Trough structures in the Western syenite of Kûngnât, S Greenland: mineralogy and mechanism of formation

In the Western layered syenite stock of the Kûngnât complex, close to the intrusion wall, there are two groups of regularly spaced, horizontally aligned, stacks of infilled troughs. These features resemble, to some extent, the trough layering within the UZa trough zone of the gabbroic Skaergaard¹ intrusion. Such features have never before been described in syenitic rocks. The lower group comprises six stacks of infilled troughs; the upper group comprises seven. The two groups are vertically separated by about 10 m of sparsely layered syenite. The infilled troughs in the upper group are stacked vertically; those in the lower group gradually shift laterally and appear to converge over an antiformal structure. It is not possible to measure the plunge of the troughs due to outcrop geometry. Troughs are up to about 80 cm deep. The material filling the troughs is more melanocratic than the syenite that surrounds them. Individual troughs exhibit normal grading. The syenite within the troughs contains large amphibole and biotite oikocrysts. Faintly layered syenite occurs laterally between stacks. Minerals in the host syenite are more ferroan than those in the troughs, this is thought to represent re-equilibration with residual melt. Feldspar textures, irregular pyroxene and apatite zoning, and the presence of irregular shaped amphibole patches within pyroxene grains all imply alteration by a pervasive deuteric fluid in both troughs and host syenite. We suggest the following hypothesis for the formation of the troughs. A mafic crystal sheath which grows on the walls of the magma chamber becomes detached and flows downwards. The descending slurry forms a series of regularly spaced streams which erode trough shaped channels into the crystal pile at the base of the chamber. Uneroded crystal material separates the channels. Crystals are deposited from these streams. Successive streams flow over each other to generate stacks of troughs.     

Effects of geology and human activity on the dynamics of salt-water intrusion in three coastal aquifers in southern Spain

 Mathematical modelling of salt-water intrusion processes in three aquifers on the southern coast of Spain (Río Verde, Río Vélez and Castell de Ferro) reveals that, although all three systems are subject to the same climate and seasonal over-exploitation, geological and human factors have very different effects on the dynamics of contamination. In the Río Verde aquifer, the most important influence is the high volume of extractions occurring during the dry season; in Río Vélez, the intrusion is strongly controlled by infiltration of water from the river to the aquifer, and, in the Castell de Ferro system, an intensely karstified carbonate massif lying in contact with both the sea water and the detrital aquifer represents the main entrance point for influx of sea water and subsequent washing of the aquifer. We have undertaken a mathematical simulation of various possible measures to counteract intrusion, according to the specific characteristics of the process in each aquifer. These measures include artificial recharge, use of natural recharge from the river as a hydraulic barrier, and the construction of a low-permeability barrier. Received: 5 December 1995 · Accepted: 12 April 1996     

The separation of the influence of nutrients and climate on the varve time-series of baldeggersee, Switzerland

The varve data-set from a freeze-core taken in the deepest part of Baldeggersee was subjected to different multivariate statistical analyses in order to estimate the amount of variance in the varve thickness measures explicable by past climate and by the trophic state of the lake. A comparison of two different time-periods (1902 to1992 versus 1920 to 1980) revealed that the lake restoration programme since 1982 has had a significant impact on the formation of the seasonal layers. Results of the partitioning of the variance in the varve thickness measures showed that about two thirds of the variance are unexplained by a climate and trophic state model and that trophic state explains 6%, whereas climate accounts for about 28% of the variance before the effect of lake restoration had a strong impact on the varves. Among the climate parameters the amount of annual precipitation is a strong predictor for explaining the thickness of both dark layer and total couplet thickness, whereas summer precipitation is important for the thickness of the light layer.     

Synthetic Seismograms for a Layered Earth Geological Model Using the Absorption and Dispersion Phenomena

—An algorithm has been developed to compute the dispersive and dissipative seismic response using FUTTERMAN’S (1962) third attenuation-dispersion relationship. In the computation, frequency-dependent velocity and quality factor Q have been used but in the case of the nondispersive synthetic seismogram, frequency-independent velocity has been used. The model’s parameters are density, phase velocity, quality factors and thicknesses of the layers. Dispersive and nondispersive synthetic seismograms have been computed with and without absorption for a layered earth geological model. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) technique has been adopted for converting the frequency domain response into the time domain. The frequency spacing, Δf = 0.976?Hz, has been considered to avoid the aliasing effect. The results have revealed changes in the reflected waveforms in the frequency domain as well as in the time domain for absorption and dispersion cases. It is also concluded that dispersion reduces the arrival time and this effect is increasing with the travel time. The effect of constant Q on the seismic response has also been studied.     

