Behavior of diorite under impact by variously-shaped projectiles

SummaryBehavior of Diorite Under Impact by Variously-Shaped Projectiles The effects of striker diameter and tip geometry on the crater and crack network produced in diorite by normal projectile impact in the energy range from 4–30 J was investigated. Ejecta kinematics were determined by high-speed photography; elastic strain wave propagation was measured by embedded gages in a composite specimen; and the damage pattern was ascertained from an examination of the sectioned specimen. It was found that the projectile nose shape exerts a strong influence on the shape of the elastic transient, on the crater geometry, on the extent of the crack network and on the average size of the ejecta. The crater depth was found to be the most repeatable parameter in identical tests using the same striker and initial kinetic energy.With 7 Figures     

Carbon-13 exchange between CO2 and CH4 under geothermal conditions

On the basis of recently reported data on the kinetics of carbon-13 exchange between CO₂ and CH₄ at temperatures above 500°C, first order rate constants $\text{log k = 11.16?10,190/T}$ were derived allowing variations in Δ, the difference in the isotopic composition of coexisting CO₂ and CH₄, to be evaluated as a function of initial composition and cooling rate of the rising geothermal fluid. Observed Δ-values in geothermal discharges are likely to represent frozen in compositions attained after minimum residence times of 20 ka at 400°C or 10 Ma at 300°C. The carbon-13 contents of any biogenic gases are unlikely to have been affected by thermal re-equilibration at temperatures below 200°C. The chemical equilibrium involving CO₂ and CH₄ can be expected to proceed about a hundred times faster than isotopic equilibration.     

Mineralogy and petrology of the Abee enstatite chondrite breccia and its dark inclusions

The Abee E4 enstatite chondrite breccia consists of clasts (many rimmed by metallic Fe, Ni), dark inclusions and matrix. The clasts and matrix were well equilibrated by thermal metamorphism, as evidenced by uniform mineral compositions, recrystallized chondrules, low MnO content of enstatite and high abundance of orthoenstatite. The clasts acquired their metal-rich rims prior to this metamorphic episode. The occurrence in Abee of relatively unmetamorphosed dark inclusions, clasts with nearly random magnetic orientations and a matrix with a uniform magnetic orientation [18,19] indicates that clast and matrix metamorphism occurred prior to the agglomeration of the breccia.The dark inclusions are an unusual kind of enstatite chondritic material, distinguished from the clasts and matrix by their relative enrichments in REE [21–23], low relative abundances of kamacite, total metallic Fe, Ni and silica, lower niningerite/(total sulfide) ratios, high relative abundances of oldhamite and martensite, smaller euhedral enstatite, more heterogeneous enstatite and metallic Fe, Ni, more calcic enstatite and more nickeliferous schreibersite.We propose the following model for the petrogenesis of the Abee breccia: The maximum metamorphic temperature of breccia parent material was?- 840°C (the minimum temperature of formation of Abee niningerite) and perhaps near 950–1000°C (the Fe-Ni-S eutectic temperature). Euhedral enstatite crystals in metallic Fe, Ni- and sulfide-rich areas grew at these metamorphic temperatures into pliable metal and sulfide. Breccia parent material was impact-excavated from depth, admixed with dark inclusions and rapidly cooled (700 to 200°C in about 2 hours) [15]. During this cooling, clast and matrix material acquired thermal remanent magnetization. Random conglomeration of clasts and unconsolidated matrix materials caused the clasts to have random magnetic orientations and the matrix areas to have net magnetic intensities of zero (due to the cancellation of numerous randomly oriented magnetic vectors of equal intensity in the matrix). A subsequent ambient magnetic field imparted a uniform net magnetic orientation to the matrix and caused the magnetic orientations of the clasts to be somewhat less random. The Abee breccia was later consolidated, possibly by shock or by shallow burial and very long-period/low-temperature (< 215°C) metamorphism.     

