The Fukang pallasite: Characterization and implications for the history of the Main‐group parent body

We report the results of a study of the Fukang pallasite that includes measurements of bulk composition, mineral chemistry, mineral structure, and petrology. Fukang is a Main‐group pallasite that consists of semiangular olivine grains (Fo 86.3) embedded in an Fe‐Ni matrix with 9–10 wt% Ni and low‐Ir (45 ppb). Olivine grains sometimes occur in large clusters up to 11 cm across. The Fe‐Ni phase is primarily kamacite with accessory taenite and plessite. Minor phases include schreibersite, chromite, merrillite, troilite, and low‐Ca pyroxene. We describe a variety of silicate inclusions enclosed in olivine that contain phases rarely or not previously reported in Main‐group pallasites, including clinopyroxene (augite), tridymite, K‐rich felsic glass, and an unknown Ca‐Cr silicate. Pressure constraints determined from tridymite (<0.4 GPa), two‐pyroxene barometry (0.39 ± 0.07 GPa), and geophysical calculations that assume pallasite formation at the core–mantle boundary (CMB), provide an upper estimate on the size of the Main‐group parent body from which Fukang originated. We conclude that Fukang originated at the CMB of a large differentiated planetesimal 400–680 km in radius.     

Use of dissolved chloride concentrations in tributary streams to support geospatial estimates of Cl contamination potential near Skiatook Lake,northeastern Oklahoma

Releases of NaCl-rich (>100 000 mg/L) water that is co-produced from petroleum wells can adversely affect the quality of ground and surface waters. To evaluate produced water impacts on lakes, rivers and streams, an assessment of the contamination potential must be attainable using reliable and cost-effective methods. This study examines the feasibility of using geographic information system (GIS) analysis to assess the contamination potential of Cl to Skiatook Lake in the Hominy Creek drainage basin in northeastern Oklahoma. GIS-based predictions of affects of Cl within individual subdrainages are supported by measurements of Cl concentration and discharge in 19 tributaries to Skiatook Lake. Dissolved Cl concentrations measured in October, 2004 provide a snapshot of conditions assumed to be reasonably representative of typical inputs to the lake. Chloride concentrations ranged from 5.8 to 2300 mg/L and compare to a value of 34 mg/L in the lake. At the time of sampling, Hominy Creek provided 63% of the surface water entering the lake and 80% of the Cl load. The Cl load from the other tributaries is relatively small (<600 kg/day) compared to Hominy Creek (11 900 kg/day) because their discharges are relatively small (<0.44 m³/s) relative to Hominy Creek (3.1 m³/s). Examination of chemical components other than Cl in stream and lake waters indicates that many species, such as SO₄, cannot be used to assess contamination potential because they participate in a number of common biogeochemical processes that alter their concentrations.     

Z-Less stratification under stable conditions

Turbulent fluctuations were measured at a height of 2.5 m in stable conditions over grass to investigate the variability of the second- and third-order moments involving temperature, humidity and vertical wind velocity. With the exception of the normalized second moment of temperature, very little variation of the normalized moments was found with changes in the dimensionless stability parameter =z/L, whereL is the Obukhov stability length. Such limited variation is expected for stable conditions, and the normalized second moment of temperature might have been affected by nonstationary conditions. In addition, the variability of the normalized moments was lessened by computing the turbulence statistics over 56 min, instead of 26 min. Values of third-order moments involving the vertical velocity were all close to zero.     

