The relative stabilities of the reverse and normal polarity states of the earth's magnetic field

Recent analyses of the geomagnetic reversal sequence have led to different conclusions regarding the important question of whether there is a discernible difference between the properties of the two polarity states. The main differences between the two most recent studies are the statistical analyses and the possibility of an additional 57 reversal events in the Cenozoic. These additional events occur predominantly during reverse polarity time, but it is unlikely that all of them represent true reversal events. Nevertheless the question of the relative stabilities of the polarity states is examined in detail, both for the case when all 57 “events” are included in the reversal chronology and when they are all excluded. It is found that there is not a discernible difference between the stabilities of the two polarity states in either case. Inclusion of these short events does, however, change the structure of the non-stationarity in reversal rate, but still allows a smooth non-stationarity. Only 7 of the 57 short events are pre-38 Ma, but the evidence suggests that this is a real geomagnetic phenomenon rather than degradation of the magnetic recording or a bias in observation. This could be tested by detailed magnetostratigraphic and oceanic magnetic surveys of the Paleogene and Late Cretaceous. Overall it would appear that the present geomagnetic polarity timescale for 0–160 Ma is probably a very good representation of the actual history, and that different timescales and additional events now represent only changes in detail.     

The Neupert effect: What can it tell us about the impulsive and gradual phases of solar flares?

The Neupert effect is the name given to the correlation observed in many flares between the time-integrated microwave and hard X-ray emissions and the soft X-ray emission light curve. We have used hard X-ray data from the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer (HXRBS) on the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) and soft X-ray data from the detector on GOES to determine what fraction of all events show this correlation and how the correlation changes from the impulsive to the gradual phase. We have found that of 66 HXRBS events observed in 1980 with a peak rate of > 1000 counts s^-1, 58 (80%) showed good correlations with peaks in the GOES time derivative plot corresponding to peaks in the hard X-ray (HXR) plots to within ±20 s. In 20 of these good-correlation cases (30%), the soft X-ray (SXR) time derivative stays high after the HXR emission has decreased suggesting that the later emissions result from energy release in a loop already affected by the initial energy release. In 8 of the 13 flares that showed poor correlation, the SXR time derivative shows no peak corresponding to the initial HXR impulsive peak that has structure on a time scale of 1 s. This suggests that in these events the initial impulsive energy release results primarily in electron acceleration, and that the secondary plasma heating from the accelerated electrons contributes relatively little compared to the more gradual plasma heating already taking place at the same time. The more gradually varying events, commonly referred to as type C flares, tend to show poorer correlation between the SXR time derivative and the HXR time profile. Of 26 GOES X1 or greater flares recorded between 1980 and 1989 with HXR peaks lasting over 10 rain, 13 (50%) showed poor correlation with the gradual HXR peaks either not registering at all in the SXR time derivative plots or showing up as very broad peaks. In one case, on 1981 April 26, the SXR time derivative peak was delayed by 13 rain. Only 17 (65%) of the 26 X-flares had an earlier, impulsive component and of those, 12 (71%) showed good correlation between the impulsive peaks.     

Estimation of undiscovered deposits in quantitative mineral resource assessments—examples from Venezuela and Puerto Rico

Quantitative mineral resource assessments used by the United States Geological Survey are based on deposit models. These assessments consist of three parts: (1) selecting appropriate deposit models and delineating on maps areas permissive for each type of deposit; (2) constructing a grade-tonnage model for each deposit model; and (3) estimating the number of undiscovered deposits of each type. In this article, I focus on the estimation of undiscovered deposits using two methods: the deposit density method and the target counting method.In the deposit density method, estimates are made by analogy with well-explored areas that are geologically similar to the study area and that contain a known density of deposits per unit area. The deposit density method is useful for regions where there is little or no data. This method was used to estimate undiscovered low-sulfide gold-quartz vein deposits in Venezuela.Estimates can also be made by counting targets such as mineral occurrences, geophysical or geochemical anomalies, or exploration plays and by assigning to each target a probability that it represents an undiscovered deposit that is a member of the grade-tonnage distribution. This method is useful in areas where detailed geological, geophysical, geochemical, and mineral occurrence data exist. Using this method, porphyry copper-gold deposits were estimated in Puerto Rico.     