Spectra of the earthquake sequence February-March, 1981, in south-central Sweden

On February 13, 1981 a relatively strong earthquake occurred in the Lake Vänern region in south-central Sweden. The shock had a magnitude ofM_L = 3.3 and was followed within three weeks by three aftershocks, with magnitudes 0.5 ≤ M_L ≤ 1.0. The focal mechanism solution of the main shock indicates reverse faulting with a strike in the N-S or NE-SW direction and a nearly horizontal compressional stress. The aftershocks were too small to yield data for a full mechanism solution, but first motions of P-waves, recorded at two stations, are consistent for the aftershocks. Dynamic source parameters, derived from Pg- and Sg-wave spectra, show similar stress drops for the main shock (2 bar) and the aftershocks (1 bar), while the differences in seismic moment (1.5·10²⁰ resp. 4·10¹⁸dyne cm), fault length (0.7 resp. 0.2 km) and relative displacement (0.15 resp. 0.03 cm) are significant.     

The coalification pattern in the Northern Apennines and its palaeogeothermic and tectonic significance

The rocks of the Northern Apennines predominantly consist of non-metamorphic terrigeneous deposits (flysches and molasses) some of which are preorogenic, some synorogenic and others postorogenic with respect to the nappe tectonics (Miocene). As plant fragments frequently occur in these sediments, a study of coal rank based on reflectance measurements on vitrinites (% Rm = mean value of the random reflectance in non polarized light) contributes to the clarification of the relation between the orogenic and the palaeogeothermal development. The determination of the Rm values of more than 180 samples from outcrops and three deep drillings revealed some important features. Within the pile of Liguride and Tuscanide nappes, the coal rank increases from the uppermost nappe to the lower nappes until lowgrade metamorphism is reached in the Lower Tuscanides. In the single nappes the rank decreases from the Tyrrhenian coast (internal zone) towards the Po Plain (external zone). This regional trend is disturbed only locally by young post-coalification tectonics. In the uppermost Liguride nappe (M. Antola Unit) a pre-Oligocene (i. e. pre-Apenninic) thermal event was detected. Postorogenic heating is connected with the magmatic activity of Late Miocene to Pleistocene age in Tuscany. Except for these preorogenic and postorogenic thermal events, the main coalification is generally younger than the emplacement of the nappes in the nappe pile during the Apenninic orogeny in the Miocene, but it is older than the last thrust movements and the final tensional tectonics in the internal zones of the chain. For these reasons, the main regional thermal event has to be considered as synorogenic or, more precisely, as late-synorogenic.     

Mineralogical,geochemical and microfabric evidences of gypsum crusts: a case study from Budapest

High levels of SO₂ and particulate pollution enable the rapid development of gypsum-rich weathering crusts in Budapest. Two types of white crusts, thin and thick ones, and two forms of black crusts, laminar and framboidal ones, were studied in limestone buildings of the parliament and Citadella. The percentage of crust cover and damage categories were documented on selected walls. Petrographic, XRD, XRF and sulphur isotope analyses were performed under laboratory conditions to understand the mechanism of crust formation. White crusts found both on exposed and sheltered walls display a calcite-rich layer with gypsum, while black crusts are enriched with gypsum. The sulphur isotopic composition of white and black crusts overlaps, but the crusts are slightly enriched in heavy isotopes compared to rainwater. S content, Si/Al ratios and particulates in black crusts suggest that air pollution (SO₂, dust) contributes to black crust formation. The accumulation of sulphur and Zn enrichment of white crusts were also documented indicating that under high pollution levels, even these compound can accumulate on exposed facades.     

