Implications of ozone depletion for surface-water photochemistry: Sensitivity of clear lakes

Increased ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) in aquatic ecosystems brought about by stratospheric ozone depletion may result in increased formation rates of photochemical reaction products in the surface waters of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, the potential impact of increases in lower wave-length radiation on the formation of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and singlet oxygen (¹O₂) was modelled for lakes over a range of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations. The impact of increased UV-B radiation on the production of carbon monoxide (CO) was also calculated for two humic stained systems. The relative increases of H₂O₂ and¹O₂ production were greater in the clear lakes (70% increase in photochemical reaction rates near the surface) than the coloured systems (25%). Production of CO in the study sites also increased under depleted ozone conditions implying increased DOC losses to the overlying atmosphere.     

U---Pb and Rb---Sr geochronology and geological evolution of the Harts Range ruby mine area of the Arunta Inlier, central Australia

Supracrustal and meta-igneous rock units from the ruby mine area of the Harts Range, eastern Arunta Inlier, central Australia, have been dated by the zircon U---Pb and Rb---Sr total-rock (TR) and mica methods. A well-defined zircon discordia for a weakly deformed specimen of the Bruna granite gneiss yields an age of emplacement of 1748₋₄⁺⁵ Ma, thereby constraining the minimum age of the Irindina supracrustal assemblage. Metapelitic gneiss within the supracrustals and a meta-igneous ultramafic boudin from the associated Harts Range meta-igneous complex yield highly discordant zircon data, revealing a strong early Palaeozoic overprint. Rb---Sr TR data from anorthositic gneisses associated with the ultramafic boudin are highly disturbed, also apparently during the lower Palaeozoic. However, Rb---Sr model age calculations and the zircon U---Pb data suggest a maximum age of about 2000 Ma for the supracrustal and meta-igneous rocks, and argue for new Proterozoic crust formation.

Zircon U---Pb data from a deformed pegmatite, emplaced in the meta-igneous complex, yield an emplacement age of 520₋₄⁺⁵ Ma, further pointing to Lower Palaeozoic magmatism and deformation. Correlations of U content and calculated ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age for the ultramafic boudin zircons suggest that new growth of low-U zircons occurred during retrogression associated with this event. The Sr-isotope systematics of the anorthositic gneisses can also be interpreted in terms of introduction of Palaeozoic Sr. Our data suggest lower Palaeozoic (possibly Delamerian) tectonothermal activity to be more important in the evolution of the Harts Range area than previously recognised.

On the other hand, Rb---Sr mica ages for deformed and undeformed pegmatites, and TR isochrons for the latter, show that pervasive tectonothernal activity had ceased by about 315 Ma and that regional cooling occurred between about 345 and 325 Ma. Local shear-zone biotite resetting may have persisted to about 300 Ma, consistent with the previously recognised Alice Springs Orogeny. Possible dilational Pb loss in the Bruna zircons occurred at about 103 Ma.     

Evaporite Dissolution Subsidence in the Historical City of Calatayud,Spain: Damage Appraisal and Prevention

Calatayud in NE Spain is an historically important city built on recent alluvial deposits underlain by gypsum and other soluble rocks. Since its foundation by the Muslims in 716 A.D., the city development has been strongly influenced by geohazards including flooding, subsidence and slope movements. Most of the flooding problems have been mitigated by diversion of the local drainage. However, dissolution of the evaporite bedrock in the urban areas continually causes subsidence and triggers rock-falls from the gypsum cliffs overlooking the city. Subsidence is also caused by the hydrocollapse of gypsiferous silt in the alluvial fan deposits. Building damage in the city was surveyed using a classification scheme developed originally to record damage in British coal mining areas. The Calatayud damage survey shows that the worst building subsidence is concentrated along the line of a buried channel that runs underneath the gypsiferous silt alluvial fan. Natural subsurface drainage causes the dissolution and subsidence, which is aggravated by leakage from water and sewage pipes. Some building damage has been exacerbated during reconstruction by incomplete piling leaving buildings partially unsupported. Mitigation measures include the control of water leakage by the installation of flexible service pipes. Careful construction techniques are needed for both conservation and new developments, especially when piled and minipiled foundations are used. Geomorphological mapping is cost-effective in helping to locate and avoid the zones of subsidence for future development.     