Acidity of twelve northern New England (U.S.A.) lakes in recent centuries

Studies of sediment cores from 12 acidic lakes in granitic, forested and uninhabited catchments in northern New England, U.S.A. produced diatom-inferred pH (IpH) 5.2 to 5.8 and alkalinity (Ialk) –12 to 31 µeq l^–1, with slowly declining values at some lakes, for one to four centuries prior to logging. Increases of IpH (0.05 to 0.60) and Ialk (5 to 40 µeq l^–1) correlate with logging in the catchments in the early-1800s to early-1900s. Recovery to pre-logging IpH and Ialk correlates with forest succession toward conifers, and is completed in the late-1800s to mid-1900s. Beginning at 1915–1920 (4 lakes), 1930–1950 (4 lakes) and 1965–1970 (4 lakes), IpH and Ialk start decreasing below pre-logging values due to atmospheric acidic deposition, leading to respective total decreases of 0.10 to 0.45 (X=0.25) and 5 to 25 µeq l^–1 (X=15). Inputs of anthropogenic Pb, Zn, V, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and soot from the atmosphere are first detectable in early- to late-1800s sediment, and Cu in late-1800s sediment, increase rapidly in the late-1800s to mid-1900s, and level off or decrease since the 1960s — partly due to emission controls. Decreasing Ca, Mn, and possibly Zn relative to other metals and normalized to organic content, and increasing flux of Fe to the lakes, indicate soil and water acidification after 1900.This is the fourteenth of a series of papers to be published by this journal which is a contribution of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) project. Drs. D. F. Charles and D. R. Whitehead are guest editors for this series.     

A modest all-sky search for narrowband radio radiation near the 21-cm hydrogen line

Since 1973 an all-sky, full-time search for narrowband radio radiation (presumably of intelligent origin) near 21 cm has been underway at the Ohio State University Radio Observatory. The search concentrates on a band 380 kHz wide centered on the hydrogen line, corrected to the Galactic Standard of Rest. The search is limited by lack of funding and personnel. It has been found that beam switching is an important technique for reducing terrestrial interference, and that galactic hydrogen emission does not cause significant extraterrestrial interference. A number of small-diameter cold hydrogen clouds have been discovered. No confirmed narrowband extraterrestrial signals have been found between +48° and +14° in declination above the detection limit of 1.5 × 10^?21 W/m².     

Geophysical constraints on understanding the origin of the Illinois basin and its underlying crust

Interpretation of reprocessed seismic reflection profiles reveals three highly coherent, layered, unconformity-bounded sequences that overlie (or are incorporated within) the Proterozoic “granite–rhyolite province” beneath the Paleozoic Illinois basin and extend down into middle crustal depths. The sequences, which are situated in east–central Illinois and west–central Indiana, are bounded by strong, laterally continuous reflectors that are mappable over distances in excess of 200 km and are expressed as broad “basinal” packages that become areally more restricted with depth. Normal-fault reflector offsets progressively disrupt the sequences with depth along their outer margins. We interpret these sequences as being remnants of a Proterozoic rhyolitic caldera complex and/or rift episode related to the original thermal event that produced the granite–rhyolite province. The overall thickness and distribution of the sequences mimic closely those of the overlying Mt. Simon (Late Cambrian) clastic sediments and indicate that an episode of localized subsidence was underway before deposition of the post-Cambrian Illinois basin stratigraphic succession, which is centered farther south over the “New Madrid rift system” (i.e., Reelfoot rift and Rough Creek graben). The present configuration of the Illinois basin was therefore shaped by the cumulative effects of subsidence in two separate regions, the Proterozoic caldera complex and/or rift in east–central Illinois and west–central Indiana and the New Madrid rift system to the south. Filtered isostatic gravity and magnetic intensity data preclude a large mafic igneous component to the crust so that any Proterozoic volcanic or rift episode must not have tapped deeply or significantly into the lower crust or upper mantle during the heating event responsible for the granite–rhyolite.     

Late Pleistocene Glaciations in the Northwestern Sierra Nevada, California

Pleistocene fluvial landforms and riparian ecosystems in central California responded to climate changes in the Sierra Nevada, yet the glacial history of the western Sierra remains largely unknown. Three glacial stages in the northwestern Sierra Nevada are documented by field mapping and cosmogenic radionuclide surface-exposure (CRSE) ages. Two CRSE ages of erratic boulders on an isolated till above Bear Valley provide a limiting minimum age of 76,400±3800 ¹⁰Be yr. Another boulder age provides a limiting minimum age of 48,800±3200 ¹⁰Be yr for a broad-crested moraine ridge within Bear Valley. Three CRSE ages producing an average age of 18,600±1180 yr were drawn from two boulders near a sharp-crested bouldery lateral moraine that represents an extensive Tioga glaciation in Bear Valley. Nine CRSE ages from striated bedrock along a steep valley transect average 14,100±1500 yr and suggest rapid late-glacial ice retreat from lower Fordyce Canyon with no subsequent extensive glaciations. These ages are generally consistent with glacial and pluvial records in east-central California and Nevada.     

