Mineralogy and petrography of HAL,an isotopically-unusual Allende inclusion

A detailed mineralogical study of HAL was initiated to elucidate the origin of this inclusion because Leeet al. (1979) had found large mass fractionation effects and small nuclear effects in its Ca isotopic composition, but no ²⁶Mg excesses in samples of it with very high ${}^{27}\text{Al}{}^{24}\text{Mg}$ ratios. HAL's 1.0 mm radius interior consists almost entirely of three hibonite crystals and is surrounded by a 2.0 mm thick, multi-layered rim. The first layer, called the black rim, is black and compact, resembles a devitrified glass and contains an anisotropic Al-Fe-oxide similar to hercynite in composition. This is followed by a friable rim sequence, layer I of which is predominantly feldspathoids with minor anorthite, Ti-Fe-oxide and Al-Fe-oxide. Layer II contains abundant perovskite, plus grossular, andradite and pyroxene in addition to the minerals of layer I. Layer III is mostly Ca-phosphate, possibly hydroxy-apatite and perovskite. Layer IV is rich in hibonite, Al-Fe-oxide, perovskite, nepheline and the two garnets, lacks Ca-phosphate but contains traces of a Ti-Sc-Zr-oxide. Layer V is rich in Al-Fe-oxide, pyroxene, nepheline, the two garnets and olivine whose crystals display peculiar rectangular cross-sections. The black rim does not completely surround the hibonite core. Sectors of the friable rim exist where layer I is missing and where the mineralogy of adjacent layers is no different from that of the same layers in other sectors. Pentlandite, nickel-iron and barrel-shaped olivine crystals, minerals typical of the matrix of Allende and found nowhere else in HAL, are found in layer V and increase in abundance toward its exterior, as if grains of these phases accreted together with the other minerals of layer V. This layer also contains alternating olivine-rich and garnet-, pyroxene-rich bands, resembling rhythmic layering. For these reasons, we conclude that each of the layers of the friable rim formed by the accretion of an assemblage of condensate grains rather than by complete reaction of a precursor to HAL with a nebular gas. Thus, the unusual isotopic characteristics of HAL are thought to have been inherited from a nebular reservoir which was isotopically distinct from that which gave rise to the bulk of the material in Allende. HAL's mineralogical peculiarities indicate that its formation reservoir was also chemically distinct from the latter one.     

The city in an era of restricted car usage: Some potential responses and adjustments to future oil shortages

This paper examines some of the possible changes in city form and function which may result from decreased personal mobility in the future due to oil shortages. The empirical dimension is provided by the results of studies of the observed response of the suburban population of Hobart, Tasmania, which suffered severe disruption in personal mobility and a marked reduction in car usage following the collapse of the Tasman Bridge in January 1975. In addition to a variety of relatively minor, or first-order, adjustments, a number of second-order adjustments were identified involving changes in job location and movement of residence. If undertaken at sufficient scale, such adjustments could lead to major changes in the social-spatial structure of cities, with gentrification of inner areas resulting in the displacement of the poor outwards to more inaccessible locations.     

Geochemistry of sterols in sediments from Black Sea and the southwest African shelf and slope

Surface sediment samples from the shelf and continental slope off southwest Africa and sediment cores from the deepest part of the Black Sea were analyzed for sterols. Because the organic matter in these anoxic sediments is relatively well-preserved, the input from source organisms in the water column is important in controlling sterol distribution patterns. The sterol distribution on the Namibian shelf is complex, probably because of the great spatial and temporal variability of biological productivity caused by seasonal upwelling and changes in oxygen concentration. The Black Sea, perhaps because of greater physical stability of the water column, has sterol distributions which can be explained by microbial activity or chemical processes acting on a constant input of organic carbon from surface production.     

