The Effect of an Infaunal Suspension Feeding Bivalve Mercenaria mercenaria (L.) on Benthic Recruitment*

Abstract. Animal-animal interactions are recognized as critical in benthic invertebrate recruitment. The hypothesis tested was that benthic recruitment is more successful in low densities of infaunal suspension feeders than in high densities. Densities of young hard clams Mercenaria mercenaria (L.) ranging from 82.5 to 330m^-2 were placed in defaunated boxes of sand. The mean number of species, mean number of individuals, mean wet weight biomass, mean species richness and mean dominance index per sample were calculated per density of hard clams from May to October. The experiment did not support the hypothesis. It was concluded that feeding behaviour of dense populations of M. mercenaria did not preclude successful recruitment of other benthic species.     

Centimeter-Level Positioning of a U. S. Coast Guard Buoy Tender

With the availability of high-accuracy, differential global positioning system (GPS) results in real-time, there is a new opportunity to use GPS to accurately measure a marine vessel's dynamic draft (settlement and squat) and 3D attitude (roll, pitch, and heading). The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) and the Coast Survey (CS), offices of the National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), propose to transfer this technology to the shipping industry. The overall goal of this project is to provide the position of a vessel's keel in real time to within 10 cm (about 4 inches) relative to the bottom of the shipping channel. In support of this phase of the project, there were three meetings hosted by the Port of Oakland, California and NOS to discuss the real-time positioning of vessels project. On December 3 and 4, 1996, CS, NGS, Trimble Navigation Ltd., and the U. S. Coast Guard (USCG) performed GPS tests on a USCG buoy-tender ship. GPS data were used to compute the vessel's dynamic draft and 3D attitude. During the test, five receivers continually collected data; one receiver was located at a base station on the USCG pier on Yerba Buena Island, and four were on the ship: two on the stern and two on the bow. CS installed a TSS-335B vertical reference unit (to measure heave, pitch, and roll) in the engine room of the ship. NOS processed the GPS data and computed the vessel's dynamic draft and 3D attitude. The results indicate that the linear equivalent to the vessel's dynamic draft and 3D attitude were accurate to the 10-cm level using GPS. It was also demonstrated how a ship can be used to measure local water-level changes and actual water-level values everywhere it travels. ? 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Biogeographical drivers of ragweed pollen concentrations in Europe

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - The drivers of spatial variation in ragweed pollen concentrations, contributing to severe allergic rhinitis and asthma, are poorly quantified. We analysed the...     

Notes on the variability of reflected inner core phases

Recent events beneath Central America have produced excellent sets of inner core reflection (PKiKP phase) at high frequency recorded by USArray ranging from 18° to 30°. However, the amplitude of this phase displays considerable scatter with a factor of six or more. Such scatter has been attributed to upper-mantle scattering and the Inner Core Boundary (ICB) in combination. Here, we show that neighboring events share upper-mantle scatterers beneath the receivers, and their ratio allows a clearer image of deep earth structure. After confirming some of the measured variation is indeed due to deep structure, we stacked nearby traces to reduce fine scale variations which are mostly due to shallow structure. Then, the remaining relatively large scale variation pattern of PKiKP phase is caused by the inner core boundary, as demonstrated by numerical experiments. After migration of data to the ICB, we observe a consistent image. We find such a pattern can be explained by a patch of mushy material of a few kilometers high where the material changes gradually from that of the outer core to that of the inner core.     

Thermodynamic analysis of the system Na2O-K2O-CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O-F2O?1: Stability of fluorine-bearing minerals in felsic igneous suites

Thermodynamic analysis of the system Na₂O-K₂O-CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O-F₂O_–1 provides phase equilibria and solidus compatibilities of rock-forming silicates and fluorides in evolved granitic systems and associated hydrothermal processes. The interaction of fluorine with aluminosilicate melts and solids corresponds to progressive fluorination of their constituent oxides by the thermodynamic component F₂O_–1. The chemical potential (F₂O_–1) buffered by reaction of the type: MO_n/2 (s)+n/2 [F₂O_–1]=MF_n (s, g) where M=K, Na, Ca, Al, Si, explains the sequential formation of fluorides: carobbiite, villiaumite, fluorite, AlF₃, SiF₄ as well as the common coexistence of alkali- and alkali-earth fluorides with rock-forming aluminosilicates. Formation of fluorine-bearing minerals first starts in peralkaline silica-undersaturated, proceeds in peraluminous silica-oversaturated compositions and causes progressive destabilization of nepheline, albite and quartz, in favour of villiaumite, cryolite, topaz, chiolite. Additionally, it implies the increase of buffered fluorine solubilities in silicate melts or aqueous fluids from peralkaline silica-undersaturated to peraluminous silica-oversaturated environments. Subsolidus equilibria reveal several incompatibilities: (i) topaz is unstable with nepheline or villiaumite; (ii) chiolite is not compatible with albite because it only occurs only at very high F₂O_–1 levels. The stability of topaz, fluorite, cryolite and villiaumite in natural felsic systems is related to their peralkalinity (peraluminosity), calcia and silica activity, and linked by corresponding chemical potentials to rock-forming mineral buffers. Villiaumite is stable in strongly peralkaline and Ca-poor compositions (An_<0.001). Similarly, cryolite stability requires coexistence with nearly-pure albite (An_<2). Granitic rocks with Ca-bearing plagioclase (An_>5) saturate with topaz or fluorite. Crystallization of topaz is restricted to peraluminous conditions, consistent with the presence of Li-micas or anhydrous aluminosilicates (cordierite, garnet, andalusite). Fluorite is predicted to be stable in peraluminous biotite granites, amphibole-, clinopyroxene- or titanite-bearing calc-alkaline suites as well as in peralkaline granitic and syenitic rocks. Fluorine concentrations in felsic melts buffered by the coexistence of F-bearing minerals and feldspars increase from peralkaline through metaluminous to mildly peraluminous compositions. At low-temperature conditions, the hydrothermal evolution of peraluminous granitic and greisen systems is controlled by white mica-feldspar-fluoride equilibria. With decreasing temperature, topaz gradually breaks down via: (i) (OH)F_–1 substitution and fluorine transfer to fluorite by decalcification of plagioclase below 600 °C, (ii) formation of muscovite and additional fluorite at 475–315 °C, and (iii) formation of paragonite and cryolite, consuming F-rich topaz and albite below 315 °C. These equilibria explain the absence of magmatic fluorite in Ca-bearing topaz granitic rocks; its abundance in hydrothermal rocks is due to: (i) closed-system defluorination of topaz, (ii) open-system decalcification of plagioclase or (iii) hydrolytic alteration. These results provide a complete framework for the investigation of fluorine-bearing mineral stabilities in felsic igneous suites.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at . A link in the frame on the left on that page takes you directly to the supplementary material.Editorial responsibility: T.L. Grove