Simulation of flows around cylinders by a Lagrangian vortex scheme

A method is presented for calculating flows around cylinders of arbitrary shape, which may be in an array. Vorticity is discretised and is moved in a Lagrangian time-stepping procedure by the vortex-in-cell method. The zero-velocity surface condition is maintained at each time step by representing the surface by a vortex sheet through a boundary integral calculation. Vorticity diffusion is simulated through random walks. Results are presented for an isolated circular cylinder in steady and oscillatory incident flows.     

Possible effects of volcanic eruptions on stratospheric minor constituent chemistry

Although stratosphere penetrating volcanic eruptions have been infrequent during the last half century, periods have existed in the last several hundred years when such eruptions were significantly more frequent. Several mechanisms exist for these injections to affect stratospheric minor constitutent chemistry, both on the long-term average and for short-term perturbations. These mechanisms are reviewed and, because of the sensitivity of current models of stratospheric ozone to chlorine perturbations, quantitative estimates are made of chlorine injection rates. It is found that, if chlorine makes up as much as 0.5 to 1% of the gases released and if the total gases released are about the same magnitude as the fine ash, then a major stratosphere penetrating eruption could deplete the ozone column by several percent. The estimate for the Agung eruption of 1963 is just under 1% an amount not excluded by the ozone record but complicated by the peak in atmospheric nuclear explosions at about the same time. The long-term contribution to stratospheric CIX by volcanic eruptions is estimated as 0.1 ppbv for the period 1900–60 and 1 ppbv for the much more volcanically active period 1780–1840. All of the estimates are subject to large uncertainties, perhaps a factor of 2 or 3 on the high side and a factor of 10 or more on the low side.Paper presented at the IAGA/IAMAP Joint Assembly, Seattle, WA, U.S.A., August 1977.     

Finite strain and progressive deformation in models of diapiric structures

The distribution of strain within and around gravitationally produced diapiric structures was studied through the use of experimental models which were deformed in a large-capacity centrifuge. A new method of model construction was developed which is equivalent to building the model of initially square 1-mm elements. After deformation the elements assume shapes which approximate parallelograms and their finite strains can easily be calculated. If several initially identical models are deformed to different extents, the finite strain states of an element in each of the models define points on the deformation path of that element. The deformation path can be used to make estimates of the nature of the internal fabric which would be expected in the equivalent element of the natural structure.This method was applied to the study of the finite strain in diapiric ridges. The models demonstrate that the highest strain is always in the region above the diapir. Within the diapir initial vertical stretching is followed by vertical flattening. Large portions of the structure can be seen to suffer what would in natural examples be called polyphase deformation, even though all of the deformation was due to a single buoyant overturn of unstable density stratification. The strain patterns within the models support the contention that in salt diapirs the buoyant salt has a lower viscosity than the overlying sediments, but that in mantled gneiss domes the reverse is true.     

Early Tertiary rupture of the Pacific plate: 1700 km of dextral offset along the Emperor trough-Line Islands lineament

Between 67 and ～40 Ma ago a northwest-southeast-trending fracture system over 8000 km long split the Pacific plate and accumulated at least 1700 km of dextral offset between the east and west portions. This system, here named the Emperor fracture zone (EFZ) system, consisted of several segments, one along the present trace of the Emperor trough and another along the Line Islands, joined by short spreading ridges. The EFZ terminated at its northern end against the Kula-Pacific ridge, and at its southern end in a ridge-transform system, called the Emperor spreading system, which extended to the west, north of Australia.The finite angular velocity vector describing the relative motion between the East and West Pacific plates is ～0.6°/Ma about a pole at 36°N, 70°W. This vector, added to the known Early Tertiary motion of the Pacific plate with respect to the global hotspot reference frame, accounts in large part for the NNW trend of the Emperor seamount chain relative to the WNW Hawaiian trend, without violation of the integrity of the Antarctic plate. The Meiji-Emperor and Emperor-Hawaiian bends date, respectively, the initiation (～67 Ma ago) and cessation (～40 Ma ago) of seafloor spreading on the Emperor spreading system.The postulated Early Tertiary relative motion along the EFZ between the East and West Pacific plates explains (1) the present misalignment of the two sets of magnetic bights of the Pacific, (2) the abrupt truncation of eastern Pacific bathymetric lineaments against the Emperor trough and Line Islands, (3) the contrast in paleolatitude between the eastern and western Pacific as indicated by paleomagnetic and sedimentologic studies, and (4) the anomalous gravity signature of the central Hawaiian ridge that indicates that the ridge loaded thin hot lithosphere.     

