A latitudinally dependent volcanic dust veil index, and its effect on climate simulations

A latitudinally dependent annual average volcanic dust veil index is developed based on indices of Lamb and Mitchell. This index is then used to force a climate model to determine if an improved volcanic index could improve the correlations previously found when forcing the model with hemispherically averaged dust. It does not. This suggests that natural variability may also be an important cause of climate change during the past 400 years.     

A numerical study of the Chicago lake breeze

A two-dimensional numerical model is presented for the study of the Chicago area lake breeze. The hydrostatic approximation used by previous workers in this field is not employed. Instead, the complete z-momentum equation is solved and the equation of continuity is retained in its original form. The numerical model employs a staggered mesh, and Alternating Direction Implicit methods are used for the integration of the equations. Computational stability is achieved without external filters, upstream space differencing, or artificial horizontal diffusion terms.The results obtained for realistic initial conditions but simplified boundary conditions compare reasonably well with observations obtained by Lyons in his 1967 observational study of the Chicago lake breeze. Limiting forms of the lower boundary condition bracket the observed wind speeds and other kinematic features of the breeze. Among the various eddy diffusivity models, that with constant eddy diffusivity with height produces the most realistic results. The models with a decrease of eddy diffusivity with height show unrealistic flow patterns in the upper layers. The stability of the atmosphere at the onset of the breeze is shown to have a pronounced effect on the intensity of the circulation, but not on the thickness of the inflow layer, which appears quite insensitive to large changes in the parameters involved.     

Effect of a material-flow model in prediction of particle-size distributions in open- and closed-circuit mills

A size-continuous breakage-kinetics model is postulated and supported with industrial grinding-mill data. It is shown that the kinetics parameters include the effects of possible classification at the mill discharge. The estimated parameters were then used in the kinetics model to simulate the behavior of a grinding mill in open- and closed-circuit operation. While material transport and kinetics are equally important in open-circuit operation, heavy recycle in a closed circuit makes a detailed material-transport model for grinding unnecessary. In effect, the mill can be considered as backmixed. This suggests that more emphasis should be placed on modelling the classifier than the development of detailed material-transport models for the grinding mill.     

Modern theories of thunderstorm electrification

Summary Some modern theories of thunderstorm electrification, particularly that ofVonnegut (1955), are critically compared with older theories and suggestions put forward which might allow decisive observations to be made.     

First-order drainage basin morphology—definition and distribution

First-order drainage basin morphology consists of two complementary regions: a headwater region, the valley head; and a stream region, the channelway (Figure 1). Each subbasin's morphology is represented by a set of principal components factors that include the properties of area, length, slope, relief, elongation, and plan curvature. The channelway region is a highly-integrated morphological unit that is dominated by a size-shape factor, indicative of an organized flow system and the presence of a permanent channel. The valley head region shows little integration of its morphological factor set, and this is reflected by its lack of a permanent channel. The valley head-channelway definition is utilized to classify first-order basins into three morphological groups or types. Basin type is related to basin location within the larger drainage network, and this relation helps to explain variations in subbasin morphology. The channelway's morphologic properties are influenced by the location of the first-order basin's bifurcation or junction within the higher-ordered network; and valley head morphology is related to the location of the basin's divide position within the drainage net.     

Paleoenvironmental implications of a late glacial insect assemblage from northwestern New York

The Winter Gulf site near North Collins, New York is a 0.8-m sequence of organic detritus dated at approximately 12,700 yr B.P. A 260-kg sample produced over 500 identified individuals representing five orders of insects. Three insect zones were recognized, the lowest representing an open mire with sparse numbers of carices and other sedges; aquatic beetles were rare, and no trees were in the vicinity of the sample site. The middle zone indicated an extensive marsh or moist meadow environment with spruce nearby. The upper zone represented a mixed riparian and spruce forest insect assemblage.The results of the Winter Gulf insect analyses support published hypotheses that the site was probably a protected embayment of early lake Warren. Although the flora at the site has been previously interpreted as representing parkland tundra, temperature analyses of the fauna indicate that the thermal conditions were much warmer than parkland tundra regions of North America today. These results have important significance for the region immediately south of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during this period of the Late Wisconsinan.     

