Magnesium self-diffusion in orthoenstatite

Magnesium self-diffusion coefficients were determined experimentally for diffusion parallel to each of the three crystallographic directions in natural orthoenstatite (En₈₈Fs₁₂). Experiments were conducted at 1 atm in CO-CO₂ gas mixing furnaces, which provided oxygen fugacities equivalent to the iron-wüstite buffer. Diffusion of ²⁵Mg was induced in polished samples of oriented orthoenstatite using a film of isotopically enriched ²⁵MgO as the source material. Very short (<0.15 μm) diffusional penetration profiles were measured by ion microprobe depth profiling. The diffusion coefficients determined for four temperatures (900, 850, 800, 750 °C) provide the activation energies, E _a , and frequency factors, D _o, where D = D _o exp (−E _a /RT) for Mg self-diffusion parallel to each crystallographic direction: a-axis, E _a  = 360 ± 52 kJ/mole and D _o = 1.10 × 10⁻⁴ m²/s; b-axis, E _a  = 339 ± 77 kJ/mole and D _o = 6.93 × 10⁻⁶ m²/s and c-axis, E _a  = 265 ± 66 kJ/mole and D _o = 4.34 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s. In this temperature range, any possible anisotropy of cation diffusion is very small, however the activation energy for diffusion parallel to the c-axis (001) is the lowest and the activation energies for diffusion parallel to the a-axis (100) and b-axis (010) are higher. Application of these diffusion results to the silicate phases of the Lowicz mesosiderite meteorite provides cooling rates for the silicate portion of the meteorite (4–11 °C/100 years) that are similar, although slower, to previous estimates. These silicate cooling rates are still several orders of magnitude faster than the cooling rates (0.1 °C/10⁶ years) for the metal portions. Received: 22 January 1997 / Accepted: 2 October 1997     

Optical, infrared and radio observations of the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 315

We report on new optical, infrared and radio observations of the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 315. We confirm the detection at all wavelengths of a secondary peak of emission, which lies ≈ 2 arcsec east of the Seyfert nucleus. Moreover, we detect a chain-like structure which surrounds the active nucleus, with peculiar behaviour westward of the nucleus. We consider different interpretations for the origin of the secondary peak emission.     

Lunar glass compositions: Apollo 16 core sections 60002 and 60004

Approximately 500 glasses between 1 mm and 125 μm in size have been analyzed from fourteen samples from the Apollo 16 core sections 60002 and 60004. The majority of glasses have compositions comparable to those found in previous studies of lunar surface soils; however, two new and distinct glass compositions that are probably derived in part from mare material occur in the core samples. The major glass composition in all samples is that of Highland Basalt glass, but it also appears that high-K Fra Mauro Basalt (KREEP) glass is more common at the Apollo 16 site than was previously thought. The relative abundance of glasses within the core samples is random in distribution: each sample is characterized by a particular assemblage and distribution of the constituent glass compositions.     

Negative cerium anomalies in the rare earth element patterns of oceanic ferromanganese nodules

Ferromanganese nodules from the Bauer Basin of the south equatorial Pacific are unlike virtually all oceanic nodules so far analyzed in showing negative Ce anomalies in their REE abundance patterns. In comparison with similarly Cu-Ni-enriched nodules from the north equatorial Pacific they are depleted in REE by 50–80% and are heavy REE enriched relative to intermediate REE. The REE patterns can be accounted for by the input of hydrothermal iron oxyhydroxides and associated REE to the Bauer Basin and the transfer of the REE to the nodules because of diagenetic reactions in the sediment. The excess iron input also is reflected in lower Cu/Ni ratios in the nodules as compared with nodules from the north equatorial zone, apparently because of the larger proportions of a residual Fe phase in the nodules relative to todorokite. Cerium anomalies of the Bauer Basin nodules range from ?0.17 to ?0.29 as compared with +0.33 to +0.07 in the north equatorial Pacific but show a parallel sensitivity of Ce anomaly to Mn/Fe ratios of the nodules. Nodules with the more positive anomalies within each group have the smallest Mn/Fe ratios and have been subjected to the greatest seawater influence whereas nodules with the more negative anomalies have the largest Mn/Fe ratios and have been subjected to the greatest diagenetic influence.     

Relations entre contraintes tectoniques et propriétés magnétiques des roches volcaniques permiennes de la vallée du Guil (briançonnais,Alpes Françaises)

Résumé Les roches volcaniques permiennes de la vallée du Guil présentent une ARN de direction voisine du plan de la schistosité alpine qui les affecte. Leur aimantation permienne a probablement été modifiée, lors de l'orogénèse alpine, par les efforts tectoniques (modification d'origine purement mécanique, ou acquisition d'une nouvelle aimantation par effet de pression). L'ARN des roches du Guil ne peut donc pas être prise en référence pour une étude géotectonique de l'arc alpin.

---

Summary The Guil valley permian volcanic rocks have NRM whose direction is very near to the plane of alpine schistosity affecting these rocks. During the alpine orogeny, their permian magnetization was probably modified by tectonic stresses (mechanical modification, or new magnetization by piezo-magnetic effect). The NRM of the Guil valley rocks cannot be used as a reference for geotectonic study of the Alps.

