The solar occultation for ice experiment

The Solar Occultation For Ice Experiment (SOFIE) was launched onboard the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite on 25 April 2007, and began science observations on 14 May 2007. SOFIE conducts solar occultation measurements in 16 spectral bands that are used to retrieve vertical profiles of temperature, O₃, H₂O, CO₂, CH₄, NO, and polar mesospheric cloud (PMC) extinction at wavelengths from 0.330 to 5.006 μm. SOFIE performs 15 sunset measurements at latitudes from 65° to 85°S and 15 sunrise measurements from 65° to 85°N each day. This work describes the SOFIE instrument, measurement approach, and retrieval results for the northern summer of 2007.     

Modeling calving process of glacier with dilated polyhedral discrete element method

Mass loss caused by glacier calving is one of the direct contributors to global sea level rise. Reliable calving laws are required for accurate modelling of ice sheet mass balance. Both continuous and discontinuous methods have been used for glacial calving simulations. In this study, the discrete element method(DEM) based on dilated polyhedral elements is introduced to simulate the calving process of a tidewater glacier. Dilated polyhedrons can be obtained from the Minkowski sum of a sphere and a core polyhedron. These elements can be utilized to generate a continuum ice material, where the interaction force between adjacent elements is modeled by constructing bonds at the joints of the common faces. A hybrid fracture model considering fracture energy is introduced. The viscous creep behavior of glaciers on long-term scales is not considered. By applying buoyancy and gravity to the modelled glacier, DEM results show that the calving process is caused by cracks which are initialized at the top of the glacier and spread to the bottom. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using the dilated polyhedral DEM method in glacier simulations, additionally allowing the fragment size of the breaking fragments to be counted. The relationship between crack propagation and internal stress in the glacier is analyzed during calving process. Through the analysis of the Mises stress and the normal stress between the elements, it is found that geometric changes caused by the glacier calving lead to the redistribution of the stress. The tensile stress between the elements is the main influencing factor of glacier ice failure. In addition, the element shape,glacier base friction and buoyancy are studied, the results show that the glacier model based on the dilated polyhedral DEM is sensitive to the above conditions.     

Late Quaternary Alluviation Along Intermittent Streams in Kakadu National Park,Northern Territory

Sedimentation along small, intermittent streams on Kapalga Research Station in Kakadu National Park may have responded to increased base levels following post-glacial flooding of the valleys of the Alligator Rivers. Alternatively, regional climate changes may have controlled sedimentation. Using thermoluminescence dating, we determined that sediments from two streams at Kapalga date from 21.5 ± 4.0 ka. On a third stream, sediments dated from 7.6 ± 1.1 ka, with younger sediments occurring downstream. We interpreted the pre-Holocene dates and the lack of evidence of upstream progradation to indicate that climate variation was more important to sedimentation than base levels. Predicted increases in rainfall variability and in the frequency of high-intensity rainfall under enhanced greenhouse conditions may cause renewed sediment mobilisation. At the outflow of one stream on to the South Alligator flood plain, we found 15 m of sandy alluvia underlying 3-5 m of estuarine muds deposited as a result of sea-level rise. These sandy alluvia dated from about 77 ka at 4 m to more than 300 ka at 19 m depth. These ages are consistent with those recorded on the Magela Creek system, 50 km to the east.     

Late-Variscan antimony mineralisation in the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, NW Germany: evidence for stibnite precipitation by drastic cooling of high-temperature fluid systems