西安市贫困空间结构特征与发生机理

以中国西部综合型大城市、老工业基地西安市为例,基于大规模调研数据,采用相对贫困概念和FGT指数研究城市内部微观单元贫困特征的空间分异与形成机理。结果表明,西安市整体的贫困状况较为缓和,贫困覆盖面广,但深度和强度较弱;随着城市圈层扩展,贫困属性呈现出“U”型演化曲线,表现出“高贫困、破碎、混杂—低贫困或非贫困、弱连续、较弱混杂—较低贫困、连续、内部分化、相对均一—较高贫困、相对连续、较强混杂”的演化规律,成熟建成区和新兴扩展区内侧分化区的贫困状况最弱;城市内部已基本发育成熟了旧城衰退型、发展剥夺型、传统工业衰退型、“城中村”型和新增长中心邻近型等5种表征不同贫困主体及户籍、住房等特征的贫困极核。西安城市贫困空间的结构特征是其社会经济发展的阶段性和区域性的集中体现,是在城市宏观社会经济和整体地域结构背景下,各收入阶层在生活成本、就业机会、公共资源、政策导向和社会心理亚文化圈等因素的作用下,通过接替、过滤、自主集聚、排斥隔离和强化等机制重塑城市社会空间的综合表现。     

Incorporating spatially heterogeneous infiltration capacity into hydrologic models with applications for simulating post‐wildfire debris flow initiation

Soils in post‐wildfire environments are often characterized by a low infiltration capacity with a high degree of spatial heterogeneity relative to unburned areas. Debris flows are frequently initiated by run‐off in recently burned steeplands, making it critical to develop and test methods for incorporating spatial variability in infiltration capacity into hydrologic models. We use Monte Carlo simulations of run‐off generation over a soil with a spatially heterogenous saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_s) to derive an expression for an aerially averaged saturated hydraulic conductivity ( ) that depends on the rainfall rate, the statistical properties of K_s, and the spatial correlation length scale associated with K_s. The proposed method for determining is tested by simulating run‐off on synthetic topography over a wide range of spatial scales. Results provide a simplified expression for an effective saturated hydraulic conductivity that can be used to relate a distribution of small‐scale K_s measurements to infiltration and run‐off generation over larger spatial scales. Finally, we use a hydrologic model based on to simulate run‐off and debris flow initiation at a recently burned catchment in the Santa Ana Mountains, CA, USA, and compare results to those obtained using an infiltration model based on the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number.     

Climate and relief-induced controls on the temporal variability of denudation rates in a granitic upland

How soil erosion rates evolved over the last about 100 ka and how they relate to environmental and climate variability is largely unknown. This is due to a lack of suitable archives that help to trace this evolution. We determined in situ cosmogenic beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be) along vertical landforms (tors, boulders and scarps) on the Sila Massif to unravel their local exhumation patterns to develop a surface denudation model over millennia. Due to the physical resistance of tors, their rate of exhumation may be used to derive surface and, thus, soil denudation rates over time. We derived soil denudation rates that varied in the range 0–0.40 mm yr^-1. The investigated boulders, however, appear to have experienced repositioning processes about ~20–25 ka bp and were therefore a less reliable archive. The scarps of the Sila upland showed a rapid bedrock exposure within the last 8–15 ka. Overall, the denudation rates increased steadily after 75 ka bp but remained low until about 17 ka bp . The exhumation rates indicate a denudation pulse that occurred about 17–5 ka bp . Since then the rates have continuously decreased. We identify three key factors for these developments – climate, topography and vegetation. Between 75 and 17 ka bp , climate was colder and drier than today. The rapid changes towards warmer and humid conditions at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition apparently increased denudation rates. A denser vegetation cover with time counteracted denudation. Topography also determined the extent of denudation rates in the upland regime. On slopes, denudation rates were generally higher than on planar surfaces. By determining the exhumation rates of tors and scarps, soil erosion rates could be determined over long timescales and be related to topography and particularly to climate. This is key for understanding geomorphic dynamics under current environmental settings and future climate change. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.