Experiments on the settling, overturning and entrainment of bivalve shells and related models

An experimental and theoretical examination has been made of the settling, entrainment and overturning of 176 valves representing 16 common Northwest European marine bivalve species, together with a comparative study of 15 plastic models in the form of segments from cylindrical tubes. Settling behaviour in both stagnant and moving water depends on particle mass, symmetry and concavo-convexity. Separated empty bivalve shells spin and spiral while settling and, if sufficiently elongated, also pitch. At the observed Reynolds numbers, the shells and models fall concave-up, the terminal fall velocity increasing as the square root of the unit immersed mass or weight. The drag coefficient is independent of Reynolds number but increases with surface roughness and, particularly, particle elongation. Turbulence slightly lowers the critical elongation for pitching. A separation vortex lies captive on the upper side of each descending particle. Consequently, an empty bivalve shell traversing a suspension of sand traps grains on its upper side at a rate proportional to their volume concentration and terminal fall velocity. This process, increasing the effective shell mass, is limited only by the capacity of the shell and grain spillage due to the possible onset of pitching. The ratio (non-dimensional) of a quantity proportional to the applied fluid force and the particle unit immersed weight consistently describes the entrainment of concave-up and convex-up particles, and also the immediate overturning of a valve on settling concave-up to the bed. These thresholds vary in relative magnitude with bed-particle friction and particle concavo-convexity. In general, convex-up particles are the most stable; the concave-up entrainment and overturning thresholds are of a substantially lower but similar magnitude. The high frequency of concave-up bivalve attitudes in turbidites is understandable largely in terms of the ability of a settling valve to increase in effective mass by grain entrapment. Convex-up attitudes in the lower parts of turbidites may record currents stronger than the overturning threshold.     

Late Miocene sedimentary architecture of the Ebro Continental Margin (Western Mediterranean): implications to the Messinian Salinity Crisis

The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) resulted from a significant multi-phase drop and subsequent reflooding of the Mediterranean Sea from 5.96 to 5.33 Ma. Well-developed drainage networks, characterized by step-like profiles and abrasion platforms, are associated to this event. The Ebro Continental Margin (Western Mediterranean) presents an additional complexity since the capture of the drainage of the adjacent subaerial Ebro Basin took place sometime prior to the Messinian stage. Using 3D seismic reflection data, this work provides new insights into the origin of the step-like profile of the Messinian erosional surface (MES) and timing of the capture of the subaerial Ebro Basin. The results obtained indicate a sedimentary-active continental slope and delta progradation during Middle-Late Miocene, in a normal regressive context associated to a pre-Messinian proto-Ebro River. The mature development attained by the Messinian Ebro River network during the MSC corroborates that the capture of the Ebro Basin occurred prior to the MSC. The configuration of the clinoforms below the MES suggests that deltaic sediments of the Messinian Paleo-Ebro River deposited during the Tortonian and initial Messinian sea-level drawdown. The MES formed at the top of the Tortonian Highstand, where a fluvial network was deeply carved, and in the topset region of the Messinian Falling Stage Systems Tract, where minor erosion occurred. Fluvial deposits are outstandingly preserved on the main valleys of the MES. Therefore, the step-like profile of the MES was not created during Zanclean inundation, but during the latest stages of the main Messinian sea-level fall and lowstand.     

Correlations in aftershock and seismicity patterns

Correlations in space and time play a fundamental role in earthquake processes. One direct manifestation of the effects of correlations is the occurrence of aftershocks due to the stress transfer in the vicinity of a main shock. Less obvious and more speculative changes in correlations may occur in the background seismicity before large earthquakes. Using statistical physics it is possible to introduce a measure of spatial correlations through a correlation length. This quantity characterizes how local fluctuations can influence the occurrence of earthquakes over distances comparable with the correlation length. In this work, the physical basis of spatial correlations of earthquakes is discussed in the context of critical phenomena and the percolation problem. The method of two-point correlation function is applied to the seismicity of California. Well defined variations in time of the correlation length are found for aftershock sequences and background seismicity. The scaling properties of our obtained distributions are analyzed with respect to changes in several scaling parameters such as lower magnitude cutoff of earthquakes, the maximum time interval between earthquakes, and the spatial size of the area considered. This scaling behavior can be described in a unified manner by utilizing the multifractal fit. Utilizing the percolation approach the time evolution of clusters of earthquakes is studied with the correlation length defined in terms of the radius of gyration of clusters. This method is applied to the seismicity of California.     