Volatilization kinetics of silicon carbide in reducing gases: an experimental study with applications to the survival of presolar grains in the solar nebula

The volatilization kinetics of single crystal α-SiC, polycrystalline β-SiC, and SiO₂ (cristobalite or glass) were determined in H₂-CO₂, CO-CO₂, and H₂-CO-CO₂ gas mixtures at oxygen fugacities between 1 log unit above and 10 log units below the iron-wüstite (IW) buffer and temperatures in the range 1151 to 1501°C. Detailed sets of experiments on SiC were conducted at 2.8 and 6.0 log units below IW (IW-2.8 and IW-6.0) at a variety of temperatures, and at 1300°C at a variety of oxygen fugacities. Transmission electron microscopic and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopic characterization of run products shows that the surface of SiC exposed to IW-2.8 is characterized by a thin (<1 μm thick), continuous layer of cristobalite. SiC exposed to IW-6.0 lacks such a layer (or its thickness is <0.01 μm), although some SiO₂ was found within pits and along incised grain boundaries.In H₂-CO₂ gas mixtures above ∼IW-3, the similarity of the SiC volatilization rate and of its dependence on temperature and fO₂ to that for SiO₂ suggests that SiC volatilization is controlled by volatilization of a SiO₂ layer that forms on the surface of the SiC. With decreasing log fO₂ from ∼IW-3 to ∼IW-6, the SiC volatilization rate is constant at constant temperature, whereas that for SiO₂ increases. The independence of the SiC volatilization rate from the gas composition under these conditions suggests that the rate-controlling step is a solid-solid reaction at the internal SiC/SiO₂ interface. For gas compositions more reducing than ∼IW-6, the SiC volatilization rate increases with decreasing fO₂, with both bare SiC surfaces and perhaps silica residing in pits and along incised grain boundaries contributing to the overall reaction rate.If the volatilization mechanism and reaction rate in the solar nebula were the same as in our H₂-CO₂ experiments at IW-6.0, then estimated lifetimes of 1-μm-diameter presolar SiC grains range from several thousand years at ∼900°C, to ∼1 yr at 1100°C, ∼1 d at 1300°C, and ∼1 h at 1400°C. The corresponding lifetimes for 10-μm SiC grains would be an order of magnitude longer. If the supply of oxidants to surfaces of presolar SiC grains were rate limiting—for example, at T > 1100°C for P^tot= 10⁻⁶ atm and sticking coefficient = 0.01, then the calculated lifetimes would be about 10 yr for 10-μm-diameter grains, essentially independent of temperature. The results thus imply that presolar SiC grains would survive short heating events associated with formation of chondrules (minutes) and calcium-, aluminum-rich inclusions (days), but would have been destroyed by exposure to hot (≥900°C) nebular gases in less than several thousand years unless they were coated with minerals inert to reaction with a nebular gas.     

Visual discrimination of surface features of salt affected soils using satellite images in arid region of Rajasthan (India)

The study has been carried for visual discrimination of natural salt affected soils on FCC images of IRS 1 B in Pali district of Rajasthan. The salt affected soils show wide variations in salinity (EC_2.53.7 to 28 dSm^-1), alkalinity (pH 8.5-9.8), cover ofP. juliflora (10-90%), salt tolerant grasses (10–55%) and gravelly surface (20–35%). ThoughP. juliflora and grasses were present at most of the observation points their cover decreased with soil EC_2.5 values more than 10 and 13 dSm^-1, respectively. Five darkness categories derived as the result of visual interpretation of FCCs; and ground and laboratory studies revealed that the darkness category 1 represented fewer plant community with high salinity (EC 28.7 dSm^-1) and gravelly surface, categories 2 and 3 were characterised by grass cover and moderate salt affected soils (EC 3-10 dSm^-1) whereas category 4 was dominated by thicket ofP. juliflora. The derived numerical darkness categories of the FCC images were slightly low for February images. The darkness values of observation pixel on February images correlated positively withP. juliflora cover and negatively with grass cover and soil pH indicating that surface features on FCC were related with the immediate observation pixels.     