Eruptive history and tectonic setting of Medicine Lake Volcano,a large rear-arc volcano in the southern Cascades

Medicine Lake Volcano (MLV), located in the southern Cascades ∼ 55 km east-northeast of contemporaneous Mount Shasta, has been found by exploratory geothermal drilling to have a surprisingly silicic core mantled by mafic lavas. This unexpected result is very different from the long-held view derived from previous mapping of exposed geology that MLV is a dominantly basaltic shield volcano. Detailed mapping shows that < 6% of the ∼ 2000 km² of mapped MLV lavas on this southern Cascade Range shield-shaped edifice are rhyolitic and dacitic, but drill holes on the edifice penetrated more than 30% silicic lava. Argon dating yields ages in the range ∼ 475 to 300 ka for early rhyolites. Dates on the stratigraphically lowest mafic lavas at MLV fall into this time frame as well, indicating that volcanism at MLV began about half a million years ago. Mafic compositions apparently did not dominate until ∼ 300 ka. Rhyolite eruptions were scarce post-300 ka until late Holocene time. However, a dacite episode at ∼ 200 to ∼ 180 ka included the volcano's only ash-flow tuff, which was erupted from within the summit caldera. At ∼ 100 ka, compositionally distinctive high-Na andesite and minor dacite built most of the present caldera rim. Eruption of these lavas was followed soon after by several large basalt flows, such that the combined area covered by eruptions between 100 ka and postglacial time amounts to nearly two-thirds of the volcano's area. Postglacial eruptive activity was strongly episodic and also covered a disproportionate amount of area. The volcano has erupted 9 times in the past 5200 years, one of the highest rates of late Holocene eruptive activity in the Cascades. Estimated volume of MLV is ∼ 600 km³, giving an overall effusion rate of ∼ 1.2 km³ per thousand years, although the rate for the past 100 kyr may be only half that. During much of the volcano's history, both dry HAOT (high-alumina olivine tholeiite) and hydrous calcalkaline basalts erupted together in close temporal and spatial proximity. Petrologic studies indicate that the HAOT magmas were derived by dry melting of spinel peridotite mantle near the crust mantle boundary. Subduction-derived H₂O-rich fluids played an important role in the generation of calcalkaline magmas. Petrology, geochemistry and proximity indicate that MLV is part of the Cascades magmatic arc and not a Basin and Range volcano, although Basin and Range extension impinges on the volcano and strongly influences its eruptive style. MLV may be analogous to Mount Adams in southern Washington, but not, as sometimes proposed, to the older distributed back-arc Simcoe Mountains volcanic field.     

Temporal analysis of Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) performance based on remotely sensed precipitation products

No study has systematically evaluated streamflow modelling between monthly and daily time scales. This study examines streamflow from seven watersheds across the USA where five different precipitation products were used as primary input into the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to generate simulated streamflow. Time scales examined include monthly, dekad (10 days), pentad (5 days), triad (3 days), and daily. The seven basins studied are the San Pedro (Arizona), Cimarron (north‐central Oklahoma), mid‐Nueces (south Texas), mid‐Rio Grande (south Texas and northern Mexico), Yocano (northern Mississippi), Alapaha (south Georgia), and mid‐St. Francis (eastern Arkansas). The precipitation products used to drive simulations include rain gauge, NWS Multisensor Precipitation Estimator, Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM), Multi‐Satellite Precipitation Analysis, TRMM 3B42‐V6, and Climate Prediction Center Morphing Method (CMORPH). Understanding how streamflow varies at sub‐monthly time scales is important because there are a host of hydrological applications such a flood forecast guidance and reservoir inflow forecasts that reside in a temporal domain between monthly and daily time scales. The major finding of this study is the quantification of a strong positive correlation between performance metrics and time step at which model performance deteriorates. Better performing simulations, with higher Nash–Sutcliffe values of 0.80 and above can support modeling at finer time scales to at least daily and perhaps beyond into the sub‐daily realm. These findings are significant in that they clearly document the ability of SWAT to support modeling at sub‐monthly time steps, which is beyond the capability for which SWAT was initially designed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vibroseis productivity: shake and go

