Marine electrical resistivity imaging of submarine groundwater discharge: sensitivity analysis and application in Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts, USA

Electrical resistivity imaging has been used in coastal settings to characterize fresh submarine groundwater discharge and the position of the freshwater/salt-water interface because of the relation of bulk electrical conductivity to pore-fluid conductivity, which in turn is a function of salinity. Interpretation of tomograms for hydrologic processes is complicated by inversion artifacts, uncertainty associated with survey geometry limitations, measurement errors, and choice of regularization method. Variation of seawater over tidal cycles poses unique challenges for inversion. The capabilities and limitations of resistivity imaging are presented for characterizing the distribution of freshwater and saltwater beneath a beach. The experimental results provide new insight into fresh submarine groundwater discharge at Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, East Falmouth, Massachusetts (USA). Tomograms from the experimental data indicate that fresh submarine groundwater discharge may shut down at high tide, whereas temperature data indicate that the discharge continues throughout the tidal cycle. Sensitivity analysis and synthetic modeling provide insight into resolving power in the presence of a time-varying saline water layer. In general, vertical electrodes and cross-hole measurements improve the inversion results regardless of the tidal level, whereas the resolution of surface arrays is more sensitive to time-varying saline water layer.     

Au–Ag–Te Mineralization of the Low‐Sulfidation Epithermal Aginskoe Deposit,Central Kamchatka,Russia

Mineralogic studies of major ore minerals and fluid inclusion analysis in gangue quartz were carried out for the for the two largest veins, the Aginskoe and Surprise, in the Late Miocene Aginskoe Au–Ag–Te deposit in central Kamchatka, Russia. The veins consist of quartz–adularia–calcite gangue, which are hosted by Late Miocene andesitic and basaltic rocks of the Alnei Formation. The major ore minerals in these veins are native gold, altaite, petzite, hessite, calaverite, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite. Minor and trace minerals are pyrite, galena, and acanthine. Primary gold occurs as free grains, inclusions in sulfides, and constituent in tellurides. Secondary gold is present in form of native mustard gold that usually occur in Fe‐hydroxides and accumulates on the decomposed primary Au‐bearing tellurides such as calaverite, krennerite, and sylvanite. K–Ar dating on vein adularia yielded age of mineralization 7.1–6.9 Ma. Mineralization of the deposit is divided into barren massive quartz (stage I), Au–Ag–Te mineralization occurring in quartz‐adularia‐clays banded ore (Stage II), intensive brecciation (Stage III), post‐ore coarse amethyst (Stage IV), carbonate (Stage V), and supergene stages (Stage VI). In the supergene stage various secondary minerals, including rare bilibinskite, bogdanovite, bessmertnovite metallic alloys, secondary gold, and various oxides, formed under intensely oxidized conditions. Despite heavy oxidation of the ores in the deposit, Te and S fugacities are estimated as Stage II tellurides precipitated at the log f Te₂ values ?9 and at log fS₂ ?13 based on the chemical compositions of hypogene tellurides and sphalerite. Homogenization temperature of fluid inclusions in quartz broadly ranges from 200 to 300°C. Ore texture, fluid inclusions, gangue, and vein mineral assemblages indicate that the Aginskoe deposit is a low‐sulfidation (quartz–adularia–sericite) vein system.     

Kimberlitic sources of super-deep diamonds in the Juina area,Mato Grosso State,Brazil

