Magma homogenization during anatexis,ascent and/or emplacement? Constraints from the Variscan Weinsberg Granites

Recent studies have shown that melts and residues may not equilibrate during anatexis, and uncertainty exists about the scale on which magmas can be homogenized. This study of elemental and isotopic homogeneity of the South Bohemian Weinsberg granites (˜ 5000 km²) identifies three voluminous, relatively homogeneous magma batches. Each batch has different ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_init (0.7080, 0.7093 and 0.7106), but all equilibrated at ˜ 327–329 Ma, very similar to the time of monazite crystallization. The data cannot entirely prove melt/residue equilibration during anatexis. However, elemental and isotopic compositions imply magma generation by partial melting of heterogeneous South Bohemian crust and chemical differentiation subsequent to Sr-isotope equilibration. Assuming relatively rapid ascent and solidification rates, magma homogenization must have occurred mostly just after partial melting, during melt segregation and accumulation in the deeper crust with slow prograde heating. Models of rapid crustal heating and instantaneous melt extraction are incompatible with the data.     

A comparison of type II shock speeds

Type II radio bursts are produced by material moving outwards in the solar atmosphere. Their drift in frequency allows the calculation of the radial speed with which the shock is moving- very basic information in assessing the likelihood that the shock will reach the Earth and its time of arrival. This paper compares the shock speeds derived from radio bursts observed by the Swept Frequency Interferometric Radiometer (SFIR) equipment at the US Air Force Radio Solar Telescope Network (RSTN) of observatories with those measured with the Culgoora radiospectrograph operated by IPS Radio and Space Services. The SFIR shock speeds are found to be 1.5–3.0 times larger than the Culgoora values which are consistent with earlier results. This difference appears to originate from the incorrect interpretation of events as a result of the smaller frequency range of the SFIR equipment.     

The “Shiva Hypothesis”: Impacts, mass extinctions, and the galaxy

The “Shiva Hypothesis”, in which recurrent, cyclical mass extinctions of life on Earth result from impacts of comets or asteroids, provides a possible unification of important processes in astrophysics, planetary geology, and the history of life. Collisions with Earth-crossing asteroids and comets ≥ a few km in diameter are calculated to produce widespread environmental disasters (dust clouds, wildfires), and occur with the proper frequency to account for the record of five major mass extinctions (from ≥ 10⁸ Mt TNT impacts) and ~ 20 minor mass extinctions (from 10⁷–10⁸ Mt impacts) recorded in the past 540 million years. Recent studies of a number of extinctions show evidence of severe environmental disturbances and mass mortality consistent with the expected after-effects (dust clouds, wildfires) of catastrophic impacts. At least six cases of features generally considered diagnostic of large impacts (e.g., large impact craters, layers with high platinum-group elements, shock-related minerals, and/or microtektites) are known at or close to extinction-event boundaries. Six additional cases of elevated iridium levels at or near extinction boundaries are of the amplitude that might be expected from collision of relatively low-Ir objects such as comets. The records of cratering and mass extinction show a correlation, and might be explained by a combination of periodic and stochastic impactors. The mass extinction record shows evidence for a periodic component of about 26 to 30 Myr, and an ~ 30 Myr periodic component has been detected in impact craters by some workers, with recent pulses of impacts in the last 2–3 million years, and at ~ 35, 65, and 95 million years ago. A cyclical astronomical pacemaker for such pulses of impacts may involve the motions of the Earth through the Milky Way Galaxy. As the Solar System revolves around the galactic center, it also oscillates up and down through the plane of the disk-shaped galaxy with a half-cycle ~ 30±3 Myr. This cycle should lead to quasi-periodic encounters with interstellar clouds, and periodic variations in the galactic tidal force with maxima at times of plane crossing. This “galactic carrousel” effect may provide a viable perturber of the Oort Cloud comets, producing periodic showers of comets in the inner Solar System. These impact pulses, along with stochastic impactors, may represent the major punctuations in earth history.     

