The high-temperature heat capacity of natural calcite (CaCO3)

The heat capacity (C _P) of a natural sample of calcite (CaCO₃) has been measured from 350 to 775 K by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Heat capacities determined for a powdered sample and a single-crystal disc are in close agreement and have a total uncertainty of ±1 percent. The following equation for the heat capacity of calcite from 298 to 775 K was fit by least squares to the experimental data and constrained to join smoothly with the low-temperature heat capacity data of Staveley and Linford (1969) (C _P in J mol^?1 K^?1, T in K): $$\begin{gathered} C_p = - 184.79 + 0.32322T - 3,688,200T^{ - 2} \hfill \\ {\text{ }} - (1.2974{\text{ }} \times {\text{ 10}}^{ - {\text{4}}} )T^2 + 3,883.5T^{ - 1/2} \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ Combining this equation with the S ₂₉₈ ⁰ value from Staveley and Linford (1969), entropies for calcite are calculated and presented to 775 K. A simple method of extrapolating the heat capacity function of calcite above 775 K is presented. This method provides accurate entropies of calcite for high-temperature thermodynamic calculations, as evidenced by calculation of the equilibrium: CaCO_{3 (s)}=CaO_(s)+CO_{2 (s)}.     

Silicic differentiates of abyssal oceanic magmas: Evidence for late-magmatic vapor transport of potassium

Massive, nearly holocrystalline dolerites from DSDP Hole 417D contain from 0.5 to 1.5% of granophyric patches composed mainly of Na-plagioclase and quartz. These patches are compositionally similar to other crystalline silicic rocks from oceanic spreading centers and differ from rarer abyssal silicic glasses. Crystalline varieties withSiO₂60wt.% generally haveNa/K>10, whereas silicic glasses have Na/K in the range 3–6. While crystal fractionation readily accounts for the Na₂O and K₂O contents of abyssal silicic glasses, both the 417D granophyres and other crystalline abyssal silicic rocks have much lower K₂O than that predicted by any reasonable crystal-liquid fractionation model. We propose that high-temperature vapor phase transport is responsible for removal of potassium during late-stage crystallization of these rocks. This allows for the formation of cogenetic silicic glassy and crystalline rocks with greatly different Na/K ratios. These observations and interpretations lead to a more confident assignment of high Na/K silicic rocks of oceanic and ophiolitic environments to a cogenetic origin with basaltic oceanic crust.     

Sea-Level Change: The Expected Economic Cost of Protection Or Abandonment in the United States

Three distinct models from earlier work are combined to: (1) produce probabilistically weighted scenarios of greenhouse-gas-induced sea-level rise; (2) support estimates of the expected discounted value of the cost of sea-level rise to the developed coastline of the United States, and (3) develop reduced-form estimates of the functional relationship between those costs to anticipated sea-level rise, the cost of protection, and the anticipated rate of property-value appreciation. Four alternative representations of future sulfate emissions, each tied consistently to the forces that drive the initial trajectories of the greenhouse gases, are considered. Sea-level rise has a nonlinear effect on expected cost in all cases, but the estimated sensitivity falls short of being quadratic. The mean estimate for the expected discounted cost across the United States is approximately $2 billion (with a 3% real discount rate), but the range of uncertainty around that estimate is enormous; indeed, the 10th and 90th percentile estimates run from less than $0.2 billion up to more than $4.6 billion. In addition, the mean estimate is very sensitive to associated sulfate emissions; it is, specifically, diminished by nearly 25% when base-case sulfate emission trajectories are considered and by more than 55% when high-sulfate trajectories are allowed.     

Quantifying groundwater discharge to a small perennial stream in southern Ontario, Canada

A study of the interaction between groundwater and surface water was undertaken within a small agricultural watershed in southern Ontario, Canada. Groundwater contributions to streamflow were measured along a section of stream during baseflow conditions and during rainfall events. Four techniques were used to estimate the contribution of groundwater to the stream along a 450 m reach (three during baseflow and one during stormflow conditions). Under baseflow conditions, streamflow measurements using the velocity–area technique indicated that the net groundwater flux to the stream during the summer months was 10 ml s⁻¹ m⁻¹. Hydrometric measurements (i.e. hydraulic gradient and hydraulic conductivity) taken using mini-piezometers installed in the sediments beneath the stream resulted in net groundwater flux estimates that were four to five times lower. Seepage meters failed to provide any measurements of water flux into or out of the stream. Therefore, based on these results, the velocity–area technique gives the best estimate of groundwater discharge. Hydrograph separations were conducted using isotopic ratios and electrical conductivity on two large rainfall events with different antecedent moisture conditions in the catchment. Both events showed that pre-event water (generally considered groundwater) dominated streamflow and tile drain flow with 64%–80% of the total discharge contributed by pre-event water. High water table conditions within the catchment resulted in greater stream discharge and a greater contribution of event water in the streamflow than that observed under low water table conditions for similar intensity storm events. The results also showed that differences in riparian zone width, vegetation and surface saturation conditions between the upper and lower catchment can influence the relative magnitude of streamflow response from the two catchment areas.     

Nature of the carbon and sulfur phases and inorganic gases in the Kenna ureilite

Abundances of carbon and sulfur in the Kenna ureilite are 2.219 ± 0.060 wt. % C and 0.179 ± 0.008 wt. % S. Secondary carbonates resulting from terrestrial weathering account for 0.25 ± 0.02 wt. % C. No hydrocarbons were detected during gas release measurements. Most of the carbon is in graphite, diamond, or lonsdaleite. The sample of Kenna contained 0.95 ± 0.05 wt. % H₂O. Total carbon and sulfur measurements were made on three additional ureilites: Haverö, Dingo Pup Donga, and North Haig. Ureilite carbon abundances are similar to those of C-2 chondrites, whereas sulfur abundances are a factor of 10 less than C-2 chondrites and ordinary chondrites. The elemental abundances, ratios, and phases present in the ureilites rule out a direct genetic relationship between the ureilites and the carbonaceous chondrites.     

Toxicity of No. 2 fuel oil to coon stripe shrimp

Bioassay of a No. 2 fuel oil dispersion with shrimp in a continuous flow system using measured waterborne oil as the indicator of oil concentrations reveals a treatment more definable than those previously described in terms of volume ratios and produces lower lethal concentrations. Shrimp 96-h LC₅₀ was 0.8 mg/l in this study as compared to values from 1.5 to 50 mg/l reported for other methods. Mean concentrations in tests do not give significant differences in concentration with respect to day of the test or spatial distribution in the exposure tanks.     

Sea surface stress measurements

Sea-surface stress measurements were made from a rigid tower in shallow water near San Diego, California, by both the direct covariance and inertial dissipation techniques. Stress estimates from the dissipation technique were generally higher than the directly measured values, with average drag coefficients of 0.99 x 10^-3 and 0.77 x 10^-3, respectively, for 8-m wind speeds of 5 to 7 m s^-1. In the inertial subrange, ratios of vertical to streamwise velocity spectra averaged 1.06 ± 0.16, significantly less than the isotropic value of 4/3 observed over land, suggesting that turbulence over water may be altered by the presence of waves.