Mineral equilibria in the six-component seawater system,Na-K-Mg-Ca-SO4-Cl-H2O at 25°C. II: Compositions of the saturated solutions

Using the solubility model developed by Harvie and Weare (1980), the stable mineral-solution assemblages for the six-component system Na-K-Mg-Ca-SO₄-Cl-H₂O and its constituent 5-, 4- and 3-component systems at 25°C have been defined. Invariant point maps have been constructed showing the connections by univariant lines. The solubility volumes for all 20 minerals considered are also illustrated. Of the 37 invariant points, only 3 have solutions which are Ca-rich; the remaining 34 can be plotted in the reciprocal system Na-K-Mg-SO₄-Cl, which is similar to the seawater system, except that the restriction of halite saturation has been removed. Application of these results and implications for the evolution of major brine types are briefly discussed.     

Chemical structural units of macromolecular coal components

Chemical degradations of coal resins, coal asphaltenes and coal residues have been performed with selective, non-oxidative reagents. The coal comprise samples a rank interval 0.30–1.21 %R_m. Degraded low-molecular-weight compounds were analyzed by GC-MS. The distributions of pentacyclic terpanes, isoprenoids, n-alkanes, acids and alcohols obtained as degradation products illustrate a considerable variability between the macromolecular coal fractions. A structural study on the molecular level of the degraded compounds from coal resins and coal asphaltenes show their potential to generate hydrocarbons during coalification process.     

Aplicación del cálculo de las diferencias al problema del efecto de embalse

Resumen Presentamos una solución numérica del problema del efecto de embalse con ayuda de una ecuación lineal inhomogénea en diferencias finitas de primer orden, suponiendo una ley lineal del desagüe. Este método numérico es de maneje cómodo para un cálculo aproximado.

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Zusammenfassung Es wird die numerische Bestimmung der Seeretention mittels der Lösung einer linearen inhomogenen Differenzengleichung 1. Ordnung dargelegt. Dieses numerische Verfahren ist für eine Näherungsrechnung besonders geeignet.

     

Zum Jahresgang der relativen Feuchte über dem Mittelmeer

Zusammenfassung Abweichend von der in einem früheren Aufsatz versuchten Erklärung der sommerlichen Feuchtezunahme über dem Mittelmeer wird plausibel gemacht, daß im wesentlichen die normale Erhöhung der Temperatur der Meeresoberfläche dafür verantwortlich ist.

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Summary Earlier in this journal an article was published, which suggested that the increase of the relative humidity in the warmer season of the Mediterranean was effected by subsiding of dry air from above and therefore increasing evaporation. But now it seems to the author that only the normal annual variation of the sea surface temperature is responsible for the observed phenomenon.

     

Polymorphism of wollastonite

Different superstructures of wollastonite from the regional metamorphic Lepontine zone (Southern Alps) and other localities (e.g., Sierra Nevada, California) have been found. Besides well ordered normal 1T, 2M (2T ?), 4T-wollastonite, all disordered intermediate states exist. The various polymorphs were studied with the precession method. The superstructure is observed in reflections hkl k=odd. 4T-wollastonite is described with a ₀=31.659 Å and is shown to be a common polymorph. The superstructure seems to be independent of metamorphic grade (in the well-zoned Lepontine area it does not follow any mineralogical isograds) and occurs only in strained rocks with well developed lineation and strong preferred orientation. Thus the formation of the superstructure is explained as a deformation effect. Contrary to temperature and pressure, both stress and strain show large local variations and inhomogeneities. Experimental deformation of a 2T-wollastonite at 4 kb and 700° C produced complete disorder. It is suggested that consecutive annealing of strained disordered wollastonite causes periodic stacking sequences of [SiO₃]-chains along the a^*-axis. It appears from these studies that superstructures in chainsilicates are more common than presently known and that they might be useful petrogenetic indicators for the deformation and cooling history of a rock.     

