The Apoteri volcanic formation — tholeiitic flows in the North Savannas Graben of Guyana and Brazil

Amygdaloidal tholeiitic flows, locally pillowed, have been mapped at intervals over a distance of 280 km along the margins of the North Savannas Rift Valley in southern Guyana and Brazil. The combined chemical and petrological evidence suggests that the formation represents an originally uniform continental tholeiitic sequence that has undergone variable secondary alteration involving increasing oxidation and ingress of soda, potash and water. The lavas are both spatially and temporally related to the rift faulting; field observations and K∶Ar age determinations on eleven samples from different localities indicate that the flows were erupted during the Early to Middle Jurassic (180-150 m. y.). It is shown that this tectono-magmatic event is synchronous with the initiation of the southern North Atlantic rift and the pan-Antarctic rift which resulted in fragmentation of the continents according to the scheme ofDietz &Holden (1970).     

Laser-Doppler anemometry and its application to flow investigations related to the environment of vegetation

Accurate measurements in highly turbulent flows, as they occur in nature, require reliable velocity measuring techniques that permit instantaneous velocity components to be locally recorded. Hot-element techniques and optical methods are available for local measurements of instantaneous velocity and the present paper summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of different techniques when applied to flow fields in the environment of vegetation. The paper points out the advantages of laser-Doppler anemometry for velocity measurements in highly turbulent flows under laboratory conditions and stresses the reliability of the technique for measurements in polluted air and water flows. The basic principles of the method are explained and developments are described that have yielded optical anemometer systems for measurements of the magnitudes and signs of the instantaneous velocity components. Both quantities have to be known if accurate measurements of the mean flow properties and turbulence characteristics in flow fields with unknown flow directions are required. Electronic data-processing systems for laser-Doppler anemometer measurements are surveyed, embracing frequency analysers, automatic filter banks, frequency trackers, photon correlators and frequency counters. Photon-correlation and counting techniques are introduced as the methods most likely to be employed for the laser-Doppler anemometer. Laser-Doppler anemometer investigations are described in boundary-layer flows along bean leaves and a metal model of plant leaves. These measurements formed the basis of heat and mass transfer predictions near leaves for a specific leaf position relative to the free stream and with different turbulence properties imposed onto the oncoming flow. These data are presented and discussed in some detail. Measurements are also presented that were carried out to investigate the velocity fields in different flow regimes around a square obstacle in a water flow. These flow properties were needed to understand the different growth rates of sea-weed observed in differing flow regimes.     

Seismic noise at the international gravity point in Prague-Ruzyně (Czechoslovakia)

Summary The vertical component of ground displacement was measured at the Prague - Ruzyn International Gravity Point in the frequency range of 1–300 Hz. The permanent noise, the vibrations caused by the observers during gravimetric observations and by the wind, as well as those due to normal operations at the airport, display maximum peak-to-peak amplitudes of 0.06 µm in the frequency range of 1–50 Hz; with a CG-2 gravimeter this is not detrimental to the accuracy of the observations. The taxiing of turbo-jet and jet aircraft and engine tests of aircraft generate vibrations in frequency ranges of 75–90 and 190–270 Hz. Their amplitudes, according to the results of laboratory tests published for various types of gravity meters (CG-2, GAK-PT, GVP-3, KVG), are of magnitudes which generate errors in tenths of mgl.     

Depth versus (age)1/2: A perspective on mid-ocean rises

The straight-line relationship between depth and the square root of age predicted by recent variations of the thermal contraction model for ocean rise elevation is confirmed to an age of 80 m.y.We then examine this relationship in the immediate vicinity of the rise crest in an attempt to determine the sensitivity of the slopes thus obtained. Depth versus t^1/2 profiles from a variety of rise types ranging from the topographically smooth, fast-spreading Pacific-Antarctic rise to the rough, slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic rise are discussed, ages having been assigned using a finite rotation pole. Because of the variety of superimposed anomalous features concentrated within a limited and well-surveyed region, the Galapagos Spreading Center has provided a suitable arena for determining the precision with which the method can decompose such an agglomeration into distinctly recognizable components. Although topographic “noise” precludes precise quantification of the slopes, it is concluded that, by removing the first-order effect of thermal contraction, the method can be quite revealing when topography is examined in relation to other data. Slopes for several profiles across the Pacific-Antarctic and Pacific-Nazca rises reveal the pattern expected in the case of asymmetric spreading, a conclusion which has independently been derived from the magnetic anomalies. In the Galapagos region “jumps” of the spreading center, a basic compositional difference, and uplift from below are exposed by their predictable effect on the slopes obtained from the depth versus t^1/2 plots.     

Note on pollen extraction from coarse sediments

The following note on a new method for extracting pollen from fossil pollen grains summarizes two articles in French, published in Annales de la Société Géologique de Belgique (Juvigné, 1973a; 1973b).The new method proposed has three important parts: (1) Elutriation of the sediment in water; (2) the specific gravity of the heavy liquid must be between 2.25 and 2.5; and (3) the dispersion of the sediment in the heavy liquid is made with a high-speed mixer.     

Spinel-olivine geothermometry in peridotites from ultramafic complexes

An empirical calibration of the spinel-olivine geothermometer (Evans and Frost, 1975) is attempted and applied to parageneses of lherzolitic rocks. In ultramafic complexes, most of the derived temperature estimates range between 700 ° and 850 °C, and appear generally lower than those given by other geothermometers, based upon Ca or Al contents of coexisting pyroxenes. A comparison of the different thermometric data in two well studied occurrences, the Ronda ultramafic complex and the San Carlos xenolith field, suggests that differential rates of diffusion and recrystalization may account for the large range of temperatures (between 700 ° and 1200 °C) determined by various mineral geothermometers in peridotites. The equilibrium exchange of Mg and Fe between spinel and olivine would be the fastest one and would continue effectively during the cooling down to relatively low temperatures, while other exchange reactions used as geothermometers in peridotites, like partitioning of Ca and Al in coexisting pyroxenes, are blocked at higher temperatures.     

Meteorological microseisms and stratospheric warmings

Summary The meteorological microseisms recorded at Prague are found to be essentially independent of the occurrence of the major midwinter stratospheric warmings. This finding contributes to studying the downward propagation mechanism of some extraterrestrial influences.