An experimental investigation of high-temperature interactions between seawater and rhyolite,andesite, basalt and peridotite

Natural seawater was allowed to react with rhyolite, andesite, basalt, and peridotite at 200°–500° C, and 1,000 bars at water/rock mass ratios of 5 and 50 in order to investigate the effects of rock type, water/rock ratio, and temperature on solution chemistry and alteration mineralogy. The results indicate that interactions of seawater with various igneous rocks are similar in the production of a hydrous Mg-silicate and anhydrite as major alteration products. Fluids involved in the interactions lose Mg to alteration phases while leaching Fe, Mn, and Si from the rocks. The pH of the solutions is primarily controlled by Mg-OH-silicate formation and therefore varies with Mg and Si concentration of the system. Other reactions which involve Mg (such as Mg-Ca exchange) or which produce free H⁺, cause major differences in fluid chemistry between different seawater/ rock systems. High water/rock ratio systems (50/1) are generally more acidic and more efficient in leaching than low ratio systems (5/1), due to relatively more seawater Mg available for Mgsilicate production. The experiments show that large-scale seawater/rock interaction could exert considerable control on the chemistry of seawater, as well as producing large bodies of altered rock with associated ore-deposits.Active plate margins of convergence or divergence are suitable environments for hydrothermal systems due to the concurrence of igneous activity, tectonism, and a nearby water reservoir (seawater or connate water). The experimental data indicate that seawater interactions with igneous host rocks could generate many of the features of ore-deposits such as the Kuroko deposits of Japan, the Raul Mine of Peru, the Bleida deposit of Morocco, and deposits associated with ophiolites. Serpentinization of peridotite and alteration of igneous complexes associated with plate margins can also be explained by seawater interaction with the cooling rock. Geothermal energy production could benefit from experimental investigations of hot water/rock systems by development of chemical, temperature, and pressure control systems to maximize the lifetime of hydrothermal flow.     

Granitic plutonism as an indicator of microplates in the Palaeozoic of central and eastern Maine

Oxygen and strontium isotope ratios have been used to characterize source regions for granitic magmas for a transect across the northern Appalachian orogen in central and eastern Maine. The northwestern plutons (Katahdin and Seboeis) have δ¹⁸O values of 10.3–13.3 and initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of 0.7083 and 0.7066, respectively. The central plutons (Bottle Lake and Center Pond) have lower δ¹⁸O values (8.2–9.9) and initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7043–0.7055). The southeastern plutons (Lucerne and Deblois) have δ¹⁸O values (9.0–11.0) but initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7077 and 0.7041, respectively) which are intermediate between the northwestern and central plutons.Source models derived from these results and other petrological and geochemical data reflect the juxtaposition of discrete source regions by transcurrent faulting, which may be related to oblique plate motions. This model illustrates the importance of microplate accretion in the Palaeozoic history of the northern Appalachian orogen.     

A Spatial Variant of the Basic Reproduction Number for the New Orleans Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878

A spatial variant of the basic reproduction number (R₀), here defined as the number of subsequent deaths attributed to an initial mortality, can be used to identify geographic variation within an epidemic. A spatial R₀ was calculated at the neighborhood level, here defined by a 50‐m buffer surrounding an index case, for mortality data from the 1878 yellow fever epidemic of New Orleans. The highest number of secondary mortalities linked to a neighborhood index case was twelve, with a further eighty‐seven extrapolated morbidity cases. Results also highlight the importance of multideath residences and cultural contacts in neighborhood‐level disease spread.     

Three mechanisms of ore re-mobilisation during amphibolite facies metamorphism at the Montauban Zn–Pb–Au–Ag deposit

The relative importance of mechanical re-mobilisation, hydrothermal dissolution and re-precipitation, and sulphide melting in controlling redistribution of metals during concurrent metamorphism and deformation is evaluated at the middle amphibolite facies Montauban deposit in Canada. As at many other deposits, ductile deformation was important in driving mechanical re-mobilisation of massive sulphides from limb regions into hinge regions of large-scale folds and is thus the most important for controlling the economics of Pb and Zn distribution. Two possible stages of hydrothermally driven re-mobilisation are discussed, each of which produces characteristically different alteration assemblages. Prograde hydrothermal re-mobilisation is driven by pyrite de-sulphidation and concurrent chlorite dehydration and is thus an internally driven process. At Montauban, the H₂S-rich fluid generated through this process allowed re-mobilisation of gold into the wall rock, where it was deposited in response to sulphidation of Fe Mg silicates. Retrograde hydrothermal re-mobilisation is an externally driven process, whereby large volumes of fluids from outside the deposit may dissolve and re-precipitate metals, and cause hydration of silicate minerals. This second hydrothermally driven process is not recognised at Montauban. Sulphide melting occurred as temperatures neared the peak metamorphic conditions. Melting initiated in the massive sulphides through arsenopyrite breakdown, and a small volume of melt was subsequently re-mobilised into the wall rock. Trace element partitioning and fractional crystallisation of this melt generated a precious metal-rich fractionate, which remained mobile until well after peak metamorphism. Thus, prograde hydrothermal re-mobilisation and sulphide melting were the most important mechanisms for controlling the distribution of Au and Ag.     

