Current trends in Great Lakes shipping

Shipping on the Great Lakes has changed rapidly in recent years. Internal Great Lakes traffic consists almost entirely of bulk movements, primarily of iron ore, coal, limestone, and grain. Ore shipments are mainly of taconite concentrate. Low-sulfur coal from the western areas of the United States is now moving downbound through the lakes, a movement in the opposite direction from the predominantly upbound movement of Appalachian coal. Opening of a larger lock in 1970 between lakes Superior and Huron has initiated a new generation of lake vessels, which are three times the size of the previous lake ships, and are too large to transit the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway; for the first time since 1959 the largest “lakers” are land-locked. General cargo traffic between the Great Lakes and overseas has been declining rapidly since 1970, largely as the result of the rapid development of container ships, and the Interstate highway system, which increases the competitive advantages of salt-water ports.     

The Viking biological experiments on Mars

The essential findings of the three biological experiments aboard the two Viking Mars landers are reviewed and compared. All three of the experiments yielded significant data in repeated tests of Martian surface samples. Some of the results are consistent with a biological interpretation, although there are serious reservations in accepting this conclusion. Most of the findings, however, are inconsistent with a biological basis. The combined data suggest the presence of several classes of oxidants on Mars and these would account for the most of the observations. An explanation for the apparent small synthesis of organic matter in the pyrolytic release experiment remains obscure.     

Upper limits to trace constituents in Jupiter's atmosphere from an analysis of its 5-μm spectrum

A high-resolution (0.6 cm^?1) spectrum of Jupiter at 5 μm recorded at the Kuiper Airborne Observatory is used to determine upper limits to the column density of 19 molecules. The upper limits to the mixing ratios of SiH₄, H₂S, HCN, and simple hydrocarbons are discussed with respect to current models of Jupiter's atmosphere. These upper limits are compared to expectations based upon the solar abundance of the elements. This analysis permits upper limit measurements (SiH₄), or actual detections (GeH₄), of molecules with mixing ratios with hydrogen as low as 10^?9. In future observations at 5 μm the sensitivity of remote spectroscopic analyses should permit the study of constituents with mixing ratios as low as 10^?10, which would include the hydrides of such elements as Sn and As as well as numerous organic molecules.     

The formation of saturn's satellites and rings,as influenced by saturn's contraction history

We have used Pollack et al.'s 1976 calculations of the quasi-equilibrium contraction of Saturn to study the influence of the planet's early high luminosity on the formation of its satellites and rings. Assuming that the condensation of ices ceased at the same time within Jupiter's and Saturn's primordial nebulae, and using limits for the time of cessation derived for Jupiter's system by Pollack and Reynolds (1974) and Cameron and Pollack (1975), we arrive at the following tentative conclusions. Titan is the innermost satellite at whose position a methane-containing ice could condense, a result consistent with the presence of methane in this satellite's atmosphere. Water ice may have been able to condense at the position of all the satellites, a result consistent with the occurrence of low-density satellites close to Saturn. The systematic decrease in the mass of Saturn's regular satellites with decreasing distance from Saturn may have been caused partially by the larger time intervals for the closer satellites between the start of contraction and the first condensation of ices at their positions and between the start of contraction and the time at which Saturn's radius became less than a satellite's orbital radius. Ammonia ices, principally NH₄SH, were able to condense at the positions of all but the innermost satellites.Water ice may bave been able to condense in the region of the rings close to the end of the condensation period. We speculate that the rings are unique to Saturn because on the one hand, temperatures within Jupiter's Roche limit never became cool enough for ice particles to form before the end of the condensation period and on the other hand, ice particles formed only very early within Uranus' and Neptune's Roche limits, and were eliminated by gas drag effects that caused them to spiral into the planet before the gas of these planets' nebula was eliminated. Gas drag would also have eliminated any rocky particles initially present inside the Roche limit.We also derive an independent estimate of several million years for the time between the start of the quasi-equilibrium contraction of Saturn and the cessation of condensation. This estimate is based on the density and mass characteristics of Saturn's satellites. Using this value rather than the one found for Jupiter's satellites, we find that the above conclusions about the rings and the condensation of methane-and ammonia-containing ices remain valid.     

Improved spatial resolution for U-series dating of opal at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA, using ion-microprobe and microdigestion methods

Two novel methods of in situ isotope analysis, ion microprobe and microdigestion, were used for ²³⁰Th/U and ²³⁴U/²³⁸U dating of finely laminated opal hemispheres formed in unsaturated felsic tuff at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, proposed site for a high-level radioactive waste repository. Both methods allow analysis of layers as many as several orders of magnitude thinner than standard methods using total hemisphere digestion that were reported previously. Average growth rates calculated from data at this improved spatial resolution verified that opal grew at extremely slow rates over the last million years. Growth rates of 0.58 and 0.69 mm/m.y. were obtained for the outer 305 and 740 μm of two opal hemispheres analyzed by ion microprobe, and 0.68 mm/m.y. for the outer 22 μm of one of these same hemispheres analyzed by sequential microdigestion. These Pleistocene growth rates are 2 to 10 times slower than those calculated for older secondary calcite and silica mineral coatings deposited over the last 5 to 10 m.y. dated by the U-Pb method and may reflect differences between Miocene and Pleistocene seepage flux. The microdigestion data also imply that opal growth rates may have varied over the last 40 k.y. These data are the first indication that growth rates and associated seepage in the proposed repository horizon may correlate with changes in late Pleistocene climate, involving faster growth during wetter, cooler climates (glacial maximum), slower growth during transition climates, and no growth during the most arid climate (modern). Data collected at this refined spatial scale may lead to a better understanding of the hydrologic variability expected within the thick unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain over the time scale of interest for radioactive waste isolation.     

