Zonal circulation indices, 500 hPa April ridge position along 75° E and Indian summer monsoon rainfall: Statistical relationships

Summary This paper presents an examination of the statistical relationship between summer monsoon rainfall over all India, and two sub-regions (north west India and peninsular India) and the indices of mid-latitude (35° to 70° N) zonal circulation at 500 hPa level, over different sectors of the hemisphere, based on 19 years (1971–1989) data. The results indicate that summer monsoon rainfall (June–September) over India shows; (i) a significant and direct relationship with the strength of the zonal circulation index during concurrent July over the sector 90° E to 160° E. (ii) a significant inverse relationship with the strength of the zonal index during the previous April over the sector 160° E to 45° W and a similar relationship with the whole northern hemisphere and (iii) a significant and direct relationship with the frequency of the zonal index during the previous January over the sector 45° W to 90° E.Significant relationships are also observed between the zonal circulation indices of the above mentioned months and sectors with the 500 hPa ridge location in April at 75° E over India.With 4 Figures     

Changes in the onset and length of seasons from an ensemble of regional climate models over Spain for future climate conditions

This study analyses the length and onset of the four seasons based on the annual climatic cycle of maximum and minimum temperatures. Previous studies focused over climatically homogeneous mid-high latitude areas, employing fixed temperature thresholds (related to climatic features such as freezing point) that can be inadequate when different climate conditions are present. We propose a method related to the daily minimum and maximum temperature 25th and 75th point-dependent climatic percentiles. It is applied to an ensemble of regional climate models (RCMs) of 25-km horizontal resolution over the peninsular Spain and Balearic Islands, where a large variety of climatic regimes, from alpine to semi-desertic conditions, are present. First, baseline climate (1961–2000) ERA40-forced RCM simulations are successfully compared with the Spain02 daily observational database, following astronomical season length (around 90 days). This result confirms the validity of the proposed method and capability of the RCMs to describe the seasonal features. Future climate global climate model-forced RCMs (2071–2100) compared with present climate (1961–1990) simulations indicate the disappearance of winter season, a summer enlargement (onset and end) and a slight spring and autumn increase.     

Finite element analysis of excavation

The finite element method has often been used to simulate excavation. When the soil is linearly elastic, the results of excavation should be independent of the number of stages in the excavation process, and lack of such independence indicates an incorrect procedure. The simple direct method described in this paper provides the required independence in the case of linearly elastic materials, and hence can be used for multi-stage excavation in non-linear problems without excessive errors. However methods whose errors increase with the number of stages of excavation are quite unsuitable for non-linear problems. Alternative methods of analysis, errors arising from the inability of the elements to model adequately the stress gradients near the toe of the excavation and excavation adjacent to a diaphragm wall are discussed.     

Sedimentogenesis in the White Sea: Vertical Fluxes of Suspended Particulate Matter and Absolute Masses of Bottom Sediments

Oceanology - A new approach has been applied to studying marine sedimentation using dispersed sedimentary material in sediment traps compared to the surface layer of bottom sediments. Based on...     

Some General Properties of Transverse Motions of the Geostrophic Front

Within the framework of the reduced-gravity model of the ocean taking into account the effect of friction in the Rayleigh form, we study the two-dimensional problem of nonlinear motions of a subsurface front of finite width. We consider the conservation laws and the character of motion of the center-of-mass of the cross section of the front and their variations caused by the losses of energy. For fields with special structure, the problem is reduced to the solution of a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. It is shown that the initially geostrophic frontal current decays with time according to a power law. The deviations of the initial state of the front from the state of geostrophic balance result in the generation of superinertial oscillations of the hydrodynamic fields.     

The evolution of zircon during low‐P partial melting of metapelitic rocks: theoretical predictions and a case study from Mt Stafford,central Australia

Palaeoproterozoic metasedimentary migmatite reflects the highest temperature parts of a regional aureole at Mt Stafford, central Australia, comprising rocks that experienced 500–800 °C at ≈3 kbar. Whole‐rock major element concentrations are correlated with Zr content, psammitic compositions having nearly twice the Zr content of pelitic compositions. Zirconium is concentrated in mesosome compared with leucosome. Zircon is largely detrital, mostly lacking any overgrowth contemporary with migmatite formation. Comparatively small proportions of micro‐zircon (<10 μm) in sub‐solidus rocks are mostly hosted by quartz and plagioclase. Much higher proportions (three to five times) of micro‐zircon in migmatite are hosted by prograde K‐feldspar, cordierite and biotite. T–X and P–T NCKFMASHTZr pseudosections constructed using thermocalc model the distribution of Zr between solid and silicate liquid phases. Half of the detrital zircon (~100 ppm Zr) is predicted to be dissolved into silicate liquid at ≈800 °C and all dissolved by 850 °C, if all zircon is involved in the equilibration volume. Melt segregation at relatively low temperature is predicted to enrich the residuum in Zr, consistent with the observed distribution of Zr between mesosome and leucosome. The limited development of metamorphic zircon rims or overgrowths at Mt Stafford is explained by three concurrent processes: (i) Zr liberated during prograde metamorphism formed micro‐zircon, rather than following the prediction that Zr will partition into silicate liquid; (ii) some detrital zircon was probably armoured by other rock‐forming minerals, reducing Zr content in the effective bulk rock composition; and (iii) small proportions of melt loss during migmatization removed Zr that otherwise would have been available to form metamorphic rims.     