Fast approximate EM induction modeling of metallic and UXO targets using a permeable prism

The time-domain EM induction response of non-magnetic and magnetic targets can be approximated using a conductive permeable prism composed of six faces of conductive plates, each face being composed of a set of conductive ribbons. The effect of magnetic permeability is included by the use of two “apparent flux gathering” coefficients, and two “effective magnetic permeability” coefficients, in the axial and transverse directions. These four magnetic property coefficients are a function of physical properties and geometry of the target, but are independent of prism orientation relative to a transmitter. The approximation algorithm is computationally fast, allowing inversions for target parameters to be achieved in seconds. The model is tested on profiles acquired with a Geonics EM63 time-domain EM metal detector over a non-magnetic copper pipe target, and a steel artillery shell in horizontal and vertical orientations. Results show that this approximation to a permeable prism has a capability of fitting geometric, conductivity and magnetic parameters at both early and late sample times. The magnetic parameters show strong change from early to late times on the EMI decay curve, indicating that the magnetic properties of the target have non-linear characteristics. It is proposed that these magnetic parameters and the nature of their non-linearity may carry additional discrimination information for distinguishing between intact munitions and scrap in UXO studies.     

Climate and human health: synthesizing environmental complexity and uncertainty

Broad relationships between weather and human health have long been recognized, and there is currently a large body of research examining the impacts of climate change on human health. Much of the literature in this area examines climate–health relationships at global or regional levels, incorporating mostly generalized responses of pathogens and vectors to broad changes in climate. Far less research has been done to understand the direct and indirect climate-mediated processes involved at finer scales. Thus, some studies simplify the role of climate and may over- or under-estimate the potential response, while others have begun to highlight the subtle and complex role for climate that is contingent on other relevant processes occurring in natural and social environments. These fundamental processes need to be understood to determine the effects of past, current and future climate variation and change on human health. We summarize the principal climate variables and climate-dependent processes that are believed to impact human health across a representative set of diseases, along with key uncertainties in these relationships.     

A Framework and Software Tool to Support Collaborative Landscape Analysis: Fitting Square Pegs into Square Holes

For landscape models to be applied successfully in management situations, models must address appropriate questions, include relevant processes and interactions, be perceived as credible and involve people affected by decisions. We propose a framework for collaborative model building that can address these issues, and has its roots in adaptive management, computer‐supported collaborative work and landscape ecology. Models built through this framework integrate a variety of information sources, address relevant questions, and are customized for the particular landscape and policy environment under study. Participants are involved in the process from the start, and because their input is incorporated, they feel ownership of the resulting models, increasing the chance of model acceptance and application. There are two requirements for success: a tool that supports rapid model prototyping and modification, that makes a clear link between a conceptual and implemented model, and that has the ability to implement a wide range of model types; and a core team with skills in communication, research and analysis, and knowledge of ecology and forestry in addition to modelling. SELES (Spatially Explicit Landscape Event Simulator) is a tool for building and running models of landscape dynamics. It combines discrete event simulation with a spatial database and a relatively simple modelling language to allow rapid development of landscape simulations, and provides a high‐level means of specifying complex model behaviours ranging from management actions to natural disturbance and succession. We have applied our framework in several forest modelling projects in British Columbia, Canada. We have found that this framework increases the interest by local experts and decision‐makers to participate actively in the model building process. The workshop process and resulting models have efficiently provided insight into the dynamics of large landscapes over long time frames. The use of SELES has facilitated this process by providing a flexible, transparent environment in which models can be rapidly implemented and refined. As a result, model findings may be more readily incorporated into decision‐support systems designed to assist resource managers in making informed decisions.     

Forecasting Monsoon Precipitation Using Artificial Neural Networks

This paper explores the application of Artificial Intelligent (AI) techniques for climate forecast. It pres ents a study on modelling the monsoon precipitation forecast by means of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). Using the historical data of the total amount of summer rainfall over the Delta Area of Yangtze River in China, three ANNs models have been developed to forecast the monsoon precipitation in the corre sponding area one year, five-year, and ten-year forward respectively. Performances of the models have been validated using a ＇new＇ data set that has not been exposed to the models during the processes of model development and test. The experiment results are promising, indicating that the proposed ANNs models have good quality in terms of the accuracy, stability and generalisation ability.