Growth increment and stable isotope analysis of marine bivalves: Implications for the geoarchaeological record of El Niño

The 1982–1983 El Niño event afforded the opportunity to develop criteria for the recognition of ancient El Niños using mollusks from archaeological sites along coastal South America. A combination of growth increment and stable isotope analyses indicated that elevated sea surface temperatures during large scale El Niños leave a record decodable from the growth patterns of selected bivalve shells. The intertidal venerid Chione subrugosa displayed a pronounced break in the valve margin profile following the 1982-1983 event but provided an inconsistent stable isotope pattern. The subtidal carditid Trachycardium procerum, on the other hand, preserved a discernible and diagnostic growth interruption as well as an expected trend in stable isotope indicators of salinity and temperature change. We conclude that some of the major culturally disruptive El Niño events can be recognized in the geoarchaeological record by these techniques, especially if ancillary information, such as faunal distribution patterns, are also considered. Perhaps the most serious constraint upon application of this approach involves microstratigraphic resolution of shell midden deposits. Stratigraphic sampling of midden material should be accompanied, if possible, by sampling of proximal natural strata. The chances of discovery of major El Niño perturbations in the geoarchaeological record of shell middens is enhanced by the catastrophic nature of such events and by the indication that major El Niños have a high probability of being closely spaced in time.     

THE GENERATION OF SPRING PEAK FLOWS BY SHORT-TERM METEOROLOGICAL EVENTS

Abstract

Spring peak flows recorded over a 25-year period in Benton Creek, a small forested watershed in northern Idaho, were studied in their relation to meteorological events. More peak flows were generated by rain-on-snow than by clear-weather snowmelt; the two types of peaks differ in magnitude and in other characteristics. Two rather simple techniques were used to calculate the generative capacity of a rainfall-temperature event and the hypothetical outflow of water from a snowpack during rainy and rainfree periods. Similar data on spring peaks on two regional subbasins were considered also.     

Mercury,arsenic, antimony,and selenium contents of sediment from the Kuskokwim River,Bethel, Alaska,USA

The Kuskokwim River at Bethel, Alaska, drains a major mercury-antimony metallogenic province in its upper reaches and tributaries. Bethel (population 4000) is situated on the Kuskokwim floodplain and also draws its water supply from wells located in river-deposited sediment. A boring through overbank and floodplain sediment has provided material to establish a baseline datum for sediment-hosted heavy metals. Mercury (total), arsenic, antimony, and selenium contents were determined; aluminum was also determined and used as normalizing factor. The contents of the heavy metals were relatively constant with depth and do not reflect any potential enrichment from upstream contaminant sources.     

Thermodynamic and kinetic constraints on reaction rates among minerals and aqueous solutions. II. Rate constants,effective surface area,and the hydrolysis of feldspar

Analysis of experimental data reported by Lagache (1965, 1976), Evans (1965), Busenberg (1975), Busenberg and Clemency (1976), Holdren and Berner (1979), Siegel and Pfannkuch (1984), and Chou and Wollast (1984) with the aid of irreversible thermodynamics and transition state theory (Aagaard and Helgeson, 1977, 1982) suggests that at temperatures at least up to 650°C, the rate of both congruent and incongruent feldspar hydrolysis in aqueous solutions far from equilibrium at pH ? 10.6 ? (2300/T), where T stands for temperature in kelvins, is a function solely of effective surface area and pH at constant pressure and temperature. At higher pH, the rate is apparently pH-independent up to ~pH 8 at 25°C, where it again becomes pH-dependent at higher pH. Observations of scanning electron micrographs indicate that the cross-sectional area of etch pits on hydrolyzed feldspar grains is of the order of 10^?9 to 10^?8 cm² and that the ratio of the effective to total surface area (which may or may not change with reaction progress) ranges from <0.01 to 1, depending on the grain size, dislocation density, and the extent of comminution damage on the surfaces of the grains. Apparent rate constants retrieved from experimental data reported in the literature for feldspar hydrolysis in the lower pH-dependent range extend from ~10^?13 to ~10^?7 moles cm^?2 sec^?1 at temperatures from 25° to 200°C, which is consistent with activation enthalpies for albite and adularia of the order of 20 kcal mole^?1. In contrast, the apparent rate constants for the pH-independent rate law range from ~10^?16 to ~10^?11 moles cm^?2 sec^?1 at temperatures from 25° to 650°C, which requires an activation enthalpy for adularia of ~ 9 kcal mole^?1. These observations are consistent with surface control of reaction rates among minerals and aqueous solutions. The rate-limiting step in the pH-dependent case apparently corresponds at the lower end of the pH scale to breakdown of a protonated configuration of atoms on the surface of the reactant feldspar, but at higher pH the rate is limited by decomposition of an activated surface complex corresponding in stoichiometry to hydrous feldspar. In highly alkaline solutions, an activated complex containing hydroxyl ions apparently controls the rate of feldspar hydrolysis. Nevertheless, near equilibrium, regardless of pH the rate is proportional to the chemical affinity of the overall hydrolysis reaction.