far‐reaching implications for our current scientific understanding of the Moon.     

Discovery of large-scale methanol and hydroxyl maser filaments in W3(OH)

Images of the 6.7-GHz methanol maser emission from W3(OH) made at 50- and 100-mas angular resolution with the Multi-Element Radio-Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) are presented. The masers lie across the western face of the ultracompact H  ii region in extended filaments which may trace large-scale shocks. There is a complex interrelation between the 6.7-GHz methanol masers and hydroxyl (OH) masers at 1.7 and 4.7 GHz. Together the two species trace an extended filamentary structure that stretches at least 3100 au across the face of the ultracompact H  ii region. The dominant 6.7-GHz methanol emission coincides with the radio continuum peak and is populated by masers with broad spectral lines. The 6.7-GHz methanol emission is elongated at position angle 50° with a strong velocity gradient, and bears many similarities to the methanol maser disc structure reported in NGC 7538. It is surrounded by arcs of ground state OH masers at 1.7 GHz and highly excited OH masers at 13.44 GHz, some of which have the brightest methanol masers at their focus. We suggest that this region hosts the excitation centre for the ultracompact H  ii region.     

Ostracode stratigraphy and paleoecology from surficial sediments of Lake Tanganyika, Africa

We report here on the first detailed ostracode stratigraphic record to be obtained from late Holocene sediments of Lake Tanganyika. We analyzed four cores, three from the northern lake region and a fourth from a more southern lake locality, that collectively record ostracode assemblages under a variety of disturbance regimes. These cores provide a stratigraphic record of ostracode abundance and diversity, as well as depositional changes over time periods of decades to millennia. We have investigated the fossil ostracodes in these cores by looking at temporal changes of species diversity and population structure for the species present. All four cores provided distinct patterns of ostracode diversity and abundance. BUR-1, a northern lake core obtained close to the Ruisizi River delta, yielded a sparse ostracode record. Karonge #3, another northern core from a site that is closely adjacent to a river delta with high sediment loading, yielded almost no ostracodes. The third core 86-DG-14, taken from a somewhat less disturbed area of the lake, suggests that there have been recent changes in ostracode populations. Through most of the lower portion of this core, ostracode abundance is low and species richness is relatively constant. Above 7 cm there is a marked increase in ostracode abundance and a corresponding decrease in species richness, probably signaling the onset of a major community disturbance, perhaps due to human activities. The southernmost core, 86-DG-32, is from a site that is well removed from influent rivers. Ostracode abundance varies erratically throughout the core, whereas species richness is relatively constant and high throughout the core. The temporal variation evident in ostracode community makeup both within and between the studied cores may be a result of naturally patchy distributions among ostracodes, coupled with local extinctions and recolonizations, or it may reflect inadequate sampling of these high diversity assemblages. In either case, these cores illustrate the potential to obtain high resolution ostracode records from the rich, endemic fauna of Lake Tanganyika that can be used to address questions about the history of community structure and human impacts in this lake.     

Relationships between stand density and canopy structure in a dryland forest as estimated by ground-based measurements and multi-spectral spaceborne images

This paper describes evaluation of forest stand density combining satellite imagery with forest inventory data set. The degree of canopy cover is described in terms of fractional vegetation cover (FVC) obtained by a linear mixture model applied on multi-spectral IKONOS image and canopy cover (CC). CC was calculated from field measurements of crown width of 646 standing trees sited within 72 circular (200 m²) plots. A comparison between CC and FVC shows that the former can be accurately represented by the latter linking in-situ measured forest characteristics with surface reflectance measured by a satellite.Stand density expressed as an absolute term (number of trees per unit area) showed high and significant positive correlation to FVC (R² = 0.96) and to relative density measure (Crown Competition Factor; R² = 0.89).In order to show the applicability of the presented approach for managerial practices, a map of the spatial distribution of stand density within the forest was produced using the above-mentioned correlations. Its quality was verified against an independent data set of ground measurements. The correlation between field- and map-based number of trees per unit area was found to be satisfactory (R² = 0.4; p < 0.05), even though a slight lack of sensitivity was evident for low-density stands.     

Gravitational collapse of magnetic neutron stars

Pulsars are presently believed to be rotating neutron stars with frozen-in magnetic fields. Because of the high density of neutron stars, general relativistic effects are important since they effect both the structure and stability of such stars. Besides this, the magnetic field outside the star is also affected. Instead of falling of asr ^(2+l) as in flat space, it is shown that each magnetic multipole varies as a hypergeometric function of radius. A closed form of these hypergeometric functions is given in terms of Legendre functions of the second kind. If the mass of a neutron star exceeds about 2.4m , the star becomes unstable and coliapses. For a quasistatically collapsing body, it is shown that the magnetic field seen by a distant observer vanishes as the radius approaches the gravitational radius.This work was supported in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office of Aerospace Research under AFOSR Grant 70-1866.