The Juina diamond field, in the 1970–80s, was producing up to 5–6 million carats per year from rich placer deposits, but no economic primary deposits had been found in the area. In 2006–2007, Diagem Inc. discovered a group of diamondiferous kimberlitic pipes within the Chapadão Plateau (Chapadão, or Pandrea cluster), at the head of a drainage system which has produced most of the alluvial diamonds mined in the Juina area. Diamonds from placer deposits and newly discovered kimberlites are identical; they have super-deep origins from the upper-mantle and transition zone. Field observations and petrographic studies have identified crater-facies kimberlitic material at seven separate localities. Kimberlitic material is represented by tuffs, tuffisites and various epiclastic sediments containing chrome spinel, picroilmenite, manganoan ilmenite, zircon and diamond. The diamond grade varies from 0.2–1.8 ct/m³. Chrome spinel has 30–61 wt.% Cr₂O₃. Picroilmenite contains 6–14 wt.% MgO and 0.2–4 wt.% Cr₂O₃. Manganoan ilmenite has less than 3 wt.% MgO and 0.38–1.41 wt.% MnO. The ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf ratio in kimberlitic zircons is 0.028288–0.28295 with ε_Hf = 5.9–8.3, and lies on the average kimberlite trend between depleted mantle and CHUR. The previously known barren and weakly diamondiferous kimberlites in the Juina area have ages of 79–80 Ma. In contrast, zircons from the newly discovered Chapadão kimberlites have a mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 93.6 ± 0.4 Ma, corresponding to a time of magmatic activity related to the opening of the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. The most likely mechanism of the origin of kimberlitic magma is super-deep subduction process that initiated partial melting of zones in lower mantle with subsequent ascent of proto-kimberlitic magma.     

Approximate Analytical Theory of Satellite Orbit Prediction Presented in Spherical Coordinates Frame

A comparative review of analytic theories for the motion of Earth satellites in quasi-circular orbits written in the spherical coordinate frame is presented. The theory of motion is developed for satellites in quasi-circular and quasi-equatorial orbits subjected to geopotential, luni-solar and solar radiation pressure force perturbations. The intermediate orbit is Keplerian and the equations of motion are solved by the Lyapunov–Poincaré small parameter method. Both resonant and non-resonant cases are considered. The results can be useful for the development of a complete theory of weakly eccentric orbits.     

A comprehensive study of reported high-metallicity giant H ii regions – I. Detailed abundance analysis

We present long-slit observations in the optical and near-infrared of 14 H  ii regions in the spiral galaxies NGC 628, 925, 1232 and 1637, all of them reported to have solar or oversolar abundances according to empirical calibrations. For seven of the observed regions, ion-weighted temperatures from optical forbidden auroral to nebular line ratios are obtained and, for six of them, the oxygen abundances derived by standard methods turn out to be significantly lower than solar. The other one, named CDT1 in NGC 1232, shows an oxygen abundance of     , and constitutes, to the best of our knowledge, the first high-metallicity H  ii region for which accurate line temperatures, and hence elemental abundances, have been derived.
For the rest of the regions no line temperature measurements could be made, and the metallicity has been determined by means of both detailed photoionization modelling and the sulphur abundance parameter S ₂₃. Only one of these regions shows values of O ₂₃ and S ₂₃ implying a solar or oversolar metallicity.
According to our analysis, only two of the observed regions can therefore be considered as of high metallicity. These two fit the trends previously found in other high-metallicity H  ii regions, i.e., N/O and S/O abundance ratios seem to be higher and lower than solar respectively.     

Bounds on the complex conductivity of geophysical mixtures

Following previous work on bounds for complex dielectrics, bounds on the complex conductivity of a mixture of two isotropic components can be developed which are independent of any special assumption concerning the geometry of the mixture. If certain broad restrictions are assumed, such as isotropy of the mixture, then the bounds can be made more restrictive. These bounds reveal the range of the induced polarization response which can be caused by a mixture of two materials of known complex conductivity. The bounds can also be generalized for spectral responses. The bounds are conservative lithologically in the sense that many of the special models corresponding to boundary responses have lithological counterparts. The chief use for the given bounds is to gain insight into the nature of the induced polarization response. It is also possible to use the bounds to estimate the volume fractions of the components. We illustrate how this is done for the case of a general anisotropic medium.     