<Superscript>57</Superscript>Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy,X-ray single-crystal diffractometry,and electronic structure calculations on natural alexandrite

Natural alexandrite Al₂BeO₄:Cr from Malyshevo near Terem Tschanka, Sverdlovsk, Ural, Russia, has been characterized by ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, electron microprobe, X-ray single-crystal diffractometry and by electronic structure calculations in order to determine oxidation state and location of iron. The sample contains 0.3 wt% of total iron oxide. The ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectrum can be resolved into three doublets. Two of them with hyperfine parameters typical for octahedrally coordinated high-spin Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺, respectively, are assigned to iron substituting for Al in the octahedral M2-site. The third doublet is attributed to Fe³⁺ in hematite. Electronic structure calculations in the local spin density approximation are in reasonable agreement with experimental data provided that expansion and/or distortion of the coordination octahedra are presumed upon iron substitution. The calculated hyperfine parameters of Fe³⁺ are almost identical for the M1 and M2 positions, but the calculated ligand-field splitting is by far too large for high-spin Fe³⁺ on M1.     

Application of wavelet transformation to determine wavelengths and phase velocities of gravity waves observed by lidar measurements

During the last two decades, important advances have been made in the investigation of gravity waves. However, more efforts are needed to study certain aspects of gravity waves. In the real atmosphere, gravity waves occur with different properties at different altitudes and, most often, simultaneously. In this case, when there is more than one dominant wave, the determination of gravity wave characteristics, such as the vertical wavelength and the phase velocity, is difficult. The interpretation of temperature perturbation plots versus the altitude and time as well as the application of the Fourier spectral analysis can produce errors.Exact knowledge of the wave characteristics is important both for determination of other characteristics, for example, the horizontal wave components, and for study of wave climatology. The wavelet analysis of vertical temperature profiles allows one to examine the wave's location in space. Up to now, gravity waves have been studied mainly by continuous wavelet transformation to determine dominant waves. We apply wavelet analysis to a time series of temperature profiles, observed by the ALOMAR ozone lidar at Andoya, Norway, and by the U. Bonn lidar system at ESRANGE, Sweden, both for determination of the dominant waves and for specifying the vertical wavelengths and the vertical component of the phase velocities. For this purpose, the wavelet amplitude spectra and the wavelet phase spectra are filtered and Hovmöller diagrams for dominant wavelengths are constructed. The advantage of this type of diagrams is that they give clear evidence for the localization of the dominant waves in space and time and for the development of their phase fronts.     

Auswirkungen des Ablassens von Hochwasserrückhaltebecken auf deren Limnochemie und Phytoplankton-Biozönose

Reservoirs have to be released when repairing of the dams is necessary. In 1995, two reservoirs in Baden-Württemberg (Germany) of similar age and volume (Lake Herrenbach near Göppingen, 1.0 Mio. m³ and Lake Breitenau near Heilbronn, 2.3 Mio. m³) were emptied. This allowed the singular possibility to investigate the effects of drainage and refilling on the limnochemistry and the phytoplankton biocoenosis of such artificial lakes.Before the drainage of the reservoirs, both lakes showed phosphorus release from the sediment during summer stagnation. Phosphorus values of Lake Herrenbach were regularly higher than those of Lake Breitenau (Lake Herrenbach 88 μg/l, Lake Breitenau 33 μg/l). During release, both lakes indicated higher phosphorus and chlorophyll concentrations as well as rising biomasses. Remarkable differences were observed during refilling of the reservoirs: while Lake Herrenbach showed higher transparency and lower phosphorus concentrations, Lake Breitenau progressed towards eutrophication (total phosphorus during summer 1996: Lake Herrenbach 30 μg/l, Lake Breitenau 55 μg/l). One reason for the reaction of Lake Breitenau was the reduced ground drainage during the refilling, which caused an accumulation of nutrients in the hypolimnion. Another reason was the mineralisation of vegetation which covered great parts of the dry lake sediment. The limnological change of Lake Herrenbach was not as clear but could be caused by the restauration of the pre-reservoir which was drainaged and dredged before the emptying of the main reservoir started as well as many other facts which differed Lake Herrenbach from Lake Breitenau.