Geochemical evidence for diversity of dust sources in the southwestern United States

Several potential dust sources, including generic sources of sparsely vegetated alluvium, playa deposits, and anthropogenic emissions, as well as the area around Owens Lake, California, affect the composition of modern dust in the southwestern United States. A comparison of geochemical analyses of modern and old (a few thousand years) dust with samples of potential local sources suggests that dusts reflect four primary sources: (1) alluvial sediments (represented by Hf, K, Rb, Zr, and rare-earth elements, (2) playas, most of which produce calcareous dust (Sr, associated with Ca), (3) the area of Owens (dry) Lake, a human-induced playa (As, Ba, Li, Pb, Sb, and Sr), and (4) anthropogenic and/or volcanic emissions (As, Cr, Ni, and Sb). A comparison of dust and source samples with previous analyses shows that Owens (dry) Lake and mining wastes from the adjacent Cerro Gordo mining district are the primary sources of As, Ba, Li, and Pb in dusts from Owens Valley. Decreases in dust contents of As, Ba, and Sb with distance from Owens Valley suggest that dust from southern Owens Valley is being transported at least 400 km to the east. Samples of old dust that accumulated before European settlement are distinctly lower in As, Ba, and Sb abundances relative to modern dust, likely due to modern transport of dust from Owens Valley. Thus, southern Owens Valley appears to be an important, geochemically distinct, point source for regional dust in the southwestern United States.     

Crystallization history of rhyolites at Long Valley, California, inferred from combined U-series and Rb-Sr isotope systematics

In this study, we present ⁸⁷Rb/⁸⁶Sr and ²³⁰Th/²³⁸U isotope analyses of glasses and phenocrysts from postcaldera rhyolites erupted between 150 to 100 ka from the Long Valley magmatic system. Both isotope systems indicate complex magma evolution with preeruptive mineral crystallization and magma fractionation, followed by extended storage in a silicic magma reservoir. Glass analyses yield a Rb-Sr isochron of 257 ± 39 ka, which can be explained by a feldspar-fractionation event ∼150 ky before eruption. Individual feldspar-glass pairs confirm this age result. A mineral ²³⁰Th-²³⁸U isochron in a low-silica rhyolite from the Deer Mountain Dome defines an age of 236 ± 1 ka, but the glass and whole rock do not lie on the isochron. U-Th fractionation of the rocks is controlled by the accessory minerals zircon and probably allanite, which crystallized at 250 ± 3 ka and 187 ± 9 ka, respectively. All major mineral phases contain accessory mineral phases; therefore, the mineral isochron represents a mixture of zircon and allanite populations. A precision of ±1 ka for the mixing array implies that the minor phases must have crystallized within this timescale. Longer periods of crystal growth would cause the mixing array to be less well defined. U-series data from other low- and high-silica rhyolites indicate younger accessory mineral crystallization events at ∼200 and 140 ka, probably related to the thermal evolution of the magma reservoir. These crystallization events are, however, only documented by the accessory minerals and had no further influence on bulk magma compositions. We interpret the indistinguishable age results from both isotope systems (∼250 ka) to record the fractionation of small magma batches by filter pressing from a much larger underlying magma volume, followed by physical isolation and extended storage at the top of the magma reservoir for up to 150 ky.     

Comparative Re-Os systematics of chondrites: Implications regarding early solar system processes

A suite of 47 carbonaceous, enstatite, and ordinary chondrites are examined for Re-Os isotopic systematics. There are significant differences in the ¹⁸⁷Re/¹⁸⁸Os and ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios of carbonaceous chondrites compared with ordinary and enstatite chondrites. The average ¹⁸⁷Re/¹⁸⁸Os for carbonaceous chondrites is 0.392 ± 0.015 (excluding the CK chondrite, Karoonda), compared with 0.422 ± 0.025 and 0.421 ± 0.013 for ordinary and enstatite chondrites (1σ standard deviations). These ratios, recast into elemental Re/Os ratios, are as follows: 0.0814 ± 0.0031, 0.0876 ± 0.0052 and 0.0874 ± 0.0027, respectively. Correspondingly, the ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios of carbonaceous chondrites average 0.1262 ± 0.0006 (excluding Karoonda), and ordinary and enstatite chondrites average 0.1283 ± 0.0017 and 0.1281 ± 0.0004, respectively (1σ standard deviations). The new results indicate that the Re/Os ratios of meteorites within each group are, in general, quite uniform. The minimal overlap between the isotopic compositions of ordinary and enstatite chondrites vs. carbonaceous chondrites indicates long-term differences in Re/Os for these materials, most likely reflecting chemical fractionation early in solar system history.A majority of the chondrites do not plot within analytical uncertainties of a 4.56-Ga reference isochron. Most of the deviations from the isochron are consistent with minor, relatively recent redistribution of Re and/or Os on a scale of millimeters to centimeters. Some instances of the redistribution may be attributed to terrestrial weathering; others are most likely the result of aqueous alteration or shock events on the parent body within the past 2 Ga.The ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratio of Earth’s primitive upper mantle has been estimated to be 0.1296 ± 8. If this composition was set via addition of a late veneer of planetesimals after core formation, the composition suggests the veneer was dominated by materials that had Re/Os ratios most similar to ordinary and enstatite chondrites.     

