Depositional history of artificial radionuclides in the Ross Ice Shelf,Antarctica

The annual fluxes of artificial radionuclides (²³⁸Pu,^239+240Pu,²⁴¹Am,¹³⁷Cs,⁹⁰Sr and³H) from the atmosphere to the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica were determined from measurements in strata dated by²¹⁰Pb. Recognizable sources include the U.S. tests (Mike-Ivy and Castle Hill) in the early 1950s, the U.S.S.R. tests of the early 1960s, the SNAP-9A burnup of 1964 and the French and Chinese tests in the late 1960s and 1970s. There are several problems still awaiting resolution: the differences in atmospheric chemistries of fission products and of transuranics produced in weapons tests and the anomalous fluxes of²³⁸Pu to the ice shelf which do not appear to reflect a one-year stratospheric residence. There is no evidence for a smearing of the fallout record as a consequence of diffusion of these radionuclides in the glacial column.     

Flowage differentiation: Limitation of the “Bagnold effect” to the narrow intrusions

The Bagnold effect, the most important in the flowage differentiation, is practically inoperative in porphyritic rocks in the case of large dykes and pipes with a width or a diameter over 100 meters. For these large channels, the magmatic differentiation between the core and the walls is not related to the forced magmatic flow, but should be ascribed to other mechanisms: crystal settling, natural convection, synchronous injection of already differentiated materials.     

Infrared study of the pyrolysis products of sporopollenin and lignite

The effect of pyrolysis at increasing temperature on sporopollenin, lignite and sporopollenin oxidized at 200°C has been investigated using measured infrared band absorption coefficients.Oxidation of sporopollenin in air at 200°C is marked by a decrease in the content of saturated hydrocarbon chains and a strong increase in the concentration of carboxylic acid groups.Pyrolysis of a thick bed of sporopollenin at increasing temperatures leads to the removal of a large proportion of oxygenated functions, before the removal of hydrocarbons. For lignite and oxidized sporopollenin, the loss of both types of functional groups extends over a broader temperature range. Reorganization of the carbonaceous residue at high temperature is hindered if a sufficiently low content of oxygenated functions, carbonyl and carboxyl as well as hydroxyl and ether groups, is not reached before the elimination of hydrocarbons.     

From Magnitudes to Diameters: The Albedo Distribution of Near Earth Objects and the Earth Collision Hazard

A recently published model of the Near Earth Object (NEO) orbital-magnitude distribution (Bottke et al., 2002, Icarus156, 399-433.) relies on five intermediate sources for the NEO population: the ν₆ resonance, the 3:1 resonance, the outer portion of the main belt (i.e., 2.8-3.5 AU), the Mars-crossing population adjacent to the main belt, and the Jupiter family comet population. The model establishes the relative contribution of these sources to the NEO population. By computing the albedo distribution of the bodies in and/or near each of the five sources, we can deduce the albedo distribution of the NEO population as a function of semimajor axis, eccentricity, and inclination. A problem with this strategy, however, is that we do not know a priori the albedo distribution of main belt asteroids over the same size range as observed NEOs (diameter D<10 km). To overcome this problem, we determined the albedo distribution of large asteroids in and/or near each NEO source region and used these results to deduce the albedo distribution of smaller asteroids in the same regions. This method requires that we make some assumptions about the absolute magnitude distributions of both asteroid families and background asteroids. Our solution was to extrapolate the observed absolute magnitude distributions of the families up to some threshold value H_thr, beyond which we assumed that the families' absolute magnitude distributions were background-like.We found that H_thr=14.5 provides the best match to the color vs heliocentric distance distribution observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. With this value of H_thr our model predicts that the debiased ratio between dark and bright (albedo smaller or larger than 0.089) objects in any absolute-magnitude-limited sample of the NEO population is 0.25±0.02. Once the observational biases are properly taken into account, this agrees very well with the observed C/S ratio (0.165 for H<20). The dark/bright ratio of NEOs increases to 0.87±0.05 if a size-limited sample is considered. We estimate that the total number of NEOs larger than a kilometer is 855±110, which, compared to the total number of NEOs with H<18 (963±120), shows that the usually assumed conversion H=18?D=1 km slightly overestimates the number of kilometer-size objects.Combining our orbital distribution model with the new albedo distribution model, and assuming that the density of bright and dark bodies is 2.7 and 1.3 g/cm³, respectively, we estimate that the Earth should undergo a 1000 megaton collision every 63,000±8000 years. On average, the bodies capable of producing 1000 megaton of impact energy are those with H<20.6. The NEOs discovered so far carry only 18±2% of this collision probability.     

