The wadic project: A comprehensive field evaluation of directional wave instrumentation

The results of a comprehensive field trial of nearly all commercially available directional wave measurement systems at the Edda field in the North Sea during winter 1985-86 are presented. The results summarize the accuracy of the principal engineering wave parameters from each system and the dependence on sea state. Limiting factors on system performance and operational problems are also included in the assessment. Overall experience has been good with systems utilizing widely different measurement principles returning consistent results.     

Heat flow near obstacles in the solar convection zone

Disturbances in the heat flow in the solar convection zone are calculated with a turbulent thermal diffusion coefficient based on a mixing length approximation. As a consequence of the radiative boundary condition at the surface and the strong increase of the diffusion coefficient with depth, the convection zone resembles a thermally superconducting shell enclosed between a thin surface layer and an interior core of low thermal conductivity. Thermal disturbances originating in the convection zone do not penetrate into the interior, and penetrate only weakly through the solar surface. A thermally isolating obstacle buried entirely in the convection zone casts a shadow of reduced temperature at the solar surface; the brightening surrounding this shadow is undetectable. The shadow is weak unless the object is located close to the surface (less than 2000 km). Assuming a sunspot to be an area of reduced thermal conductivity which extends a finite depth into the convection zone, the heat flow around this obstacle is calculated. The heat flux blocked below the spot (missing flux) spreads over a very extended area surrounding the spot. The brightening corresponding to this missing flux is undetectable if the reduction of the thermal conductivity extends to a depth greater than 1000 km. It is concluded that no effect other than a decrease of the convective efficiency is needed to explain the temperature change observed at the solar surface in and around a sunspot. The energy balance is calculated between magnetic flux tubes, oriented vertically in the solar surface, (magnetic elements in active regions and the quiet network) and their surroundings. Near the visible surface radiation enters the tube laterally from the surrounding convection zone. The heating effect of this influx is important for small tubes (less than a few arcseconds). Due to this influx tubes less than about 1 in diameter can appear as bright structures irrespective of the amount of heat conveyed along the tube itself. Through the lateral influx, small tubes such as are found in the quiet network act as little leaks in the solar surface through which an excess heat flux escapes from the convection zone.     

Deep drilling at the Siljan Ring impact structure: oxygen-isotope geochemistry of granite

The Siljan Ring is a 362-Ma-old impact structure formed in 1700-Ma-old I-type granites. A 6.8-km-deep borehole provides a vertical profile through granites and isolated horizontal diabase sills. Fluid-inclusion thermometry, and oxygen-isotope compositions of vein quartz, granite, diabase, impact melt, and pseudotachylite, reveal a complex history of fluid activity in the Siljan Ring, much of which can be related to the meteorite impact. In granites from the deep borehole, ¹⁸O values of matrix quartz increase with depth from near 8.0 at the surface to 9.5 at 5760 m depth. In contrast, feldspar ¹⁸O values decrease with depth from near 10 at the surface to 7.1 at 5760 m, forming a pattern opposite to the one defined by quartz isotopic compositions. Values of ¹⁸O for surface granites outside the impact structure are distinct from those in near-surface samples from the deep borehole. In the deep borehole, feldspar coloration varies from brick-red at the surface to white at 5760 m, and the abundances of crack-healing calcite and other secondary minerals decrease over the same interval. Superimposed on the overall decrease in alteration intensity with depth are localized fracture zones at 4662, 5415, and 6044 m depth that contain altered granites, and which provided pathways for deep penetration of surface water. The antithetic variation of quartz and feldspar ¹⁸O values, which can be correlated with mineralogical evidence of alteration, provides evidence for interaction between rocks and impact-heated fluids (100–300° C) in the upper 2 km of the pluton. Penetration of water to depths below 2 km was restricted by a general decrease in impact-fracturing with depth, and by a 60-m-thick diabase sill at 1500 m depth that may have been an aquitard. At depths below 4 km in the pluton, where water/rock ratios were low, oxygen isotopic compositions preserve evidence for limited high-temperature (>500° C) exchange between alkali feldspar and fluids. The high-temperature exchange may have been a post-impact event involving impact-heated fluids, or a post-magmatic event.     

Diffusion-deposition patterns in Martian streaks

The spreading angle of a number of light and dark Martian streaks is determined from selected Mariner 9 images. The resulting frequency distributions of spreading half-angles have maxima at ～5° for light, and ～7° for dark streaks; however the dark streaks have a secondary maximum spreading angle at ～14°. The smaller values, which include most streaks, are interpreted as crater-wake spreading phenomena. The larger value, found in only a few dark streaks or “tails,” may result from atmospheric diffusion and subsequent deposition of material from isolated sources such as vents or blowouts. An atmospheric diffusion-deposition analysis is presented, assuming this streak origin, from which it is possible to deduce the eddy diffusivity, K, in Mars' boudary layer. Calculated K values are found to agree with various theoretical estimates. They lie in the range 10⁷ and 10⁹ cm² sec^?1 and exhibit the proper scale dependence. Thus it appears that, in addition to streak-derived wind direction patterns and speed information, it is possible in a few cases to derive information on Mars' boundary-layer turbulence from streak-spreading measurements.