Physical and chemical properties of the waters of saline lakes and their importance for deep-water renewal: Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

The relationships between electrical conductivity, temperature, salinity, and density are studied for brackish Lake Issyk-Kul. These studies are based on a newly determined major ion composition, which for the open lake shows a mean absolute salinity of 6.06 g kg⁻¹. The conductivity-temperature relationship of the lake water was determined experimentally showing that the lake water is about 1.25 times less conductive than seawater diluted to the same absolute salinity as that of the lake water. Based on these results, an algorithm is presented to calculate salinity from in-situ conductivity measurements. Applied to the field data, this shows small but important vertical salinity variations in the lake with a salinity maximum at 200 m and a freshening of the surface water with increasing proximity to the shores. The algorithm we adopt to calculate density agrees well with earlier measurements and shows that at 20°C and 1 atm Lake Issyk-Kul water is about 530 g m⁻³ denser than seawater at the same salinity. The temperature of maximum density at 1 atm is about 0.15°C lower than that for seawater diluted to the same salinity. Despite its small variations, salinity plays an important role, together with temperature changes, in the static stability and in the production of deep-water in this lake. Changes in salinity may have had important consequences on the mixing regime and the fate of inflowing river water over geological time. Uncharged silicic acid is negligible for the stability of the water column except near an ∼15 m thick nepheloid layer observed at the bottom of the deep basin.     

Momentum transport of wave zero during March: A possible predictor for the Indian summer monsoon

Analysis of monthly momentum transport of zonal waves at 850 hPa for the period 1979 to 1993, between ‡S and ‡N for January to April, using zonal (u) and meridional (v) components of wind taken from the ECMWF reanalysis field, shows a positive correlation (.1% level of significance) between the Indian summer monsoon rainfall (June through September) and the momentum transport of wave zero TM(0) over latitudinal belt between 25‡S and 5‡N (LB) during March. Northward (Southward) TM(0) observed in March over LB subsequently leads to a good (drought) monsoon season over India which is found to be true even when the year is marked with the El-Nino event. Similarly a strong westerly zone in the Indian Ocean during March, indicates a good monsoon season for the country, even if the year is marked with El-Nino. The study thus suggests two predictors, TM(0) over LB and the strength of westerly zone in the Indian Ocean during March.     

Structural relaxation in the MnCO3–CaCO3 solid solution: a Mn K-edge EXAFS study

Mn K-edge EXAFS spectroscopy of solid-solution samples encompassing the complete MnCO₃–CaCO₃ series shows that first-shell Mn–O distances deviate little from the 2.19-Å distance observed in pure MnCO₃. Very slight lengthening is observed only in the limiting case of dilute Mn(II) calcite solid solutions, where the Mn–O distance is 2.21 Å. The observed nearly complete structural relaxation and the composition independence of the Mn–O distance are consistent with the Pauling model behavior of solid solutions, and agree with previous studies showing a high degree of relaxation around hetero-sized substituents in the calcite structure. Strain occurs through bond bending, which is facilitated by the exclusively corner-sharing topology of calcite. Observed distances from Mn to more distant neighbors show significant variation across the solid-solution series that resembles Vegard's law-type behavior but reflects averaging. The high degree of relaxation suggests modest enthalpies of mixing in the solution, consistent with calorimetric studies.     

Persistence of tidally-oriented vertical migration by zooplankton in a temperate estuary

Tidal vertical migration by zooplankton is a common phenomenon in estuaries, usually associated with landward movement of meroplankton or position maintenance of holoplankton. Little is known about the persistence of this behavior, its spatial variability, or its response to changing environmental conditions. We extended a previous study of tidal movements of zooplankton in the low-salinity zone (LSZ) of the San Francisco estuary in 1994 to include data from two additional years with very different hydrology. Freshwater flow during sampling in 1995 was about 7-fold greater than in 1994; the LSZ was about 28 km further seaward, and gravitational circulation in the LSZ was strong. In 1996 freshwater flow and LSZ position were intermediate but, because the LSZ was in shallower water in 1996 than in 1995, gravitational circulation was uncommon. Behavior of copepods in both years was similar to that reported in 1994 with some tidal migration observed during most cruises. An exception was the introduced carnivorous copepodTortanus dextrilobatus, which did not migrate and maintained a position deep in the water column (1995 only). In 1996, mysids mainly stayed near the bottom with evidence for vertical migration from only 1 of 6 data sets, whereas amphipods migrated slightly on a diel schedule; these behaviors contrasted with the tidal migration observed in 1994. The bay shrimpCrangon franciscorum did not appear to migrate, but was more abundant in the water column during both ebb and flood, suggesting passive vertical dispersal. Zooplankton did not appear to maintain position by interactions with lateral circulation cells. The results for copepods suggest rigidity in behavior with little or no relaxation of the vertical movement in 1995 when strong gravitational circulation would have made upstream movement relatively easy. Mysids and amphipods altered their behavior depending on local conditions related to freshwater flow.