Geochronology of high-pressure rocks on Sifnos (Cyclades,Greece)

Polymetamorphic rocks of Sifnos (Greece) have been investigated by Rb-Sr, K-Ar, and fission track methods. Critical mineral assemblages from the northern and southernmost parts of Sifnos include jadeite+quartz+3T phengite, and omphacite+garnet +3T phengite, whereas the central part is characterized by the assemblage albite+chlorite+epidote+2M ₁ phengite.K-Ar and Rb-Sr dates on phengites (predominantly 3T) of the best preserved high P/itTmetamorphic rocks from northern Sifnos gave concordant ages around 42 m.y., indicating a Late Lutetian age for the high P/T metamorphism. Phengites (2M ₁+3T) of less preserved high P/T assemblages yielded K-Ar dates between 48 and 41 m.y. but generally lower Rb-Sr dates. The higher K-Ar dates are interpreted as being elevated by excess argon.K-Ar and Rb-Sr ages on 2M ₁ phengites from central Sifnos vary between 24 and 21 m.y. These ages date a second, greenschist-facies metamorphism which overprinted the earlier high-pressure metamorphic rocks.     

Wetland Loss,Juvenile Salmon Foraging Performance,and Density Dependence in Pacific Northwest Estuaries

During the transition of juveniles from fresh water to estuarine and coastal environments, the survival of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) can be strongly size selective and cohort abundance is partly determined at this stage. Because quantity and quality of food influence juvenile salmon growth, high rates of prey and energy acquisition during estuarine residence are important for survival. Human activities may have affected the foraging performance of juvenile salmon in estuaries by reducing the area of wetlands and by altering the abundance of salmon. To improve our understanding of the effects of wetland loss and salmon density on juvenile salmon foraging performance and diet composition in estuaries, we assembled Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) diet and density data from nine US Pacific Northwest estuaries across a gradient of wetland loss. We evaluated the influence of wetland loss and density on juvenile Chinook salmon instantaneous ration and energy ration, two measures of foraging performance, and whether the effect of density varied among estuaries with different levels of wetland loss. We also assessed the influence of wetland loss and other explanatory variables on salmon diet composition. There was no evidence of a direct effect of wetland loss on juvenile salmon foraging performance, but wetland loss appeared to mediate the effect of density on salmon foraging performance and alter salmon diet composition. Specifically, density had no effect on foraging performance in the estuaries with less than 50 % wetland loss but had a negative effect on foraging performance in the estuaries with greater than 50 % wetland loss. These results suggest that habitat loss may interact with density to constrain the foraging performance of juvenile Chinook salmon, and ultimately their growth, during a life history stage when survival can be positively correlated with growth and size.     

Tertiary basalts and peridotite xenoliths from the Hessian Depression (NW Germany), reflecting mantle compositions low in radiogenic Nd and Sr

A total of 17 alkali basalts (alkali olivine basalt, limburgite, olivine nephelinite) and quartz tholeiites, and of 10 peridotite xenoliths (or their clinopyroxenes) were analyzed for Nd and Sr isotopes. ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of all basalts and of the majority of ultramafic xenoliths plot below the mantle array with a large variation in Nd isotopes and a smaller variation in Sr isotopes. The tholeiites were less radiogenic in Nd than the alkali basalts. Volcanics from the Eifel and Massif Central regions contain Nd and Sr, which is more radiogenic than that of the basalts from the Hessian Depression. Nd and Sr isotopic compositions of all rocks from the latter area, with the exception of one tholeiite and one peridotite plot in the same field of isotope ratios as the Ronda ultramafic tectonite (SW Spain), which ranges in composition from garnet to plagioclase peridotite. The alkali basaltic rocks are products of smaller degrees of partial melting of depleted peridotite, which has undergone a larger metasomatic alteration compared with the source rock of tholeiitic magmas. For the peridotite xenoliths such metasomatic alteration is indicated by the correlation of their K contents and isotopic compositions. We assume that the upper mantle locally can acquire isotopic signatures low in radiogenic Nd and Sr from the introduction of delaminated crust. Such granulites low in radiogenic Nd and Sr are products of early REE fractionation and granite (Rb) separation.