The effect of vibrations on the flow properties of a saturated paste of iron ore and water

Many stiff pastes, made up of finely ground solid material with enough liquid to saturate the voids, have both a yield stress and a viscosity. However, in some cases both these rheological attributes can be reduced in value by the application of vibrations. This fact, already widely made use of in the construction industry, is of interest also for practical applications in the processing industries as well as in fundamental investigations of the physical structure and behaviour of such two- (or perhaps three-) phase systems.This paper reports the magnitudes of the reduction both of the yield stress and of the viscosity of a paste of iron ore and water, of a fixed composition in the capillary state.A squeeze-flow apparatus was used to make these measurements. It was modified to allow the specimen of paste to be vibrated.The iron ore was a Knob Lake flotation concentrate, ground to 62% through 325 mesh.The water content, constrained to a narrow range by the physics of this two-phase system, was 16% w/w (wet basis).The vibration frequency was in the range 10 to 30 Hz, whilst the peak-to-peak amplitude lay between 0.254 to 1.27 mm. The results showed that the yield stress decreased from 20 kPa in the unvibrated state to almost zero when vibrated at 10 Hz and with an amplitude of 0.254 mm.Again, the viscosity could be reduced markedly by the vibrations. Furthermore, the viscosity of the vibrated paste (i.e., with zero yield stress) could be correlated with the shear rate by a power-law equation.Because of the complexity of the system and the uncertainty of the influence of all possible variables, no attempt was made at this stage to set up any correlations. However, by inspection, the viscosity of this particular sample was fitted to a function of amplitude (A) and frequency (f), namely A²f^0.5. No theoretical justification is put forward.     

Palaeomagnetism,age, and geochemistry of the Denchai Basalt,northern Thailand

The Denchai Basalt of northern Thailand is part of a large continental alkalic basaltic province extending through Thailand into Laos, Kampuchea, and Vietnam. It covers an area of about 70 km² and consists of seven flows, all with reversed magnetic polarity. The uppermost flow has yielded an age of 5.64 ± 0.28 Ma by the K-Ar method. During the igneous activity, magmas were apparently erupted from only one vent area, but changed in chemical composition from “hawaiite” (transitional to continental tholeiite) to true hawaiite and then to basanite. The basanite is the probable source of gem-quality zircon and sapphire mined from placer deposits associated with the basalts.     

Nd and Sr isotope ratios and rare earth element abundances in Reykjanes Peninsula basalts evidence for mantle heterogeneity beneath Iceland

Post-glacial tholeiitic basalts from the western Reykjanes Peninsula range from picrite basalts (oldest) to olivine tholeiites to tholeiites (youngest). In this sequence there are large systematic variations in rare earth element (REE) abundances (La/Sm normalized to chondrites ranges from 0.33 in the picrite basalts to 1.25 in the fissure tholeiites) and corresponding variations in ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.51317 in the picrite basalts to 0.51299 in the fissure tholeiites). The large viaration in ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, more than one-third the total range observed in most ocean islands and mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB), is accompanied by only a small variation in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.7031–0.7032). These ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are within the range of other Icelandic tholeiites, and distinct from those of MORB.We conclude that the mantle beneath the Reykjanes Peninsula is heterogeneous with respect to relative REE abundances and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios. On a time-averaged basis all parts of this mantle show evidence of relative depletion in light REE. Though parts of this mantle have REE abundances and Nd isotope ratios similar to the mantle source of “normal” MORB, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr is distinctly higher. Unlike previous studies we find no evidence for chondritic relative REE abundances in the mantle beneath the Reykjanes Peninsula; in fact, the data require significant chemical heterogeneity in the hypothesized mantle plume beneath Iceland, as well as lateral mantle heterogeneity from the Reykjanes Ridge to the Reykjanes Peninsula. The compositional range of the Reykjanes Peninsula basalts is consistent with mixing of magmas produced by different degrees of melting in different parts of the heterogeneous mantle source beneath the Reykjanes Peninsula.