Wooden Panel Deterioration by Tropical Marine Wood Borers

Wood destruction in test panels ofShorea leprosulawas related to the percentage of fouling, types of wood borers and the number of wood borers. The natural durability ofShorea leprosulapanels was estimated to be 4–5 months in Malaysian marine waters. A higher fouling cover resulted in lower rates of wooden panel deterioration. Larger numbers of wood borers brought about greater panel deterioration. Primary wood destruction was caused by bivalve wood borers, mainlyMartesia striata, Lyrodus pedicellatus, Bankia campanellata, Teredo furciferaandTeredo bartschi. Martesia striatawas the important wood destroying agent in the intertidal zone and, together with the shipworms, was also responsible for panel destruction in the subtidal zone.     

Effect of element size on the static finite element analysis of steep slopes

The accuracy of the computed stress distribution near the free surface of vertical slopes was evaluated in this study as a function of the element size, including aspect ratio. To accomplish this objective, a parametric study was carried out comparing stresses computed using the finite element method (FEM) to those obtained from a physical model composed of photoelastic material. The results of the study indicate a reasonable agreement between a gelatin model and the FEM model for shear stresses, and an overall good agreement between the two models for the principal stresses. For stresses along the top of the slope, the height of the element tends to be more important than width or aspect ratio, at least for aspect ratios up to 4. In all cases, the greatest difference between the two models occurs in the vicinity of the slope. Specifically, if H is defined as the slope height, an element height of H/10 appears to be adequate for the study of stresses deep within the slope, such as for typical embankment analyses. However, for cases where tensile stresses in the vicinity of the slope face which are critical, such as for the stability analysis of steep slopes, element heights as small as H/32, or higher‐order elements, are necessary. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three-dimensional linear solution for wave propagation with slopingbottom

This paper presents a three-dimensional analytic linear wave solution for surface gravity wave propagation over a sloping bottom that is valid for small, but realistic, slopes. The sloping-bottom linear model is compared to published laboratory data and to predictions of two-dimensional, constant-bottom nonlinear theories. The model is shown to describe the measured wave-height growth in the wave transformation region up to a limiting local Ursell number U_r of 0.35-1.0, depending on the wave type, although, as a linear model, it does not predict the harmonics observed in that range. For U_r<0.35, the harmonics can generally be neglected and the sloping-bottom linear theory agrees closely with both the published wave-height data and third-order Stokes nonlinear theory. As a three-dimensional linear model, superposition can be invoked to synthesize and relate wave structure in the transformation region to complex incident ocean spectra with both wind wave and swell components that arrive with a range of incidence angles. As such, the sloping-bottom linear model presented here should be a convenient useful tool for ocean modeling through a significant portion of the wave transformation region     

Ambipolar diffusion in the solar atmosphere

The process of non-linear ambipolar diffusion in the region overlying the solar surface can be an effective mechanism for producing sharp magnetic structures and current sheets. These may be the sites responsible for the occurrence of connectivity of magnetic field lines, and the subsequent explosive input of energy for heating of some of the features in the atmosphere of the Sun..     

A time series analysis of sound propagation in a strongly multipathshallow water environment with an adiabatic normal mode approach

Measured time series were generated by small omnidirectional explosive sources in a shallow water area. A bottom-mounted hydrophone recorded sound signals that propagated over a sloping bottom. The time series in the 250-500 Hz band were analyzed with a broad-band adiabatic normal mode approach. The measured waveforms contain numerous bottom interacting multipaths that are complicated by the subbottom structure that contains high-velocity layers near the water-sediment interface. Several of the details of the geoacoustic structure and the depth of the water column at the receiver are inferred from comparisons of the measured data to simulated time series. The sensitivity of broad-band matched-field ambiguity surfaces in the range-depth plane for a single receiver to selected waveguide parameters is examined. A consistent analysis is made where the simulated time series are compared to the measured time series along with the single-receiver matched-field localization solutions for ranges out to 5 km. In this range interval, it was found that the peak cross-correlation between the measured and simulated time series varied between 0.84 and 0.69. The difference between the GPS range and the range obtained from the matched-field solution varied from 0 to 63 m. The geoacoustic structure obtained in the analysis consists of an 8-m low-velocity sediment layer over an 8-m high-velocity layer followed by a higher velocity, infinite half-space