Impact of a Saturation-Dependent Dissipation Source Function on Operational Hindcasts of Wind-Waves in the Australian Region

The impact of a modified parametric form of the dissipation source function S ds on the skill of an operational spectral wind-wave model is investigated. Numerical experiments are made with a version of the WAM model presently used operationally by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology to produce sea-state forecasts within the Australian region. Performances of wave hindcasts obtained using several alternative forms of this newly proposed dissipation source function are compared to those produced with forms of S ds commonly used operationally. A new ad hoc technique to compare modelled and observed wave spectra is introduced to assess the quality of calculated one-dimensional frequency spectra.

Our results indicate that wave model performance in terms of integral spectral parameters, such as the significant wave height H s , may benefit from improved parameterisations of the dissipation source term S ds . On the other hand, we also found that model performance was relatively poor in terms of predictions of the one-dimensional frequency spectrum, regardless of the chosen form of S ds . These results suggest that further refinements of the dissipation source term are strongly dependent on improved parametrisations of the nonlinear interactions source term S nl .     

Euler Deconvolution with Improved Accuracy and Multiple Different Structural Indices

Euler deconvolution is a semi-automatic interpretation method that is frequently used with magnetic and gravity data. For a given source type, which is specified by its structural index (SI), it provides an estimate of the source location. It is demonstrated here that by computing the solution space of individual data points and selecting common source locations the accuracy of the result can be improved. Furthermore, only a slight modification of the method is necessary to allow solutions for any number of different Sis to be obtained simultaneously. The method is applicable to both evenly and unevenly sampled geophysical data and is demonstrated on gravity and magnetic data. Source code (in Matlab format) is available from www.iamg.org.     

Wave ensemble forecast system for tropical cyclones in the Australian region

Forecasting of waves under extreme conditions such as tropical cyclones is vitally important for many offshore industries, but there remain many challenges. For Northwest Western Australia (NW WA), wave forecasts issued by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology have previously been limited to products from deterministic operational wave models forced by deterministic atmospheric models. The wave models are run over global (resolution 1/4^°) and regional (resolution 1/10^°) domains with forecast ranges of +?7 and +?3 day respectively. Because of this relatively coarse resolution (both in the wave models and in the forcing fields), the accuracy of these products is limited under tropical cyclone conditions. Given this limited accuracy, a new ensemble-based wave forecasting system for the NW WA region has been developed. To achieve this, a new dedicated 8-km resolution grid was nested in the global wave model. Over this grid, the wave model is forced with winds from a bias-corrected European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast atmospheric ensemble that comprises 51 ensemble members to take into account the uncertainties in location, intensity and structure of a tropical cyclone system. A unique technique is used to select restart files for each wave ensemble member. The system is designed to operate in real time during the cyclone season providing +?10-day forecasts. This paper will describe the wave forecast components of this system and present the verification metrics and skill for specific events.     

Does the permeability of gravel river beds affect near‐bed hydrodynamics?

The permeability of river beds is an important control on hyporheic flow and the movement of fine sediment and solutes into and out of the bed. However, relatively little is known about the effect of bed permeability on overlying near‐bed flow dynamics, and thus on fluid advection at the sediment–water interface. This study provides the first quantification of this effect for water‐worked gravel beds. Laboratory experiments in a recirculating flume revealed that flows over permeable beds exhibit fundamental differences compared with flows over impermeable beds of the same topography. The turbulence over permeable beds is less intense, more organised and more efficient at momentum transfer because eddies are more coherent. Furthermore, turbulent kinetic energy is lower, meaning that less energy is extracted from the mean flow by this turbulence. Consequently, the double‐averaged velocity is higher and the bulk flow resistance is lower over permeable beds, and there is a difference in how momentum is conveyed from the overlying flow to the bed surface. The main implications of these results are three‐fold. First, local pressure gradients, and therefore rates of material transport, across the sediment–water interface are likely to differ between impermeable and permeable beds. Second, near‐bed and hyporheic flows are unlikely to be adequately predicted by numerical models that represent the bed as an impermeable boundary. Third, more sophisticated flow resistance models are required for coarse‐grained rivers that consider not only the bed surface but also the underlying permeable structure. Overall, our results suggest that the effects of bed permeability have critical implications for hyporheic exchange, fluvial sediment dynamics and benthic habitat availability. © 2017 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.