Microbial reduction of chromium from the hexavalent to divalent state

We demonstrate that Shewanella oneidensis, a metal-reducing bacteria species with cytoplasmic-membrane-bound reductases and remarkably diverse respiratory capabilities, reduced Cr(VI) to Cr(II) in anaerobic cultures where chromate was the sole terminal electron acceptor. Individual cell microanalysis by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) demonstrates Cr(II) concentrated near the cytoplasmic membrane, suggesting the terminal reduction pathway is intracellularly localized. Further, estimated cellular Cr(II) concentrations are relatively high at upwards of 0.03-0.09 g Cr/g bacterium. Accumulation of Cr(II) is observed in S. oneidensis cells prior to the formation of submicron-sized precipitates of insoluble Cr(III) on their surfaces. Furthermore, under anaerobic conditions, Cr(III) precipitates that encrust cells are shown to contain Cr(II) that is likely bound in the net negatively charged extracellular biopolymers which can permeate the surfaces of the precipitates. In otherwise nearly identical incubations, Cr(III) precipitate formation was observed in cultures maintained anaerobic with bubbled nitrogen but not in three replicate cultures in an anaerobic chamber.     

The subsystem of open clusters in the post-hipparcos era: Cluster structural parameters and proper motions

The wide neighborhoods of 401 open clusters are analyzed using the modern, high-precision, homogeneous ASCC-2.5 all-sky catalog. More than 28000 possible cluster members (including about 12500 most probable members) are identified using kinematic and photometric criteria. Star counts with the ASCC-2.5 and USNO-A2.0 catalogs are used to determine the angular and linear radii of the cluster cores and coronas, which exceed the previously published values by factors of two to three. The segregation (differing central concentration) of member stars by magnitude is observed. The mean proper motions are determined directly in the Hipparcos system for 401 clusters, for 183 of them for the first time. The heliocentric distances of 118 clusters are determined for the first time based on color-magnitude diagrams for their identified members.     

An Attempt to Partition Stomatal and Non-stomatal Ozone Deposition Parts on a Short Grassland

To evaluate the damaging effect of tropospheric ozone on vegetation, it is important to evaluate the stomatal uptake of ozone. Although the stomatal flux is a dominant pathway of ozone deposition onto vegetated surfaces, non-stomatal uptake mechanisms such as soil and cuticular deposition also play a vital role, especially when the leaf area index \({LAI}< 4\). In this study, we partitioned the canopy conductance into stomatal and non-stomatal components. To calculate the stomatal conductance of water vapour for sparse vegetation, we firstly partitioned the latent heat flux into effects of transpiration and evaporation using the Shuttleworth–Wallace (SW) model. We then derived the stomatal conductance of ozone using the Penman–Monteith (PM) theory based on the similarity to water vapour conductance. The non-stomatal conductance was calculated by subtracting the stomatal conductance from the canopy conductance derived from directly-measured fluxes. Our results show that for short vegetation (LAI \(=\) 0.25) dry deposition of ozone was dominated by the non-stomatal flux, which exceeded the stomatal flux even during the daytime. At night the stomatal uptake of ozone was found to be negligibly small. In the case of vegetation with \({LAI}\approx 1\), the daytime stomatal and non-stomatal fluxes were of the same order of magnitude. These results emphasize that non-stomatal processes must be considered even in the case of well-developed vegetation where cuticular uptake is comparable in magnitude with stomatal uptake, and especially in the case of vegetated surfaces with \({LAI}< 4\) where soil uptake also has a role in ozone deposition.     

Exploration for scheelite in East Greenland — A case study

An intensive scheelite exploration program was carried out in Precambrian crystalline and sedimentary rocks intruded by granites of Precambrian and Caledonian ages in East Greenland (70–74°30′N). Previous heavy-mineral panning (2100 samples within an area of 100,000 km²) formed the basis for selection of scheelite-anomalous subregions (1550 km²)In the subregions, pan-concentrate samples were taken from first- and second-order rivers and from mid and side moraines of active glaciers. All samples were studied in the field under UV light, and scheelite grains were counted. A consideration of the distribution of scheelite in the samples together with the river and glacial drainage systems, led to definition of the potential source areas of the scheelite within localities of 2–5 km².Within the localities, panning of scree fines (samples every 100–200 m along talus slopes) and UV-light traverses at night led to the finding of outcropping or sub-outcropping scheelite mineralisation. Scheelite was observed associated with granite-carbonate contact zones, quartz vein stockworks, and fault zones in limestones, at nine localities within the 300-km-long zone of investigation.The heavy-mineral panning method with the counting of scheelite grains in the field and the subsequent definition of potential scheelite-bearing areas has the advantage that it is possible to execute a program from the subregional to the outcropping mineralisation stage in one field season. The investigation in this case was performed by five geologists during the 1979 2.5-month field season.