The late Quaternary climate of coastal California: Evidence for an ice age refugium

The present Mediterranean climate of coastal California is unique in North America and reflects the interaction of several important synoptic controls, principally the North Pacific semipermanent anticyclone, and to a lesser extent the Aleutian low-pressure system and the cool California oceanic current. These synoptic climatic controls, key parts of the global air-sea circulation, were probably operative throughout late Quaternary time as shown by paleoecologic evidence. The thick accumulations of sediments in basins of offshore California indicate that while variable sedimentation regimes reflect changing climatic and oceanographic conditions, the Quaternary climate was probably semiarid as now, even during glacial maxima. Late Quaternary coastal dunes preserve former wind directions and show that prevailing late Quaternary winds were directionally equivalent to modern winds, which are controlled by the North Pacific anticyclone and by interactions between the North Pacific high and the interior basin low. These sand dunes contain buried, datable, carbonate-rich soils. Precipitation then, like the present rainfall regime, was not enough to leach the carbonates from the soils. Charcoal in buried dunes and soils shows that fire was environmentally important throughout the Quaternary, just as it is today. Fossil plants indicate that sclerophyllous vegetation and forest stands of conifers, adapted to a Mediterranean climate, were widely distributed during late Quaternary time. Fossil pollen in the Sierra Nevada indicates the influence of the North Pacific high. The historical precipitation record overlaps a late Holocene tree-ring record permitting extrapolation of the precipitation curve back nearly 600 years. Well-defined wet and dry trends in the precipitation pattern characterized this time span, and provide a possible analog to the earlier Holocene and Pleistocene precipitation regime. The paleoecologic record shows that the late Quaternary climate of coastal California was characterized by regimes similar to those prevailing today. The persistence of a Mediterranean climate in California during the last glaciation contrasts with dramatic climatic changes experienced in glaciated parts of North America. California thus was an Ice Age refugium for animals and cold-sensitive plants.     

Effect of upwelling on phytoplankton productivity of the outer southeastern United States continental shelf

Gulf Stream frontal disturbances cause nutrient-rich waters to frequently upwell and intrude onto the southeastern United States continental shelf between Cape Canaveral, Florida and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Phytoplankton response in upwelled waters was determined with three interdisciplinary studies conducted during April 1979 and 1980, and in summer 1978. The results show that when shelf waters are not stratified, upwelling causes productive phytoplankton (diatom) blooms on the outer shelf. Phytoplankton production averages about 2 g C m⁻² d⁻¹ during upwelling events, and ‘new’ production is 50% or more of the total. When shelf waters are stratified, upwelled waters penetrate well onto the shelf as a subsurface intrusion in which phytoplankton production averages about fives times higher than the nutrient-depleted overlying mixed layer. Phytoplankton within the intrusion deplete upwelled NO₃ in about 7 to 10 days, at which point no further net increase in phytoplankton biomass occurs.Current meter records show that upwelling occurs roughly 50% of the time on the outer shelf during November to April (shelf not stratified), and we estimate that seasonal primary production in upwelled waters is 175 g C m⁻² 6 months⁻¹ of which at least 50% is ‘new’ production. More than 90% of outer shelf primary and ‘new’ production occurs during upwelling and thus upwelling is the dominant process affecting primary productivity of the outer shelf. Our seasonal estimates of outer shelf primary and ‘new’ production are, respectively, three and ten times higher than previous estimates that did not account for upwelling.     

Dynamic centrifuge testing of a cantilever retaining wall

Two correctly-scaled model cantilever retaining walls of different stiffnesses were tested under dynamic loading conditions in a centrifuge. A medium-dense fine sand was retained with a range of backfill slopes. For the centrifuge model, an earthquake-generating mechanism was designed to produce seismic shaking equivalent to that generated at ground surface in the epicentral area of an earthquake of approximate magnitude 5–5. The response of the model retaining walls to the input dynamic motion was measured by strain gauges, pressure transducers and accelerometers. From the measurements plots were constructed of moment, shear, pressure and displacement over the height of the walls as a function of time. The results are compared with calculations based on the quasi-static Mononobe-Okabe theory. Although the calculated resultant force is in reasonable agreement with the experiments, the moments can be substantially different. Residual values of all parameters at the end of shaking are considerably greater than the initial static values. It is recommended that dynamic behaviour be incorporated in the earthquake design of retaining walls.     