Antimony-rich vein mineralisation is widespread in the German part of the Variscan orogenic belt. Mineralogical investigation of a representative suite of these deposits, coupled with fluid inclusion characterisation and microthermometry, permits a reconstruction of their genetic evolution. Two structural settings host antimony mineralisation: the cores or flanks of anticlinal zones and major lithological contrasts. Channelled migration of geothermal fluids through permeable rock sequences and later stagnation of fluids in cap-rock situations inside the anticlinal zones led to mineral deposition. The mineralising event is interpreted as relating to input of deep-sourced fluids during late-orogenic exhumation at the transitional stage between collision tectonics and the late-Variscan extensional regime. Fluid inclusion data, chlorite geothermometry and the presence of meneghinite as a characteristic Pb-Sb-sulfosalt mineral in a number of vein systems allows constraints on model P-T conditions at the onset of mineralisation to be made. These are as high as 390 to 440?°C at 0.6–1.0?kbar for the Saarsegen, Apollo and Schöne Freundschaft deposits, with lower temperatures of 320–340?°C being obtained for the Spes deposit. The fluid inclusion data indicate drastic fluid cooling during the mineralising event; minimum temperatures of approximately 150–220?°C are obtained for all deposits at the end of vein quartz formation, which coincided with deposition of stibnite and most of the Pb-Sb sulfosalts. Besides the formation of extensional quartz-stibnite-Pb-sulfosalt veins, the mineralising, low-salinity NaCl-KCl-rich high-temperature tectonic brines have overprinted sulfide assemblages within earlier siderite-(Cu)-Pb-Zn veins. This has led to replacement reaction textures and remobilisation of sulfide components within the vein systems. In contrast with the earlier siderite-(Cu)-Pb-Zn veins, neither the quartz-stibnite-sulfosalt nor the (Cu)-Pb-Sb sulfosalt assemblages were affected by Variscan deformation. Rather, they display characteristic extensional features crosscutting all earlier structures and can thus be assigned to a later phase of mineralisation. Fluid composition characteristics and structural criteria indicate formation in the latest part of the Variscan mineralisation cycle; a post-Variscan genesis being rejected on grounds of conspicuously diverging fluid characteristics. A comparison of antimony deposits in the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge with other late-orogenic deposits elsewhere in the European Variscan belt indicates a significant number of shared features, enabling them to be placed into a common model related to the onset of late-Variscan brittle extensional tectonics.     

Early diagenetic alteration of chlorophyll-a and bacteriochlorophyll-a in a contemporaneous marl ecosystem; Florida Bay

This report covers the analyses of tetrapyrrole pigments in sediments and numerous source biota from northern central Florida Bay. Sediment cores were all carbonate marls and ‘bedrock’ (Pleistocene limestones) was typically at 0.6–1.2 m bsf. (below sea floor). Extraction of the sediments was performed using tetrahydrofuran, shown to be 3–7 times as effective as more common solvents. Surficial sediments were found to contain a pigment distribution indicating a diatomaceous-cyanobacterial biofilm/mat underlain with purple sulfur bacteria as the microphytobenthos. Downhole trends in pigment diagenesis revealed differences due to paleoenvironment. That is, when bacteriochlorophyll-a (BCHLa) plus derivatives were elevated, indicating strong syn-depositional anoxia, the pheophytins-a (PTINsa) were the major chlorophyll-a (CHLa) derivatives. Conversely, when BCHL-a plus derivatives were low, indicating oxic to dys-oxic syn-depositional conditions, then pyropheophorbide-a (pPBIDa) and 13², 17²-cyclopheophorbide-a (CYCLO) were strongly dominant. The generation of cyclopheophorbide in carbonate marls with weakly anoxic to dysoxic syn-depositional conditions may yield an oil-source paleoenvironmental marker for bitumen containing compounds such as bicycloalkanoporphyrins (BiCAPs). Downhole conversions were observed for the following diagenetic steps; CHLa to pheophytin-a (PTINa), PTINa to pyropheophytin-a (pPTINa), pPBIDa to CYCLO, BCHLa to bacteriopheophytin-a (BPTINa), and BPTINa to bacteriopyropheophytin-a (BpPTINa).     

Choosing appropriate techniques for quantifying groundwater recharge

Various techniques are available to quantify recharge; however, choosing appropriate techniques is often difficult. Important considerations in choosing a technique include space/time scales, range, and reliability of recharge estimates based on different techniques; other factors may limit the application of particular techniques. The goal of the recharge study is important because it may dictate the required space/time scales of the recharge estimates. Typical study goals include water-resource evaluation, which requires information on recharge over large spatial scales and on decadal time scales; and evaluation of aquifer vulnerability to contamination, which requires detailed information on spatial variability and preferential flow. The range of recharge rates that can be estimated using different approaches should be matched to expected recharge rates at a site. The reliability of recharge estimates using different techniques is variable. Techniques based on surface-water and unsaturated-zone data provide estimates of potential recharge, whereas those based on groundwater data generally provide estimates of actual recharge. Uncertainties in each approach to estimating recharge underscore the need for application of multiple techniques to increase reliability of recharge estimates. Electronic Publication     

