Distribution of Ca in highly fractionated peralkaline magmas

Many peralkaline rhyolites and granites contain less than 0.15 wt.% CaO. In contrast, strongly fractionated peralkaline nepheline syenites and phonolites usually contain greater than 0.5 wt.% CaO. Consideration of known distributions of Ca between crystals and liquid in conjunction with crystal fractionation does not provide an adequate explanation of the contrasting levels of Ca depletion observed. Examination of the suites of late-crystallizing accessory phases in peralkaline rocks suggests that Ca is more soluble in undersaturated magmas than in over-saturated magmas. Activities for CaO in silicic and phonolitic rocks are calculated and the latter have higher CaO activities than the former and this may manifest itself in the different suites of accessory phases and levels of Ca depletion noted in natural rocks.     

Geodetic results from ISAGEX data

Laser and camer data taken during the International Satellite Geodesy Experiment (ISAGEX) have been used in dynamical solutions to obtain center-of-mass coordinates for the Astro-Soviet camera sites at Helwan, Egypt and Oulan Bator, Mongolia and East European camera sites at Potsdam, German Democratic Republic and Ondrejov, Czechoslovakia. The results are accurate to about 20 m in each coordinate. The orbit of PEOLE (i=15^o) has also been determined from ISAGEX data and mean Kepler elements suitable for geodynamic investigations are presented.     

Effect of elevated CO2 on carbon pools and fluxes in a brackish marsh

The effects of long-term exposure to elevated atmospheric CO₂ (ambient + 340 ppmv) on carbon cycling were investigated for two plant communities in a Chesapeake Bay brackish marsh, one dominated by the C₃ sedgeSchoenplectus americanus and the other by the C₄ grassSpartina patens. Elevated CO₂ resulted in a significant increase in porewater concentrations of DIC at 30 cm depth (p < 0.1). The CO₂ treatment also yielded increases in DOC (15 to 27%) and dissolved CH₄ (12–18%) in the C₃ marsh (means for several depths over the period of June 1998 and June 1999), but not at a significant level. Elevated CO₂ increased mean ecosystem emissions of CO₂ (34–393 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹) and CH₄ (0.21–0.40 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹) in the C₃ community, but the effects were only significant on certain dates. For example, CO₂ enrichment increased C export to the atmosphere in the C₃ community during one of two winter seasons measured (p = 0.09). In the C₄ community, gross photosynthesis responded relatively weakly to elevated CO₂ (18% increase, p > 0.1), and the concomitant effects on dissolved carbon concentrations, respiration, and CH₄ emissions were small or absent. We concluded that elevated CO₂ has the potential to increase dissolved inorganic carbon export to estuaries.     

Observations of the upper ocean response to storm forcing in the South Atlantic Roaring Forties

In the austral summer of 1992–1993 the passage of a storm system drove a strong upper ocean response at 45°S in the mid-South Atlantic. Good in situ observations were obtained. CTD casts revealed that the mixed layer deepened by \sim40 m over 4 days. Wind stirring dominated over buoyancy flux-driven mixing during the onset of high winds. Doppler shear currents further reveal this to be intimately related to inertial dynamics. The penetration depth of inertial currents, which are confined to the mixed layer, increases with time after a wind event, matched by a downward propagation of low values of the Richardson number. This suggests that inertial current shear is instrumental in producing turbulence at the base of the mixed layer. Evolution of inertial transport is simulated using a time series of ship-observed wind stress. Simulated transport is only 30-50% of the observed transport, suggesting that much of the observed inertial motion was forced by an earlier (possibly remote) storm. Close proximity of the subtropical front further complicates the upper ocean response to the storm. A simple heat balance for the upper 100 m reveals that surface cooling and mixing (during the storm) can account for only a small fraction of an apparent \sim1 °C mixed layer cooling.     

Igneous layering through oscillatory nucleation and crystal settling in well-mixed magmas