Transient electromagnetic response of a sphere in a layered medium

The integral equation for the electromagnetic response of a sphere in a layered medium may be solved as follows. First, the unknown time harmonic electric field in the sphere is expanded in spherical vector waves. Secondly, the coefficients for these wave functions are found by a set of equations. The equations are found by multiplying the integral equation throughout by each wave function and integrating over the spherical conductor.Once the unknown coefficients have been determined, then the transient response may be found by taking the inverse Fourier transform. In carrying out the Fourier transform one learns that for most of the time range used in prospecting, only the lowest order vector wave function is significant. A study of the singularities of the spectrum of the transient shows that, for the time range considered, only a single branch cut is significant. There are no pole type responses. That is, the field does not decay exponentially. Previous studies of a sphere in free space reported only pole type responses. That is, at the later stages, the field decays exponentially. This study shows that, in order to model satisfactorily the effect of the host rock on transient electromagnetic fields, the sphere must be placed in layered ground.     

The chemistry of aqueous iron

Zusammenfassung Bei der Berechnung der L?slichkeiten des zwei-und des dreiwertigen Eisens müssen neben den Fe⁺² und Fe⁺³ Ionen auch die Eisen(II)- und Eisen(III)-Hydroxokomplexe ([Fe(OH)]⁺, [Fe(OH)]²⁺, [Fe(OH)₂]⁺, [Fe(OH)₃] (d), und [Fe(OH)₄]⁻) berücksichtigt werden. Die L?slichkeit des zweiwertigen Eisens in natürlichen (Bikarbonat enthaltenden) W?ssern ist in der Regel durch die L?slichkeitsgleichgewichte des Eisenkarbonats beschr?nkt, w?hrend die L?slichkeit des dreiwertigen Eisens durch die L?slichkeitsgleichgewichte des Eisen(III)-Hydroxyds bestimmt wird (Abbildungen 2 und 4). Die L?slichkeitsverh?ltnisse k?nnen durch Komplexbildung, vor allem mit organischen Basen, ver?ndert werden. Dreiwertiges Eisen hat eine viel st?rkere Tendenz, Hydroxokomplexe zu bilden, as zweiwertiges Eisen. Dementsprechend ist das hydratisierte Eisen-(III)-Ion eine so?rkere S?ure (im SinneBr?nsteds) als das Eisen-(II)-Ion. Die Oxydation von Eisen-(II) zu Eisen-(III) ist deshalb von einer Erniedrigung des pH-Wertes begleitet. Die Hydroxoeisen-(III)-Komplexe haben eine starke Tendenz, Polymerisationsreaktionen einzugehen, wobei im schwach sauren oder neutralen Bereich positiv geladene im alkalischen Bereich hingegen negative geladene Kolloidpartikel entstehen k?nnen. Die allf?llige Koagulation dieser Kolloide zu Eisenoxydhydrat ist vom Elektrolytgehalt abh?ngig und kann durch hydrophile organische Schutzkolloide verhindert werden. Zweiwertiges Eisen ist in Gegenwart von gel?stem Sauerstoff unbest?ndig und wird zu dreiwertigem Eisen oxydiert. Die Oxydationsgeschwindigkeit nimmt mit zunehmendem pH stark zu. Kupfer-, Platinsalze und Aktivkohle als Katalysatoren sowie Komplexbildner, welche mit dreiwertigem Eisen Komplexe bilden,beschleunigen die Autoxidation. Elektrodenpotential-pH-Diagramme (Abbildung 5) erm?glichen einen zusammenfassenden überblick über den Einfluss von Potential und pH auf die L?slichkeitsverh?ltnisse. Im Eisenkreislauf der Seen (Abbildung 7) kommt das Wechselspiel von Oxydation und Reduktion sowie von F?llung und L?sung eindrücklich zur Geltung.      

A simple direct interpretation method for an electrical sounding carried out over an inclined interface

Summary The potential field due to a point electrode, above an inclined interface, has been given in the form of a multiple integral, involving modified Bessel functions of the second kind (Skalskaya [9]²). From this formula it is only possible to derive formulae, from which type curves may be computed, for a limited number of cases. By considering the asymptotic expansion of the Hankel transform of this potential function, it is possible to derive results which will permit the complete interpretation of a Schlumberger sounding, carried out in the direction of strike; for an arbitrary angle of dip of the contact. The method of interpretation is suitable for use on a digital computer and has been found to give rapid and reliable results.