Geochemistry of shallow sediments in Guaymas Basin, gulf of California: hydrothermal gas and oil migration and effects of mineralogy

Offset of prograde hydrothermal alterations by retrograde reactions is evident in sediments from a piston core (PC6, 8 m long) from the Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California. Geochemical and mineralogical analyses of sediments and pore fluids show superimposed geochemical signals that indicate currently active reactions are modifying previously formed secondary solids. Hydrothermal barite was formed in a previously active flow channel between 150 and 250 cm depth. Hydrothermal gypsum is presently dissolving at depths > 780 cm, below which hydrothermal fluid flow is channeled by a secondary dolomite layer. Thermal stress of organic matter generates hydrothermal gas and petroleum having wide ranges of compositions and maturities. A significant amount of hydrothermally generated oil has been transported laterally through a porous debris flow (approx. 240 cm subbottom), overwhelming the indigenous bituminous matter. Water soluble petroleum constituents have disseminated throughout the cored sediments. From 400 to 700 cm depth the immature organic matter continues to experience thermally-enhanced diagenesis, and an even higher thermal stress has occurred at the bottom of the core. Enhanced bacterial degradation of organic matter has led to depletion of pore water sulfate and enrichment of ammonium (NH₄⁺) in both pore fluid and sediment, resulting in formation of NH₄⁺ bearing secondary clay minerals at depths below 780 cm.     

On the geodetic boundary value problem for a fixed boundary surface—A satellite approach

Employing satellite-geometrical methods, the physical surface of the earth may be assumed to be known, while gravity measurements yield thelength of the gravity vector (including contributions from rotation). The problem then is to determine gravitational potential from such gravity observations. The corresponding linearized problem is an oblique derivative problem. The problem was discussed by Almqvist (1959), Koch (1970, 1971) and Koch and Pope (1972). Our presentation gives proofs for the existence (and uniqueness) of the solution in the non-linear case. The general implicit function theorem (in Banach spaces) is used to provewellposedness at least when data are close to given standard values (closeness is defined either in terms of Hölder or Sobolev norms). Iterative methods for solution by linear operators are given. The linearized problem is solved by harmonic reduction to an internal sphere in a generalization of the method by the first author for the Stokes problem. Also deflections of the vertical are treated.     

Solution of the altimetry-gravimetry problem

Unique solvability of the altimetry-gravimetry problem is proved for general ocean configurations and for models which are close to the classical Stokes model provided that a zero-degree component is removed from both gravity anomaly and disturbed potential. Data and solutions are to belong to suitable Sobolev spaces. The theory of pseudodifferential operators plays an important part in the proof. Finite element methods for numerical computations are suggested and convergence rates are estimated. Holota (1980, 1981a, b, 1982) has proved wellposedness of the problem without constraints for small continents by variational methods. The present paper yields wellposedness without any constraints when the diameter of the continental area is smaller than 62°.6. There are strong indications, very disturbing considering the amount of work spent on the method for the last two decades, that the direct least squares approach is unstable for mixed sets of data.     

The convergence of harmonic reduction to an internal sphere

The boundary value problem of physical geodesy has been solved with the use of a harmonic reduction down to an internal sphere using a discrete procedure. (For gravity cf. Bjerhammar 1964 and for the potential cf. Bjerhammar 1968). This was a finite-dimensional approach mostly with one-to-one correspondence between observations and unknowns on the sphere. Earlier studies were made with the use of surface elements (on the sphere) with constantgravity. Integration over the surface elements was replaced by a discrete approach with the use of the distance to a point in the centre of the surface element. See Bjerhammar (1968) and (1969). This approach was later presented as a “reflexive prediction” technique for a weakly stationary stochastic process. Bjerhammar (1974, 1976). Krarup (1969) minimized the L²-norm of the potential on the internal sphere. It will here be proved that the two solutions are identical for a proper choice of the radii of the internal spheres. The proof is given for a spherical earth with selected choice of “carrier points”. The convergence problem is discussed. The L²-norm solution is found convergent for the fully harmonic case. Uniform convergence is obtained in the non-harmonic case with the use of the original procedure applied in accordance with the theorems of Keldych-Lavrentieff and Yamabe.     