The effect of air flow rate on the kinetics of flotation. Part 1: The transfer of material from the slurry to the froth

Bubble size distributions and flotation rates were determined as a function of air flow rate and frother concentration using a specially designed batch flotation cell. This cell permitted the unambiguous determination of the flotation rate from the slurry to the froth.Flotation rate constants were determined for different size classes of silica and galena. The flotation rate constants increased to a maximum and then decreased as air flow rate was increased. This maximum was predicted by a model which considered the effect of bubble size on both the total bubble surface area and the bubble-particle collision efficiency. This work shows that collision efficiency effects, shown to exist in single-bubble/single-particle systems, are also present in flotation systems where many bubbles and particles interact.A second model for hindered flotation is proposed which assumes that the particle-capturing bubble surface differs from the particle-retaining surface. This model predicts a sharp transition from hindered to free flotation. Experimental results are presented which agree well with those derived from the model.     

Evolution of the Western Margin of Australia during the Rodinian and Gondwanan Supercontinent Cycles

The proto-Darling Fault zone and its successor, the Darling Fault, extend for 1, 000 km along the western continental margin of Australia and appear to have been active at several periods during the geological past. Deformation commenced at 2,570 Ma and affected Late Archaean granitoids along the western margin of the Yilgarn Craton. Much of the later activity reflects events related to the accretion and breakup associated with the Rodinia and Gondwanaland supercontinent cycles.In the north, rocks of the Northampton and Mullingarra Complexes form part of a high-grade Grenvillian orogenic belt lying to the west of the Darling Fault, referred to as the Pinjarra Orogen. They underwent granulite facies metamorphism 1080 Ma ago and form part of the global collisional event that resulted in the amalgamation of Rodinia. These rocks extend southward beneath Phanerozoic sedimentary cover (the Perth Basin), where they are constrained to the east by the Darling Fault and to the west by the Dunsborough Fault, the latter marking the eastern boundary of the Leeuwin Complex.The Leeuwin Complex is a fragment of Pan-African crust that has traditionally been considered part of the Pinjarra Orogen. It is composed predominantly of upper amphibolite to granulite facies felsic orthogneisses derived from A-type, anorogenic granitoids. Conventional and SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology has established that the granitoids evolved between 780 Ma and 520 Ma and were metamorphosed at 615 Ma. These events are equated with rifting associated with the breakup of Rodinia. Sm-Nd whole rock data support the juvenile nature of the crust and provide no evidence for the involvement of pre-existing Archaean continental material.During the Phanerozoic, the Dunsborough and Darling Faults were reactivated, as normal faults defining the inner arm of a major rift system within Eastern Gondwanaland and controlling sedimentation in the Perth Basin that now overlies the Grenvillian terrane. Major normal movement on the Darling Fault ceased by the Late Jurassic and it appears that continental breakup in the Early Cretaceous occurred along fractures closely related to the western boundary of the Leeuwin Complex that defined the eastern margin of the outer arm of the rift system. Breakup between Australia and Greater India commenced at 132 Ma and was followed by eruption of the Bunbury Basalt at 130 Ma and 123 Ma. This possibly resulted from hot spot activity beneath Eastern Gondwanaland and may have been a reflection of the Kerguelen plume, though the evidence is equivocal.It is argued from the petrographic, geochemical and isotopic characteristics, together with the likely contiguity of the Eastern Gondwanaland continents since the assembly of Rodinia, that the Leeuwin Complex evolved within an intracrustal rift and is not an exotic terrane. It is distinct from adjacent portions of the Pinjarra Orogen and should be considered a separate terrane. It is recommended that use of the term ‘Pinjarra Orogen’ be confined to rocks recording the Grenvillian events, thereby excluding those rocks (the Leeuwin Complex) that evolved during the later Pan-African orogeny.