Bioluminescence potential modeling with an ensemble approach

Ocean Dynamics - The approach for modeling bioluminescence (BL) potential is proposed. The approach consists of (1) estimation of the adjoint (by backward in time integration of the adjoint model),...     

Frequent subgraph mining in oceanographic multi-level directed graphs

We present an adaptation and application of frequent subgraph mining (FSM) in a time series of spatial multi-level directed graphs depicting probabilistic transitions of water masses between neighboring sea areas within a given time interval. The directed graphs are created from the results of the numerical model, the Mediterranean Ocean Forecasting System. We assign unique labels (geographical locations) to vertices of the multi-level directed graphs. Then, we add the edge labels as discretized values of the probabilities of transitions between vertices. This modification allows the use of the established algorithm gSpan to search for frequently directed subgraphs in the sequence of such directed graphs. Thus, we obtain both general and specific subgraphs, such as convergences, divergences, and paths of the ocean currents in the numerical model. The resulting substructures, revealed by directed subgraphs, match oceanographic structures (gyres, convergences/divergences, and paths) deduced from field observations, and can also serve as a tool for the validation of the numerical model of circulation in the sea.     

Formation of Libyan Desert Glass: Numerical simulations of melting of silica due to radiation from near‐surface airbursts

Libyan Desert Glass contains meteoritic material and, therefore, its origin is most likely associated with an impact event. However, the impact crater has not been found. We performed numerical simulations of impacts of stony and cometary bodies in order to confirm the version that this glass was formed from silica heated by radiation from aerial bursts near the ground. Asteroids were treated as strengthless bodies from dunite with a density of 3.3 g cm^?3, and comets as icy bodies with a density of 1 g cm^?3. The simulations based on hydrodynamic equations included the equations of radiation transfer. Melting and vaporization of a silica target under action of radiation incident on a planar surface were modeled using a one‐dimensional hydrodynamic equation of energy and equations of radiation transfer in two‐flux approximation. We selected those variants of simulations in which a crater is not formed, a fireball touches the earth surface, and the area of a molten target corresponds to the area of the Libyan Desert Glass strewn field. Appropriate options include the impact of an asteroid with a diameter of 300 m, an entry speed of 35 km s^?1, and an entry angle of 8°, and cometary bodies with diameters from 150 to 300 m, speeds of 50–70 km s^?1, and entry angles from 15° to 45°. Impact options with crater formation are also discussed. The maximum depth of molten silica at ground zero reaches 10 cm with the cometary impacts and 3–4 cm with the asteroidal impact. Melting occurs during a period of time from 50 to 400 s.     

Biodiversity and environmental characteristics of the bycatch assemblages from the tropical tuna purse seine fisheries in the eastern Atlantic Ocean

The impact of human activities such as fishing has been identified as a main factor in diversity loss in the open ocean. This paper studies the diversity patterns and environmental characteristics of the bycatch assemblages in Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and Free School sets (sets made on schools of tuna) from the tropical tuna purse seine fishery in the eastern Atlantic Ocean (35°W–15°E and 20°N–15°S). Data were collected from scientific observer programmes carried out between 2003 and 2011 on board Spanish and French fleets. The results showed different structure and diversity patterns of the bycatch assemblages depending on the fishing mode, with higher number of species and diversity found in FAD sets than in Free School sets. Bycatch assemblages showed preferences for specific oceanographic characteristics of the Atlantic Ocean, such as the equatorial and seasonal coastal upwelling systems, the Cape Lopez front system and the Guinea dome. The type of set and sea surface temperature play an important role to describe the diversity patterns of these species. These results confirm the importance of integrating different methods to study the marine ecosystem towards the correct implementation of the Ecosystem Approach to Fishery Management (EAFM).     

Petrology of two granite types from the Tribeč Mountains,Western Carpathians: An example of allanite (+ magnetite) versus monazite dichotomy

Two granitoid series have been distinguished in the Tribeč Mountains (Western Carpathians) on the basis of the contrasting petrological behaviour of their accessory minerals. The allanite–magnetite-bearing (AM) tonalite–granodiorite–granite series typically contains dark magmatic enclaves and is produced from oxidizing, more hydrous (about 5.2 wt.% water) melts that were emplaced at depths equivalent to 350 ± 100 MPa. The monazite-bearing (M) tonalite–granodiorite–granite series contains only metamorphic xenoliths and comes from reduced and drier (about 2.3 wt.% water) melts that were probably emplaced at a shallower depth. The inferred magma properties probably reflect source rock effects. The mineralogical discrimination scheme between the AM and M series corresponds broadly to I- and S-type subdivision and may be useful not only for the granitoid bodies in the Western Carpathians but also for the whole Variscan orogenic belt.     

AMG preconditioning for sedimentary basin simulations in Temis calculator

Basin modelling aims at reconstructing the time evolution of a sedimentary basin in order to make quantitative predictions of geological phenomena leading to hydrocarbon accumulations. It accounts for porous medium compaction, heat transfer, hydrocarbon generation and migration. These physical phenomena are modelled by partial differential equations [Schneider, F., Wolf, S., Faille, I., Pot, D. 2000. A 3D basin model for hydrocarbon potential evaluation: application to Congo offshore. Oil and Gas Science Technologie, Rev-IFP 55, 3–13] representing the mass balances of solid, fluids (water and oil) coupled with Darcy's law and a compaction law. These equations are discretized using a cell-centered Finite Volume method in space and an implicit Euler integration in time. At each time step, the resulting nonlinear system is solved using Newton's method ending up at each Newton iteration with the solution of a linear system which represents the most cpu-time-consuming part of the basin simulator.     