We use both model and field data to compare three methods for increasing vibroseis productivity and decreasing acquisition costs. The first method, HFVS (high-fidelity vibratory seismic), allows us to separate the responses from individual vibrators when multiple vibrators are operating simultaneously. The data quality of the separated records is superior to that of conventional correlated data because they are processed with measured ground-force signals, but the number of sweeps must be greater than or equal to the number of vibrators. The second method, cascaded sweep, eliminates the listening time between multiple sweeps and partially mitigates harmonic noise observed at later times on near-offset traces. Finally, a combined method, continuous-HFVS (C-HFVS), allows source separation with a single, long, segmented sweep. Separation is as good as with HFVS and interference noise is limited to times near the end of a sweep-segment length. All three methods produce acceptable seismic images for post-stack and prestack amplitude interpretation.
The choice of which option to use depends upon the area being investigated. HFVS has numerous benefits, especially when fine sampling is required to mitigate static problems and elevation changes. Due to the ability to separate individual responses, fine sampling can be achieved without sacrificing productivity. For deeper targets, cascaded sweep can be more efficient but data quality suffers from harmonic noise. C-HFVS, which combines features of HFVS and cascaded sweep, has the potential to result in the highest productivity, without sacrificing either fine sampling or data quality.     

40Ar/39Ar age spectra of some undisturbed terrestrial samples

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectra and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar vs ³⁹Ar/³⁶Ar isochrons were determined by incremental heating for 11 terrestrial rocks and minerals whose geology indicates that they represent essentially undisturbed systems. The samples include muscovite, biotite, hornblende, sanidine, plagioclase, dacite, diabase and basalt and range in age from 40 to 1700 m.y. For each sample, the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ratios, corrected for atmospheric and neutron-generated argon isotopes, are the same for most of the gas fractions released and the age spectra, which show pronounced plateaus, thus are consistent with models previously proposed for undisturbed samples. Plateau ages and isochron ages calculated using plateau age fractions are concordant and appear to be meaningful estimates of the crystallization and cooling ages of these samples. Seemingly anomalous age spectrum points can be attributed entirely to small amounts of previously unrecognized argon loss and to gas fractions that contain too small (less than 2 per cent) a proportion of the ³⁹Ar released to be geologically significant. The use of a quantitative abscissa for age spectrum diagrams is recommended so that the size of each gas fraction is readily apparent. Increments containing less than about 4–5 per cent of the total ³⁹Ar released should be interpreted cautiously. Both the age spectrum and isochron methods of data reduction for incremental heating experiments are worthwhile, as each gives slightly different but complementary information about the sample from the same basic data. Use of a least-squares fit that allows for correlated errors is recommended for ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar vs ³⁹Ar/³⁶Ar isochrons. The results indicate that the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating technique can be used to distinguish disturbed from undisturbed rock and mineral systems and will be a valuable geochronological tool in geologically complex terranes.     

K-Ar ages and Pb,Sr isotopic characteristics of Cenozoic volcanic rocks in Shandong Province,China

28 samples of Cenozoic volcanic rocks collected from Shandong Province have been dated by K-Ar method. They are mainly Neogene with an age range of 4–19 m. y. The basalts from Linqu and Yishui in west Shandong Province are Miocene and those from Penglai and Qixia in east Shandong Province are Miocene and Pliocene in age. The basalts from Wudi in north Shandong Province are Middle-Early Pleistocene in age. In each area the duration of volcanic eruption was estimated at about 2–3 m. y. Pb and Sr isotopic compositions and U, Th, Pb, Rb, Sr, and major elements in most of the samples were determined. The isotopic compositions are:²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb—16.92-18.48,²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb—15.30-15.59,²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb—37.83-38.54, and (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_i—0.70327-0.70632. There are some positive or negative linear correlations between²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, Pb isotopes and Pb content, Pb isotopes and Sr isotopes, and Sr isotopes and other elements. The basaltic rocks from east and west Shandong Province have somewhat differences in isotopic composition and element content. The basalts probably are products of multi-stage evolution of the mantle. They have preserved the primary features of the source, although they were influenced, to some extent, by the contamination of crustal materials.