The alkali metal atmospheres on the Moon and Mercury: Explaining the stable exospheres by heavy Rydberg Matter clusters

Despite recent progress in the modeling of alkali atmospheres like those around the Moon and Mercury, many problems still exist. It is proposed that Rydberg Matter (RM) clusters containing Na and K atoms are the main part of the alkali atmospheres of the Moon and Mercury, forming large clouds. RM clusters are studied in the laboratory with laser fragmentation and laser spectroscopy methods. Due to the very large collision cross sections of Rydberg atoms and RM clusters, the atmospheres are not collision free, as normally assumed based on the low densities of free alkali atoms. The non-escaping radial density variation for the Na atoms, observed, e.g., on the Moon, and the Maxwellian velocity distributions observed on Mercury are caused by a true atmosphere with collisional equilibration; this process is not possible in an exosphere. Fast alkali atoms are released from the RM clusters already at large heights by solar photons and charged particle impact. The kinetic temperatures derived for the atmospheres agree with the quantized energy release. The cluster model predicts that the rate of loss from the surface is much smaller than for a purely atomic model, since the transient storage is in the RM cluster form in the atmosphere and not at the surface. The conductance of the atmosphere is of the order of 100 S due to the facile collisional ionization of the RM clusters. The apparent depletion of K in the atmosphere of Mercury is explained.     

Trace metal levels in coastal sea water investigation of Danish waters

The concentration levels of Cd (25 ng l^?1), Cu (0.45 μg l^?1), Ni (0.48 μg l^?1), Fe (0.2–7.0 μg l^?1), Pb (40 ng l^?1) and Zn (0.80 μg l^?1) have been determined in the Danish Sounds and in the Kattegat. Different sampling techniques have been used and analyses have been carried out separately by two different investigators, both using freon-extraction followed by determination by atomic absorption spectrometry (a.a.s.). Except for iron, found mainly in the particulate phase, the metals are found predominantly in a dissolved and labile (extractable) form. The results are compared with trace metal levels found in the two main water masses entering the Kattegat—the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.     

ON THE SENSITIVITY OF PRECIPITATION FORECASTS TO THE MOIST PHYSICS AND THE HORIZONTAL RESOLUTION OF NUMERICAL MODEL

The impacts of the enhanced model's moist physics and horizontal resolution upon the QPFs(quantitative precipitation forecasts)are investigated by applying the HIRLAM(high resolutionlimited area model)to the summer heavy-rain cases in China.The performance of the control run,for which a 0.5°×0.5°grid spacing and a traditional“grid-box supersaturation removal+Kuo typeconvective paramerization”are used as the moist physics,is compared with that of the sensitivityruns with an enhanced model's moist physics(Sundqvist scheme)and an increased horizontalresolution(0.25°×0.25°),respectively.The results show:(1)The enhanced moist physics scheme(Sundqvist scheme),by introducing the cloud watercontent as an additional prognostic variable and taking into account briefly of the microphysicsinvolved in the cloud-rain conversion,does bring improvements in the model's QPFs.Althoughthe deteriorated QPFs also occur occasionally,the improvements are found in the majority of thecases,indicating the great potential for the improvement of QPFs by enhancing the model's moistphysics.(2)By increasing the model's horizontal resolution from 0.5°×0.5°,which is already quitehigh compared with that of the conventional atmospheric soundings,to 0.25°×0.25°without thesimultaneous enhancement in model physics and objective analysis,the improvements in QPFs arevery limited.With higher resolution,although slight amelioration in locating the rainfall centersand in resolving some finer structures of precipitation pattern are made,the number of the mis-predicted fine structures in rainfall field increases with the enhanced model resolution as well.     

Environmental toxicology: population modeling of cod larvae shows high sensitivity to loss of zooplankton prey

Two factors determine whether pollution is likely to affect a population indirectly through loss of prey: firstly, the sensitivity of the prey to the pollutants, and secondly, the sensitivity of the predator population to loss of prey at the given life stage. We here apply a statistical recruitment model for Northeast Arctic cod to evaluate the sensitivity of cod cohorts to loss of zooplankton prey, for example following an oil spill. The calculations show that cod cohorts are highly sensitive to possible zooplankton biomass reductions in the distribution area of the cod larvae, and point to a need for more knowledge about oil-effects on zooplankton. Our study illustrates how knowledge about population dynamics may guide which indirect effects to consider in environmental impact studies.     

Lateral coherence of longitudinal wind components in strong winds

A combination of lateral coherence measurements of wind speed at five locations suggests that the decay constant is a monotonically increasing function of the ratio of separation to height, under neutral conditions.