Sources and fate of nutrients in a subtropical reservoir

This study examined the sources and fate of nutrient inputs from two principal tributaries to the eutrophic subtropical Wivenhoe reservoir: an unregulated river and a dammed river with regular releases, during a period of declining reservoir water levels. Nutrient budgets were constructed over a period of 6 years, and combined with short-term data on nutrient concentrations and forms, and δ¹⁵N stable isotope data. Our study found that over a 6 year period, there was net retention of phosphorus (P) in the reservoir, with 60% of inputs retained. Most of the P input load came from the unregulated river, with an agricultural catchment, during periods of high flow. During one event half of the total TP load from the unregulated river in the study period was delivered in only 12 days. Much of the P was dissolved inorganic P (DIP) and was derived from high P concentrations in soils and sediments. This highlights the importance of appropriate catchment management practices to reduce P losses from terrestrial systems because retention of P in reservoir sediments reduces the availability of this nutrient for agricultural production. In contrast, there was negligible retention of nitrogen (N). The unregulated river was an important source of N derived from N fixation in the river and adjacent soils, while the source from the dammed river was mostly reprocessed N. The high retention of P relative to N is consistent with relatively higher accumulation of P in sediments.     

Links between Indo-Pacific climate variability and drought in the Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas

Drought patterns across monsoon and temperate Asia over the period 1877–2005 are linked to Indo-Pacific climate variability associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). Using the Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas (MADA) composed of a high-resolution network of hydroclimatically sensitive tree-ring records with a focus on the June–August months, spatial drought patterns during El Niño and IOD events are assessed as to their agreement with an instrumental drought index and consistency in the drought response amongst ENSO/IOD events. Spatial characteristics in drought patterns are related to regional climate anomalies over the Indo-Pacific basin, using reanalysis products, including changes in the Asian monsoon systems, zonal Walker circulation, moisture fluxes, and precipitation. A weakening of the monsoon circulation over the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia during El Niño events, along with anomalous subsidence over monsoon Asia and reduced moisture flux, is reflected in anomalous drought conditions over India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia. When an IOD event co-occurs with an El Niño, severe drought conditions identified in the MADA for Southeast Asia, Indonesia, eastern China and central Asia are associated with a weakened South Asian monsoon, reduced moisture flux over China, and anomalous divergent flow and subsidence over Indonesia. Insights into the relative influences of Pacific and Indian Ocean variability for Asian monsoon climate on interannual to decadal and longer timescales, as recorded in the MADA, provide a useful tool for assessing long-term changes in the characteristics of Asian monsoon droughts in the context of Indo-Pacific climate variability.     

Multivariate Analysis of an LA-ICP-MS Trace Element Dataset for Pyrite

Application of multivariate statistics to trace element datasets is reviewed using 164 multi-element LA-ICP-MS spot analyses of pyrite from the Moonlight epithermal gold prospect, Queensland, Australia. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is used to demonstrate that classification of pyrite on morphological and other non-numeric factors is geochemically valid. Parallel coordinate plots and correlation cluster analysis using Spearman??s coefficients are used to discover unexpected elemental relationships without making assumptions a priori. Finally, principal component analysis and factor analysis are used to demonstrate the presence of sub-classes of pyrite. Corroborated with geological data, statistical analysis provides evidence for successive generations of hydrothermal fluids, each introducing specific metals, and for partial or complete replacement of different minerals. The data permit reinterpretation of Moonlight as a telescoped system where epithermal-Au (± base metals) is superposed onto early porphyry-Mo mineralization.     

Fourier amplitude sensitivity test applied to dynamic combined finite-discrete element methods–based simulations

Fracture propagation plays a key role for a number of applications of interest to the scientific community, from dynamic fracture processes like spallation and fragmentation in metals to failure of ceramics, airplane wings, etc. Simulations of material deformation and fracture propagation rely on accurate knowledge of material characteristics such as material strength and the amount of energy being dissipated during the fracture process. Within the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM) framework material fracture behavior is typically described through a parametrized softening curve, which defines a stress-strain relationship unique to each material. We apply the Fourier amplitude sensitivity test to explore how each of these parameters influences the simulated damage processes and to determine the key input parameters that have the most impact on the model response. We present several sensitivity numerical experiments for the simulation of a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) test for weathered granite samples using different combinations of model parameters. We validate the obtained results against SHPB experimental data. The experiments show that the model is mostly sensitive to parameters related to tensile and shear strengths, even in the presence of other parameter perturbations. The results suggest that the specification of tensile and shear strengths at the interfaces dominate the stress-time history of the FDEM simulation of SHPB test.