Oscillatory or competitive nucleation about a binary (or perhaps pseudo binary) eutectic and ensuing crystal growth and settling is a commonly suggested means of producing layering in magmatic systems. A quantitative model is presented of this, outwardly, relatively simple process of crystal nucleation, growth, and settling in an otherwise initially crystal-free magma. Avrami-style kinetics of crystallization in an always wellmixed body, buried in conductive wall rock, are coupled to a Stokes-like formulation of crystal settling in magma whose viscosity depends on temperature and crystallinity. Two dimensionless numbers (Se, the settling number and Av, the Avrami or kinetic number) govern all the results. Av and Se measure the relative importance of crystallization time and settling time, respectively, relative to the overall cooling time. For any value of Av, which increases strongly with the maximum nucleation and growth rates and cooling time, layering is possible only over a range or window of values of Se. Both above and below this window a single layer (crystalline below, vitric above) forms, and within this window the number of layers increases systematically with increasing Av and Se. Grain size within any single layer generally coarsens upward. Because the characteristic settling and cooling times both depend on body thickness, the lower limit of the settling window is also dependent on sheet thickness. Within the confines of this model and for nucleation and growth rates set by those observed in natural systems, layering is unlikely in sheet-like magmas thinner than about 100 m. When the body is not always well-mixed and crystallization is within inward-propagating solidification fronts, it is expected that this minimum body thickness will increase.     

Oxygen isotope geochemistry of the Mesozoic volcanics of the Etendeka Formation,Namibia

The Etendeka Formation volcanics consist of a bimodal association of basalts and quartz latites. Forty three new whole rock oxygen isotope analyses are reported for all the major magma types. All the rocks except a minor suite of dolerites have higher ¹⁸O values than normal mantle. The basic rocks (average of 29=8.8) have significantly different ¹⁸O to the acid rocks (average of 10=14.4) These data are apparently consistent with previously published petrogenetic models, which propose that the basalts were affected by crustal contamination and that the quartz latites are crustally derived. However, mineral oxygen data show that there is significant oxygen isotopic disequilibrium between phenocryst and whole rock, the latter being significantly higher in most cases. One of the basic magma types (the Tafelberg basalts) shows mutual positive correlations between ¹⁸O, SiO₂ and _Sr. If these correlations are due to crustal contamination, then as much as 45% contamination is required by material having a ¹⁸O value of 15 which is the maximum observed value in the Damaran basement rocks. In the absence of pyroxene phenocryst ¹⁸O data for the high _Sr Tafelberg basalts (they are aphyric), it is not possible to confirm that contamination has taken place. An alternative explanation is that the correlation between _Sr and SiO₂ resulted from assimilation coupled with fractional crystallization (AFC) (before emplacement). Post-eruption alteration resulted in a correlation between SiO₂ ¹⁸O because the material with the most Si-O bonds was able to concentrate ¹⁸O more effectively. The limited mineral data for the quartz latites suggests that there is some source heterogeneity. A pyroxene ¹⁸O value of 10% for a southern Etendeka quartz latite is consistent with a crustal source.     

Analysis of NVDI variability in response to precipitation and air temperature in different regions of Iraq,using MODIS vegetation indices

Iraq, the land of two rivers, has a history that extends back millennia and is the subject of much archaeological research. However, little environmental research has been carried out, and as such relatively little is known about the interaction between Iraq’s vegetation and climate. This research serves to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the relationship between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and two climatic factors (precipitation and air temperature) over the last decade. The precipitation and air temperature datasets are from the Water and Global Change Forcing Data ERA-Interim (WFDEI), and the NDVI dataset was extracted from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) at 250 m spatial resolution and 16 day temporal resolution. Three different climatic regions in Iraq, Sulaymaniyah, Wasit, and Basrah, were selected for the period of 2001–2015. This is the first study to compare these regions in Iraq, and one of only a few investigating vegetation’s relationship with multiple climatic factors, including precipitation and air temperature, particularly in a semi-arid region. The interannual, intra-annual and seasonal variability for each region is analysed to compare the different responses of vegetation growth to climatic factors. Correlations between NDVI and climatic factors are also included. Plotting annual cycles of NDVI and precipitation reveals a coherent onset, fluctuation (peak and decline), with a time lag of 4 months for Sulaymaniyah and Wasit (while for the Basrah region, high temperatures and a short rainy season was observed). The correlation coefficients between NDVI and precipitation are relatively high, especially in Sulaymaniyah, and the largest positive correlation was (0.8635) with a time lag of 4 months. The phenological transition points range between 3 and 4 month time lag; this corresponds to the duration of maturity of the vegetation. However, when correlated with air temperature, NDVI experiences an inverse relationship, although not as strong as that of NDVI and precipitation; the highest negative correlation was observed in Wasit with a time lag of 2 months (? 0.7562). The results showed that there is a similarity between temporal patterns of NDVI and precipitation. This similarity is stronger than that of NDVI and air temperature, so it can be concluded that NDVI is a sensitive indicator of the inter-annual variability of precipitation and that precipitation constitutes the primary factor in germination while the air temperature acts with a lesser effect.