Potential for Solute Retardation on Monitoring Well Sand Packs and Its Effect on Purging Requirements for Ground Water Sampling

Monitoring well sand packs are theoretically capable of retarding metal ions and organic contaminants. If this retardation does indeed occur it may have a significant effect on the purging requirements of newly installed monitoring wells. Calculations based on mass balance and retardation concepts demonstrate that if common guidelines for well purging are followed, contaminants may not be detected or may be detected in lower concentrations than are actually present in the ground water. This problem is greatest in relatively shallow wells installed in low to moderate permeability materials. In most cases, the effect of solute retardation in the sand pack can be avoided simply by additional purging prior to the first sampling of the monitoring well. Common purging guidelines can then be applied to subsequent samplings. The methodology outlined in this paper can be used to calculate the purging requirements of existing monitoring wells or it may be applied to alternative monitoring well designs to test which will require the smallest volume of purged water.     

Results of optical, thermomagnetic and electron microprobe analyses of titanomagnetite grains

This paper presents results of a study of titanomagnetite from specimens of ten different rock units. The rock units comprise trachytes, basalts, ignimbrites, nephelinites, olivine melanephelinites and welded tuffs from Kenya, with ages ranging from recent to Precambrian. The correlations of the stability index with opaque petrology and with thermomagnetic analyses of the titanomagnetite and titanomaghemite bearing specimens appear to be significant. Electron microprobe analyses of the titanomagnetite grains indicate a high percentage of “impurities” in the low stability index specimens and elevation of the Curie point in the high stability index specimens.     

Age progressive volcanism in the Comores Archipelago, western Indian Ocean and implications for Somali plate tectonics

The Comores Islands together with the Tertiary volcanic province of northern Madagascar form a sublinear trend of alkali olivine basalt shield volcanoes across the northern entrance of the Mozambique Channel. Potassium-argon dating of shield-building lavas confirms an eastward increase in age of volcanism along the chain, consistent with a hotspot origin for the lineament. The velocity of the Somali plate over the mantle magma source is 50 mm/yr.

We use the distribution of ages along the Comores-Madagascar chain in conjunction with existing age data for the Reunion-Mascarene Plateau hotspot track to model the absolute motion of the Somali plate for the last 10 m.y. We calculate the relative motion across the East African Rift by subtracting the Somali plate absolute motion from African plate absolute motion during this period. The model predicts 320 km of total separation across the East African Rift during the past 10 m.y. which is greater than has been estimated from surface geological evidence

The geometry of older portions of the Comores and Reunion trends indicates that there was no significant relative motion between the African and Somali plates prior to about 10 m.y. ago.     

Correlated Nd,Sr and Pb isotope variation in Walvis Ridge basalts and implications for the evolution of their mantle source

Basement intersected in DSDP holes 525A, 528 and 527 on the Walvis Ridge consists of submarine basalt flows and pillows with minor intercalated sediments. These holes are situated on the crest and mid and lower northwest flank of a NNW-SSE-trending ridge block which would have closely paralleled the paleo mid-ocean ridge [13, 14]. The basalts were erupted approximately 70 m.y. ago, an age equivalent to that of immediately adjacent oceanic crust in the Angola Basin and consistent with formation at the paleo mid-ocean ridge [14]. The basalt types vary from aphyric quartz tholeiites on the ridge crest to highly plagioclase phyric olivine tholeiites on the ridge flank. These show systematic differences in incompatible trace element and isotopic composition. Many element and isotope ratio pairs form systematic trends with the ridge crest basalts at one end and the highly phyric ridge flank basalts at the other.The low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.51238), ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (17.54), ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (15.47), ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (38.14) and high⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.70512) ratios of the ridge crest basalts suggest derivation from an old Nd/Sm-, Rb/Sr- and Pb/U-enriched mantle source. This isotopic signature is similar to that of alkaline basalts on Tristan de Cunha but offset to significantly lower Nd and Pb isotopic ratios. The isotopic ratio trends may be extrapolated beyond the ridge flank basalts with higher¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.51270), ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (18.32), ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (15.52), ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (38.77) and lower ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.70417) ratios in the direction of increasingly Nd/Sm-, Rb/Sr- and Pb/U-depleted source compositions. These isotopic correlations are equally consistent with mixing od depleted and enriched end member melts or partial melting of an inhomogenous, variably enriched mantle source. However, observe ZrBaNbY interelement relationships are inconsistent with any simple two-component model of magma mixing, as might result from the rise of a lower mantle plume through the upper mantle. Incompatible element and Pb isotopic systematics also preclude extensive involvement of depleted (N-type) MORB material or its mantle sources. In our preferred petrogenetic model the Walvis Ridge basalts were derived by partial melting of mantle similar to an enriched (E-type) MORB source which had become heterogeneous on a small scale due to the introduction of small-volume melts and metasomatic fluids.     

Size distribution of iron and manganese species in freshwaters

A recently established technique for size fractionation of particulate matter in freshwaters, based on low volume filtration through Nuclepore filters in the field, has been applied to the study of Fe and Mn species in 3 freshwater lakes and a stream feeding one of the lakes. The technique has also been used in a series of laboratory experiments to provide further insight into the process of particle formation. The results are complemented with scanning electron microscope examination of the particles.The raw data are transformed into mass size distributions, which are generally unimodal, with the major part of the mass confined to a single log unit size range. These size distributions are compared and contrasted with a theoretical model of particle behaviour in a lake. The results suggest that particulate Fe and Mn behave according to particle theory. The observed size distributions represent a balance between hydraulic input/output, aggregation, and gravitational settling, as well as chemical precipitation and dissolution processes. Overall particle aggregation is shown to be a slow process in the waters examined, with a time constant of the order of days. There is evidence for a fairly stable particle regime in the 0.05–0.4 μm size range.Deviations from the unimodal distribution in the epilimnion of the lakes indicate the association of Fe, but not Mn, with phytoplankton. In the waters examined Mn was most frequently found in solution, while Fe was predominantly particulate. These findings are interpreted in terms of the differing redox behaviour of the metals.     

