The Petrogenesis of A-type Magmas from the Amram Massif, Southern Israel

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Bedload transport of aggregated muddy alluvium from Cooper Creek, central Australia: a flume study

The ability of mud aggregates to form depositional bedforms is of considerable sedimentological importance for explaining the geomorphology of the Channel Country of central Australia as well as for understanding the depositional environment of certain argillaceous fluvial sequences in the rock record. The sediment transport and bedform development of mud aggregates from the floodplain of Cooper Creek, central Australia, was examined in a laboratory flume over a range of flow conditions. The aggregates were found to be clay-rich (>60% clay), nonsaline (<0·02%), fine sand-sized (mean d₅₀=0·13 mm), low density (2300 kg m^?3) and water-stable. Three wetting rates were applied to the sediment in the laboratory prior to wet sieving to replicate various field conditions and results in three mean aggregate sizes. Immersion wetting (no tension) represents inundation of the sediment by overland flow and results in aggregates of 0·13 mm. Tension wetting at 20 and 50 mm corresponds to high- and low-intensity rainfall and results in mean d₅₀ sizes of 0·75 and 0·70 mm, respectively. Immersion wetting is the most applicable wetting mode for hydraulic transport of aggregated sediment on the Cooper Creek floodplain. Considerable variability in sediment transport rates in the field could result from differences in pre-wetting of the aggregated sediment. The dominance of smectite in the clay mineralogy of the sediment is an important factor in the development of the aggregates; disaggregated sediment reaggregated in a laboratory after 2–3 wetting/drying cycles. In flume experiments, bedforms of aggregated mud ranging from lower-regime plane beds to upper-regime antidunes were observed. The aggregates moved predominantly as bedload with measured peak bedload concentrations being high compared with other flume studies. The highly mobile nature of this sediment in the field is due to the ready entrainment of low-density aggregates in the form of self-mulching vertisols across extensive floodplains. The occurrence of low-sinuosity braid-like channels on this extensive low-gradient semi-arid floodplain can be attributed to: (a) the passage of floodwaters across a floodplain with steeper gradients than adjacent more sinuous anastomosing channels; (b) the highly mobile nature of the low-density sediment aggregates; (c) the ability of the aggregates to be transported as bedload; and (d) their durable nature during transport.     

Dolomite-rock textures and secondary porosity development in Ellenburger Group carbonates (Lower Ordovician), west Texas and southeastern New Mexico

Pervasive early- to late-stage dolomitization of Lower Ordovician Ellenburger Group carbonates in the deep Permian Basin of west Texas and southeastern New Mexico is recorded in core samples having present-day burial depths of 1.5–7.0 km. Seven dolomite-rock textures are recognized and classified according to crystal-size distribution and crystal-boundary shape. Unimodal and polymodal planar-s (subhedral) mosaic dolomite is the most widespread type, and it replaced allochems and matrix or occurs as void-filling cement. Planar-e (euhedral) dolomite crystals line pore spaces and/or fractures, or form mosaics of medium to coarse euhedral crystals. This kind of occurrence relates to significant intercrystalline porosity. Non-planar-a (anhedral) dolomite replaced a precursor limestone/dolostone only in zones that are characterized by original high porosity and permeability. Non-planar dolomite cement (saddle dolomite) is the latest generation and is responsible for occlusion of fractures and pore space. Dolomitization is closely associated with the development of secondary porosity; dolomitization pre-and post-dates dissolution and corrosion and no secondary porosity generation is present in the associated limestones. The most common porosity types are non-fabric selective moldic and vuggy porosity and intercrystalline porosity. Up to 12% effective porosity is recorded in the deep (6477 m) Delaware basin. These porous zones are characterized by late-diagenetic coarse-crystalline dolomite, whereas the non-porous intervals are composed of dense mosaics of early-diagenetic dolomites. The distribution of dolomite rock textures indicates that porous zones were preserved as limestone until late in the diagenetic history, and were then subjected to late-stage dolomitization in a deep burial environment, resulting in coarse-crystalline porous dolomites. In addition to karst horizons at the top of the Ellenburger Group, exploration for Ellenburger Group reservoirs should consider the presence of such porous zones within other Ellenburger Group dolomites.     

Point bar and floodplain formation of the meandering Beatton River, northeastern British Columbia, Canada

This study examines the morphology, sedimentology and genesis of the point bars and floodplain of the Beatton River. The formation of point bars occurs in distinct stages. An initial point bar platform composed mainly of coarse sediment is formed adjacent to the convex bank of a migrating meander bend, and is the base on which develops a single scroll bar of fine traction and suspended load. With continued sedimentation, the scroll bar grows, eventually supporting vegetation and becoming a floodplain ridge. Scroll bars form with greatest size and frequency in rapidly migrating bends, and the shape of the meander bend appears to determine both the location of the initial bar deposit, and its direction of growth up or downstream. Approximately one-half of the floodplain sediment is derived from suspended load, and the initiation of a scroll bar appears to be due to excessive deposition of suspended load in a zone of flow separation over a point bar platform. The critical flow condition for the initiation of a scroll bar does not occur with the same recurrence interval on different shaped meander bends, however, the average recurrence interval within the study reach is approximately every 30 years. Sedimentation rates on point bars and on the floodplain indicate two relatively distinct stages of floodplain alluviation. The most rapid is for surfaces less than 50 years old, although sediment accumulation still persists on surfaces up to 250 years in age. Although frequently flooded, surfaces older than this accumulate very little sediment. Despite 2–3 m of overbank deposition, the amplitude of floodplain ridges is maintained by secondary currents which sweep sediment from the swales towards the ridge crests.     

Non-glacial cirque formation in southern Africa

Expansion of the author's previous work has suggested a multiple developmental sequence of non-glacial cirques in south-eastern Lesotho and the adjacent Cape-Natal Drakeniberg of southern Alrica. This sequence consists of a dry type with predominantly frost-shattering as its main process and a wet type where solifluction is thought to form a contributory factor in cirque development. Comparative studies are made with other similar landforms where and the palaeoclimatic implications of the succession are discussed.     

TEST OF A PARAMETERIZATION FOR NOCTURNAL OZONE REDUCTION IN THE RESIDUAL LAYER BY DOWNWARD MIXING DURING SUMMER SMOG SITUATIONS

A simple parameterization describing the ozone depletion in thenocturnal residual layer by a parameter related to the mixing potential ofthe boundary layer was tested over homogeneous terrain in EasternGermany, on the basis of continuous SODAR and near-surface ozonemeasurements. For a summer smog episode in July 1994 the proposedrelationship could not be confirmed. This is attributed to the meteorologicaland transport situation as well as to the site-dependent characteristics.     

AMERICAN NATIONALISM,THE FLAG,AND THE INVASION OF IRAQ*

U.S. armed forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, claiming that the country had weapons of mass destruction (wmd ) which it intended to use against the United States Although evidence of the existence of these wmd was limited, President George W. Bush's administration faced little opposition in taking the United States to war. Using the concepts of “iconography” and “banal nationalism,” I argue that the events of 9/11 and the subsequent outpouring of nationalism dampened opposition to the invasion of Iraq. The increased display of the American flag in the aftermath of 9/11 was emblematic of this increase in nationalism and generated additional support for the Bush administration's decision to go to war. This nationalism further created a form of “collective amnesia” that limited the citizenry's receptivity to information contradicting the administration's narrative, which continues to linger.