Afternoon mid-latitude current system and low-latitude geomagnetic field asymmetry during geomagnetic storms

For four geomagnetic storms of middle intensity the relationship between the low-latitude magnetic field asymmetry using ASY indices and the intensity of the auroral eastward and westward electro-jet was considered. It was asked whether there exists a connection between ASY and the eastward electrojet. To answer this question equivalent current systems were estimated in mid-latitudes. It was found that the observations obviously show no correlative relationship between the low-latitude magnetic-field asymmetry and the eastward electrojet, whereas one exists between ASY and the westward electrojet. To explain the generally accepted common three-dimensional current system between the partial ring current and the eastward electrojet, a condensor model of the three-dimensional current system was developed. It could be shown that the short periodic variations of the partial ring current are shielded by the condensor and cannot influence the eastward-electrojet current.     

Electron cyclotron waves in the presence of parallel electric fields in the Earth’s auroral plasma

The electron cyclotron waves that originate at low altitudes (<0.5 R_E) and observed by ground facilities have been studied in the presence of a weak parallel electric field in auroral magnetoplasma consisting of trapped energetic auroral electrons and cold background electrons of ionospheric origin. The model distribution for auroral trapped electrons is taken as Maxwellian ring distribution. An expression for the growth rate has been obtained in the presence of parallel electric field assuming that the real frequency in the whistler mode is not affected by the presence of the electric field. The results show that waves grow (or damp) in amplitude for a parallel (or antiparallel) electric field. The influence of the electric field is more pronounced at a shorter wavelength spectrum. An increase in population of energetic electrons increases the growth rate and thus, plays a significant role in the wave excitation process in the auroral regions.     

High spatial and temporal resolution observations of an impulse-driven field line resonance in radar backscatter artificially generated with the Tromsø heater

The CUTLASS Finland HF radar has been operated in conjunction with the EISCAT Tromsø RF ionospheric heater facility to examine a ULF wave characteristic of the development of a field line resonance (FLR) driven by a cavity mode caused by a magnetospheric impulse. When the heater is on, striating the ionosphere with field-aligned ionospheric electron density irregularities, a large enough radar target is generated to allow post-integration over only 1 second. When combined with 15 km range gates, this gives radar measurements of a naturally occurring ULF wave at a far better temporal and spatial resolution than has been achieved previously. The time-dependent signature of the ULF wave has been examined as it evolves from a large-scale cavity resonance, through a transient where the wave period was latitude-dependent and the oscillation had the characteristics of freely ringing field lines, and finally to a very narrow, small-scale local field line resonance. The resonance width of the FLR is only 60 km and this is compared with previous observations and theory. The FLR wave signature is strongly attenuated in the ground magnetometer data. The characterisation of the impulse driven FLR was only achieved very crudely with the ground magnetometer data and, in fact, an accurate determination of the properties of the cavity and field line resonant systems challenges the currently available limitations of ionospheric radar techniques. The combination of the latest ionospheric radars and facilities such as the Tromsø ionospheric heater can result in a powerful new tool for geophysical research.     

Study of sporadic-E clouds by backscatter radar

It is shown that swept-frequency backscatter ionograms covering a range of azimuths can be used to study the dynamics of sporadic-E clouds. A simple technique based on analytic ray tracing can be used to simulate the observed narrow traces associated with E_s patches. This enables the location and extent of the sporadic-E clouds to be determined. The motion of clouds can then be determined from a time sequence of records. In order to demonstrate the method, results are presented from an initial study of 5 days of backscatter ionograms from the Jindalee Stage B data base obtained during March-April 1990. Usually 2–3 clouds were observed each day, mainly during the evening and up to midnight. The clouds lasted from 1–4 h and extended between 30°–80° in azimuth and 150–800 km in range. The clouds were mostly stationary or drifted generally westward with velocities of up to 80 ms^–1. Only one cloud was observed moving eastward.