Ocean storage of nuclear wastes? Experiences from the Russian Arctic

An international demonstration (RD&D) project for ocean storage of radioactive wastes should be proposed, to study the feasibility of the concept of ocean storage of nuclear waste. This international project should utilize the scientific, engineering and technical capabilities of selected universities, oceanographic institutions, NGOs and industries. This project would need to be an independent (non-governmental) study, utilizing the capabilities of selected universities, oceanographic institutions, environmental NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) and industries. Scientists and engineers first need to conduct an engineering, environmental, and economic feasibility study of the concept. The goal of the project would be to determine if ocean-based storage reduced the risks to the environment and public health to a greater degree than land-based storage. This would require comparing the risks and factors involved and making the data and information available to anyone, anywhere, anytime on the internet. The mere presence of an investigation of the ocean storage option could facilitate scientific and engineering competition between the two options, could subsequently reduce environmental and public risks and provide better protection and cost benefits in the system utilized. One of the primary concerns of the scientific community would be related to the sensitivity and precision of the monitoring of individaul containers on the ocean bottom. An advantage of the land-based option is that if there is a release, its presence could be detected at very low levels and be contained in the storage facility. On the ocean bottom, a release from a container might not be easily detected due to dispersion. Therefore the containment system would have to be a system within a system with monitoring between the two providing greater protection. Ocean storage may have greater technical and political hurdles than land-based options, but it may provide greater protection over time, because it negates the threat of terrorism, it therefore merit further study. In the future if the use of nuclear energy and nuclear wastes increases, the global society could benefit from this international project, because it could reduce environmental and public health risks and promote energy independence.     

The radio frequency dielectric properties of the stratified UG1–UG2 geological unit in the Bushveld Complex

A new measurement technique enables the complex dielectric properties of the geological strata comprising the UG1–UG2 (Upper Group 1–Upper Group 2) unit of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa to be determined with unprecedented detail at radio frequencies (RF). Results of non-destructive laboratory measurements of representative diamond drill core samples from the UG1–UG2 unit are presented at 25 MHz. These data establish that the UG1 and UG2 chromitite layers are embedded in rock strata (norite, pyroxenite and anorthosite) which are translucent in the HF spectral band, whereas the chromitite layers themselves exhibit significant velocity contrast, making them good radar reflectors. The data presented here is useful for calibration of the radar system, and for predicting the range and resolution performance of borehole radars operating in both the hanging and footwalls of the economically important platiniferous UG2 reef.     

Fast approximate EM induction modeling of metallic and UXO targets using a permeable prism

The time-domain EM induction response of non-magnetic and magnetic targets can be approximated using a conductive permeable prism composed of six faces of conductive plates, each face being composed of a set of conductive ribbons. The effect of magnetic permeability is included by the use of two “apparent flux gathering” coefficients, and two “effective magnetic permeability” coefficients, in the axial and transverse directions. These four magnetic property coefficients are a function of physical properties and geometry of the target, but are independent of prism orientation relative to a transmitter. The approximation algorithm is computationally fast, allowing inversions for target parameters to be achieved in seconds. The model is tested on profiles acquired with a Geonics EM63 time-domain EM metal detector over a non-magnetic copper pipe target, and a steel artillery shell in horizontal and vertical orientations. Results show that this approximation to a permeable prism has a capability of fitting geometric, conductivity and magnetic parameters at both early and late sample times. The magnetic parameters show strong change from early to late times on the EMI decay curve, indicating that the magnetic properties of the target have non-linear characteristics. It is proposed that these magnetic parameters and the nature of their non-linearity may carry additional discrimination information for distinguishing between intact munitions and scrap in UXO studies.     

Caldera morphology in the western Galápagos and implications for volcano eruptive behavior and mechanisms of caldera formation

Caldera morphology on the six historically active shield volcanoes that comprise Isabela and Fernandina islands, the two westernmost islands in the Galapagos archipelago, is linked to the dynamics of magma supply to, and withdrawal from, the magma chamber beneath each volcano. Caldera size (e.g., volumes 2–9 times that of the caldera of Kilauea, Hawai'i), the absence of well-developed rift zones and the inability to sustain prolonged low-volumetric-flow-rate flank eruptions suggest that magma storage occurs predominantly within centrally located chambers (at the expense of storage within the flanks). The calderas play an important role in the formation of distinctive arcuate fissures in the central part of the volcano: repeated inward collapse of the caldera walls along with floor subsidence provide mechanisms for sustaining radially oriented least-compressive stresses that favor the formation of arcuate fissures within 1–2 km outboard of the caldera rim. Variations in caldera shape, depth-to-diameter ratio, intra-caldera bench location and the extent of talus slope development provide insight into the most recent events of caldera modification, which may be modulated by the episodic supply of magma to each volcano. A lack of correlation between the volume of the single historical collapse event and its associated volume of erupted lava precludes a model of caldera formation linked directly to magma withdrawal. Rather, caldera collapse is probably the result of accumulated loss from the central storage system without sufficient recharge and (as has been suggested for Kilauea) may be aided by the downward drag of dense cumulates and intrusives.