The Moel-y-Golfa Andesite: An Ordovician (Caradoc) intrusion into unconsolidated conglomeratic sediments,Breidden Hills Inlier,Welsh borderland

The Moel-y-Golfa Andesite is a discordant intrusive body of porphyritic pyroxene andesite, 1 km across and at least 200 m thick. Textural variation defines a central facies and a marginal facies, the latter displaying well-formed lobes, tubes, and pillows. The vertically stacked lobes, brecciated tubes, and elongate pillows of andesite intrude and locally enclose enclaves of altered host sediment and are cut by steeply dipping slide scars. The host sediments are locally strongly silicified and cut by numerous, anastomosed vertical and subvertical fissures. Fissures are filled by disrupted host sediment and fragments of brecciated andesite. The formation and filling of each fissure system was probably concomitant with the brecciation of an intrusive magma lobe. The complex relationship of igneous and sedimentary material indicates that the Moel-y-Golfa Andesite was emplaced into the host sediments whilst they were unconsolidated or only partly lithified.     

WEATHERING TRENDS IN FINE DEBRIS BENEATH A SNOW PATCH,NIWOT RIDGE,FRONT RANGE,COLORADO

Seven soil pits dug in a downhill sequence beneath Martinelli snow patch, Niwot Ridge, Front Range, Colorado, reveal that soils are coarse-grained with only limited evidence of silt translocation. Clay mineralogy within the pits exhibits a widespread and distinct change at a depth of ～15–20 cm. The most common characteristic of this change is a distinct increase in vermiculite in the lower layer, usually accompanied by a decrease in kaolinite and/or smectite. This pattern is interpreted to reflect decreased weathering intensity with depth. Microenvironments beneath the snow patch which exhibit high chemical weathering rates on coarse surficial debris also appear to experience high rates of clay production relative to referenced dry alpine sites, with specific clay mineralogies varying in a fashion commonly found in humid temperate environments. Data generated in this study appear to provide site-specific support for the regionally-developed Synthetic Alpine Slope Model. Spatial variations in eolian additions and meltwater produce complex patterns in chemical weathering of fines beneath large snow patches, although the nature of clay-mineral change is typical of humid, temperate, mid-latitude environments. [Key words: chemical weathering, alpine environments, clay mineralogy, Synthetic Alpine Slope Model.]     

The chemistry and mineralogy of some South Australian calcretes and associated soft carbonates and their dolomitisation

The chemistry and. mineralogy of calcretes and associated calcareous fine earth from the lower River Murray Basin and Yorke Peninsula in South Australia suggest that the carbonate material was deposited as a continuous unit and subsequently modified. At each site examined the Ca/Mg ratio progressively decreases with increasing depth, and where data are available, a similar decrease in the Ca/Sr ratio is observed. This sequence is independent of the hardness or physical condition of the carbonate. In some places the carbonate from the lowest horizons is nearly pure dolomite. The change in Ca/Mg ratio with depth is considered to be due to leaching, probably during periods of the past when the climate was less arid and the rainfall penetrated to about 2 m.

In the lower Murray Basin the Ca/Mg ratio of the surface calcrete horizon progressively increases from Tailetn Bend N to Sedan, and the silicate clay fraction changes from sepiolite at Tailem Bend, to palygorskite at Murray Bridge and illite at Sedan. The bedrock also varies, from magnesium‐rich amphibolites at Tailem Bend to granite at Sedan and, further, there is an apparent relation between the chemistry of the non‐carbonate fraction of the calcretes and the underlying rock. The original carbonate deposit probably formed in lakes of different chemistry, and has been modified by solution and precipitation.     

The influence of fish cage aquaculture on pelagic carbon flow and water chemistry in tidally dominated mangrove estuaries of peninsular Malaysia

The impact of floating net cages culturing the seabass, Lates calcarifer, on planktonic processes and water chemistry in two heavily used mangrove estuaries in Malaysia was examined. Concentrations of dissolved inorganic and particulate nutrients were usually greater in cage vs. adjacent (approximately 100 m) non-cage waters, although most variability in water-column chemistry related to water depth and tides. There were few consistent differences in plankton abundance, production or respiration between cage and non-cage sites. Rates of primary production were low compared with rates of pelagic mineralization reflecting high suspended loads coupled with large inputs of organic matter from mangrove forests, fishing villages, fish cages, pig farms and other industries within the catchment. Our preliminary sampling did not reveal any large-scale eutrophication due to the cages. A crude estimate of the contribution of fish cage inputs to the estuaries shows that fish cages contribute only approximately 2% of C but greater percentages of N (32-36%) and P (83-99%) to these waters relative to phytoplankton and mangrove inputs. Isolating and detecting impacts of cage culture in such heavily used waterways--a situation typical of most mangrove estuaries in Southeast Asia--are constrained by a background of large, highly variable fluxes of organic material derived from extensive mangrove forests and other human activities.