Magmatic Fluid Inclusions from the Zaldivar Deposit, Northern Chile: The Role of Early Metal-bearing Fluids in a Porphyry Copper System

Abstract. The occurrence of a distinct type of multi-solid, highly-saline fluid inclusions, hosted in igneous quartz phe-nocrysts from the Llamo porphyry, in the Zaldivar porphyry copper deposit of northern Chile is documented. Total homoge-nization of the multi-solid type inclusions occurs at magmatic temperatures (over 750C), well above the typical temperatures of hydro thermal fluids (less than 600C) usually recorded in porphyry copper systems. The analysis of this type of fluid inclusions, using a combination of non-destructive microthermometry, Raman and PIXE techniques and the identification of daughter minerals by SEM method, indicates that the trapped fluid was a dense, complex chloride brine in which Cl, Na, K, Fe, Cu, and Mn are dominant. The high chlorine and metal contents indicate that the metals were separated from the crystallizing magma as homogeneous aqueous chloride-rich solutions that represent the primary magmatic fluids exsolved at high temperatures and depth during the crystallization of the parental intrusive.
The multi-solid type inclusion illustrates the mechanism by which ore components are sequestered from the crystallizing parental magma and concentrated in the exsolved magmatic aqueous fluids. These fluids are significant with respect to the origin of porphyry copper deposits, as they are responsible for the first enrichment of metals and represent the precursors of metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids in a porphyry copper system.     

Uranium Behavior in the Process of Primary Pitchblende Ores Alteration by the Post‐ore Hydrothermal Solutions: An Application to Assessment of Uranium Migration from Underground Spent Nuclear Fuel Repositories

It has been shown that the main uranium ore mineral, pitchblende (uranium dioxide), is a natural analog of synthetic uraninite (also uranium dioxide), which constitutes 96% of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Geochronological studies of the U‐Pb isotope systems in unaltered pitchblende from the orebodies reveal that these systems remained completely closed over the entire period (approximately 135 Ma) since the formation of the deposits. The bulk of the primary uranium ores within the Streltsovskoye ore field was influenced to various degrees by post‐ore hydrothermal solutions that led to pitchblende spherulites being replaced by pseudomorphs of an amorphous phase with a U‐Si composition; this phase also re‐precipitated in veinlets proximal to the pitchblende pseudomorphs. A technique specially developed by the authors was used to carry out quantitative counts of the abundance of uranium minerals by calculating the uranium mass balance in one of the orebodies subjected to hydrothermal alteration. The calculations reveal minimal uranium loss from the orebody. Uranium liberated in the process of the pseudomorphic replacement of pitchblende was immediately fixed, in situ, in the newly formed coffinite‐like amorphous U‐Si phase as a result of the development of an efficient geochemical barrier that prevented the long‐distance migration of uranium. In assessing the long‐term safety of underground SNF repositories, the results of the present study give us confidence that SNF uraninite, in terms of the preservation of its integrity as a mineral phase, provides for the reliable long‐term isolation of uranium, transuranium elements, and fission products that are “sealed” in the uraninite matrix. In the case of the mineral transformation of the uraninite matrix by hydrothermal solutions, the liberated uranium would be efficiently immobilized by the newly formed amorphous U‐Si phase.     

Murmanite and lomonosovite as Ag-selective ionites: kinetics and products of ion exchange in aqueous AgNO3 solutions

Products and kinetics of ion exchange of heterophyllosilicate minerals lomonosovite and murmanite with aqueous AgNO₃ solutions under low-temperature conditions have been studied using scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, ²³Na nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and dynamic calorimetry. Both minerals show strong affinity for silver in cation exchange. Simplified formulae of Ag-exchanged forms of murmanite and lomonosovite are (Ag_3.0Ca_0.5Na_0.5) (Ti,Nb,Mn,Fe)_3.7?4 (Si₂O₇)₂O₄·4(H₂O,OH) and (Ag_8.2Na_1.2Ca_0.3) (Ti,Nb,Mn,Fe)_3.9?4 (Si₂O₇)₂ (PO₄)_1.9O₄·xH₂O, respectively. The reaction of ion exchange for murmanite follows the first-order kinetic model up to ca. 70–80 % conversion. The rate of the process is described by the equation k(h^?1) = 10^7.64±0.60 exp[?(12.2 ± 0.9)·10³/RT]. The average heat release value in the temperature range 39.4–72 °C is 230 J g^?1. The cation exchange is limited by processes in solid state, most probably binding of silver.     

Reflections on frequency dependence in earthquake-source inversions

The corner frequency of the spectrum of particle acceleration in a seismic wave radiated by an earthquake source marks the transition between the low-frequency band, in which the spectrum rises as frequency squared, and the high-frequency band, in which the spectrum is flat. These two distinct bands are controlled by different characteristics of faulting. The low-frequency range is governed by the value of slip alone, while the high-frequency range is controlled by both the total slip and slip velocity. This distinction explains why inversions of geodetic and shorter-period seismic data sense different characteristics of source process and are not generally comparable. Neglect of the sensitivity of seismic data to both slip and its rate may lead to false images of the inverted slip on the fault, as these characteristics trade off with each other. A recent example of the 2011 M _w 9.0 Tohoku-oki, Japan, earthquake demonstrates that the observed “frequency-dependent” variations in the rupture process over the fault plane should not be considered unique to this particular event but rather a natural consequence of the frequency-dependent inversion.