Population increase impacts the climate,using the sensitive Arctic as an example

The global population during the last 100 years has increased from 2 to 7.7 billion, causing an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In order to see how population increase is directly related to physical variables of the climate, this Perspective article places observations and scenarios of climate change into context and puts forth a statistical modeling study on how the sensitive Arctic climate responds to the increasing population. The relationships between population, Arctic sea-ice extent (SIE), and surface air temperature (SAT) are very strong, with the increasing population explaining 96% of the decreasing SIE and about 80% of the increasing SAT in the Arctic. Our projection for the SIE using the population as a “proxy predictor” for a projected population of 10 billion people on the Earth in 2100, yields a SIE of 9.30 and 8.21 million km² for a linear and squared relationship, respectively, indicating no “tipping point” for the annual ice extent in this century. This adds another dimension to climate understanding for the public at large using population as a proxy variable, instead of the more abstract CO₂ parameter. This also indicates that it is important to attempt to limit the ongoing increase in population, which is the main cause of the greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to reducing per capita emissions by an exponential increase in implementing renewable energy, a formidable challenge in this century.     

On the geomagnetic effect of the solar eclipse of 1961, February 15th at Genova

Summary The geomagnetic records obtained at Genova during the eclipse of February 15th, 1961 are quantitatively interpreted with the aim of separating the eclipse effect. Using the ionospheric observations also made at Genova, the result is well confirmed by the calculations carried out applying both theChapman-model and theVolland-scheme for estimating the geomagnetic effect as originated by the changes of the current system flowing in theE-layer.This report belongs to a set of investigations on geophysical effects of the solar eclipse of February 15th, 1961 carried out by the «Istituto Geofisico, Università di Genova», and made possible through a financial support of the «Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche».     

Freezing characteristics of a highway subgrade

Temperature and moisture variations were experimentally investigated for the subgrade of the Astana-Burabai Highway, located in the northern region of Kazakhstan.Temperature and moisture were measured by means of specially manufactured sensors,including an element for temperature measurement based on the effect of thermal resistance and an element for moisture measurement through diamagnetic permeability.It was determined that the long-term average depth of frost penetration was 237 cm.In the upper part of the subgrade with 1 m of thickness,the average duration of a frozen condition decreases toward the bottom from 131 days to 117 days,with an average rate of 0.133 day/cm.The unfrozen water content decreases with the negative temperature reduction.In the case of high values of initial moisture (12%~22%),the unfrozen water content does not depend on the initial moisture;and it decreases under the power law,with reduction of negative temperature.In the case of the lowest values of moisture (9%~12%),the unfrozen water content depends also on negative temperature;but its values are considerably lower.     

The Messinian salinity crisis in Cyprus: a further step towards a new stratigraphic framework for Eastern Mediterranean

A revised stratigraphic framework for the Messinian succession of Cyprus is proposed demonstrating that the three‐stage model for the Messinian salinity crisis recently established for the Western Mediterranean also applies to the Eastern Mediterranean, at least for its marginal basins. This analysis is based on a multidisciplinary study of the Messinian evaporites and associated deposits exposed in the Polemi, Pissouri, Maroni/Psematismenos and Mesaoria basins. Here, we document for the first time that the base of the unit usually referred to the ‘Lower Evaporites’ in Cyprus does not actually correspond to the onset of the Messinian salinity crisis. The basal surface of this unit rather corresponds to a regional‐scale unconformity, locally associated with an angular discordance, and is related to the erosion and resedimentation of primary evaporites deposited during the first stage of the Messinian salinity crisis. This evidence suggests that the ‘Lower Evaporites’ of the southern basins of Cyprus actually belong to the second stage of the Messinian salinity crisis; they can be thus ascribed to the Resedimented Lower Gypsum unit that was deposited between 5.6 and 5.5 Ma and is possibly coeval to the halite deposited in the northern Mesaoria basin. Primary, in situ evaporites of the first stage of the Messinian salinity crisis were not preserved in Cyprus basins. Conversely, shallow‐water primary evaporites deposited during the third stage of the Messinian salinity crisis are well preserved; these deposits can be regarded as the equivalent of the Upper Gypsum of Sicily. Our study documents that the Messinian stratigraphy shows many similarities between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean marginal basins, implying a common and likely coeval development of the Messinian salinity crisis. This could be reflected also in intermediate and deep‐water basins; we infer that the Lower Evaporites seismic unit in the deep Eastern Mediterranean basins could well be mainly composed of clastic evaporites and that its base could correspond to the Messinian erosional surface.