     

Cuspidine‐bearing skarn from Chesney Vale,Victoria

The rare calc‐silicate minerals cuspidine, bultfonteinite, foshagite and xonotlite occur in a calcsilicate skarn zone near Chesney Vale, in northern Victoria. They are associated with andradite-grossular garnet, vesuvianite, diopside, wollastonite, prehnite, epidote, fluorite, calcite, perovskite,sphene and possibly tobermorite. The calc‐silicate skarn zone has formed in thermally meta‐morphosed, Ordovician, deep‐marine sediments adjacent to an Early Devonian aplitic granite pluton. The assemblages are estimated to have formed at low pressure (<100 MPa) at temperaturesnot exceeding 600°C in the presence of a low‐X_co2 fluorine‐bearing fluid. The occurrence is the firstrecord of bultfonteinite and foshagite in Australia and the first record of cuspidine and xonotlite inVictoria.     

Climatic factors controlling plant sensitivity to warming

Plant sensitivity to warming can be expressed as β or the number of days of advance in leafing or flowering events per 1 °C of Mean Annual Temperature (MAT) change. Many local studies demonstrate that β estimates for spring flowering species are usually larger than estimates for plants flowering in summer or fall. Until now, however, neither observational nor experimental estimates of this parameter were considered to be climate or geographically dependent. Here we question this paradigm through reanalysis of observational β estimates and mathematical modeling of the seasonal warming signal. Statistical analysis of a large number of bulk (averaged over species) estimates of β derived from the Pan European Phenology Data network (PEP725) revealed a positive spatial correlation with MAT, as well as a negative correlation with the Seasonal Temperature Range (STR). These spatial correlations of bulk β values as well as interseasonal variability in β were explained using a simple deterministic model of the Thermal Growing Season (TGS). More specifically, we found that the geographic distribution of bulk plant sensitivity to warming as well as the seasonal decline of β were controlled by the seasonal patterns in the warming signal and by average soil thermal properties. Thus, until recently, plants managed to keep pace with climate warming by shifting their leafing and flowering events by the same number of days as the length of the period of weather suitable for their growth. Our model predicts, however, an even greater increase in the TGS for subsequent increases in MAT. Depending on how they interact with other factors such as changes in precipitation and increased temperature variability, these longer thermal growing seasons may not be beneficial for plant growth.     

Changes in Habitat Availability for Multiple Life Stages of Diamondback Terrapins (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Malaclemys terrapin</Emphasis>) in Chesapeake Bay in Response to Sea Level Rise

Global sea level rise (SLR) will significantly alter coastal landscapes through inundation and erosion of low-lying areas. Animals that display area fidelity and rely on fringing coastal habitats during multiple life stages, such as diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin Schoepff 1793), are likely to be particularly vulnerable to SLR-induced changes. We used a combination of empirical nest survey data and results from a regional SLR model to explore the long-term availability of known nesting locations and the modeled availability of fringing coastal habitats under multiple SLR scenarios for diamondback terrapin in the MD portion of Chesapeake Bay and the MD coastal bays. All SLR scenarios projected the rapid inundation of historically used nesting locations of diamondback terrapins with 25%–55% loss within the next 10 years and over 80% loss by the end of the century. Model trajectories of habitat losses or gains depended on habitat type and location. A key foraging habitat, brackish marsh, was projected to decline 6%–94%, with projections varying spatially and among scenarios. Despite predicted losses of extant beach habitats, future gains in beach habitat due to erosion and overwash were projected to reach 40%–600%. These results demonstrate the potential vulnerability of diamondback terrapins to SLR in Chesapeake Bay and underscore the possibility of compounding negative effects of SLR on animals whose habitat requirements differ among life stages. More broadly, this study highlights the vulnerability of species dependent on fringing coastal habitats and emphasizes the need for a long-term perspective for coastal development in the face of SLR.     

Contrasting effects of ecosystem engineering by the cordgrass Spartina maritima and the sandprawn Callianassa kraussi in a marine-dominated lagoon

Ecosystem engineering by plants and animals significantly influences community structure and the physico-chemical characteristics of marine habitats. In this paper we document the contrasting effects of ecosystem engineering by the cordgrass Spartina maritima and the burrowing sandprawn Callianassa kraussi on physico-chemical characteristics, microflora, macrofaunal community structure and morphological attributes in the high shore intertidal sandflats of Langebaan Lagoon, a marine-dominated system on the west coast of South Africa. Comparisons were made at six sites in the lagoon within Spartina and Callianassa beds, and in a “bare zone” of sandflat between these two habitats that lacks both sandprawns and cordgrass. Sediments in Spartina habitats were consolidated by the root-shoot systems of the cordgrass, leading to low sediment penetrability, while sediments in beds of C. kraussi were more penetrable, primarily due to the destabilising effects of sandprawn bioturbation. Sediments in the “bare zone” had intermediate to low values of penetrability. Sediment organic content was lowest in bare zones and greatest in Spartina beds, while sediment chl-a levels were greatest on bare sand, but were progressively reduced in the Spartina and Callianassa beds. These differences among habitats induced by ecosystem engineering in turn affected the macrofauna. Community structure was different between all three habitats sampled, with species richness being surprisingly greater in Callianassa beds than either the bare zone or Spartina beds. In general, the binding of surface sediments by the root systems of Spartina favoured rigid-bodied, surface-dwelling and tube-building species, while the destabilising effect of bioturbation by C. kraussi favoured burrowing species. The contrasting effects of these ecosystem engineers suggest that they play important roles in increasing habitat heterogeneity. Importantly, the role of bioturbation by C. kraussi in enhancing macrofaunal richness was unexpected. By loosening sediments, reducing anoxia and enhancing organic content, C. kraussi may engineer these high shore habitats to ameliorate environmental stresses or increase food availability.