Radiometric mapping of the Berg River estuary

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) consists of various tools to perform spatial analyses in a wide variety of disciplines, including radiometric analysis to characterize the distribution of natural radionuclide concentrations. Recently, open-source GIS has become popular among geospatial users because it can be freely used, and powerful tools are constantly developed to enhance software capabilities. Gamma-ray spectroscopy was used to measure the concentrations of these natural radionuclides by dragging a Delta Underwater Gamma System (DUGS) among the sediment in the Berg River estuary located in Velddrif, South Africa. In this study, QGIS was used to visually illustrate and interpret the distribution of natural radionuclides, that is, potassium (K⁴⁰), thorium (Th²³²), and uranium (U²³⁸). These concentrations can be used to investigate various geographical and geological phenomena, which include sediment processes. The data were then interpreted to derive sediment characteristics. Various features of tidal estuaries were demonstrated by the results.     

Field characterization and data integration to define the hydraulic heterogeneity of a shallow granular aquifer at a sub-watershed scale

Providing a sound basis for aquifer management or remediation requires that hydrogeological investigations carried out to understand groundwater flow and contaminant transport be based on representative data that capture the heterogeneous spatial distribution of aquifer hydraulic properties. This paper describes a general workflow allowing the characterization of the heterogeneity of the hydraulic properties of granular aquifers at an intermediate scale of a few km². The workflow involves characterization and data integration steps that were applied on a 12-km² study area encompassing a decommissioned landfill emitting a leachate plume and its main surface water receptors. The sediments composing the aquifer were deposited in a littoral–sublittoral environment and show evidence of small-scale transitional heterogeneities. Cone penetrometer tests (CPT) combined with soil moisture and electrical resistivity (SMR) measurements were thus used to identify and characterize spatial heterogeneities in hydraulic properties over the study area. Site-specific statistical relationships were needed to infer hydrofacies units and to estimate hydraulic properties from high-resolution CPT/SMR soundings distributed all over the study area. A learning machine approach was used due to the complex statistical relationships between colocated hydraulic and CPT/SMR data covering the full range of aquifer materials. Application of this workflow allowed the identification of hydrofacies units and the estimation of horizontal hydraulic conductivity, vertical hydraulic conductivity and porosity over the study area. The paper describes and discusses data acquisition and integration methodologies that can be adapted to different field situations, while making the aquifer characterization process more time-efficient and less labor-intensive.     

Late Mesozoic compressional to extensional tectonics in the Yiwulüshan massif,NE China and their bearing on the Yinshan–Yanshan orogenic belt: Part II: Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and gravity modeling

Granitoids play an important role in deciphering both crustal growth and tectonic evolution of Earth. In the eastern end of the Yinshan–Yanshan belt of North China Craton, the Yiwulüshan massif is a typical region that presents the tectonic evolution features of this belt. Our field work on the host rocks has demonstrated two phases of opposite tectonics: compressional and extensional, however, the deformation is almost invisible in the intrusive rocks. To improve the understanding of the tectonic evolution of the Yiwulüshan massif and the Late Mesozoic tectonics of East Asia, a multidisciplinary study has been carried out. In this study, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and gravity modeling have been applied on these Jurassic plutons (Lüshan, Jishilazi and Guanyindong), which intrude into the Yiwulüshan massif. According to laboratory measurements and microscopic observations on thin sections, the AMS of the Yiwulüshan massif is characterized by secondary fabrics, indicating that the intensive post solidus deformation has reset the (primary) magmatic magnetic fabrics. A relatively gentle NW dipping magnetic foliation has been identified with two distinct groups of magnetic lineations of N34°E and N335°E orientations, namely L_M1 and L_M2, relatively. Gravity modeling reveals a southward thinning of the massif with a possible feeding zone rooted in the northern part of the massif. Integrating all results from structural observation, geochronological investigation, AMS measurement and gravity modeling, two tectonic phases have been identified in the Yiwulüshan massif, posterior to the Jurassic (180–160 Ma) magmatism in the Yinshan–Yanshan area. The early one concerns a Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous (~ 141 Ma) compressional event with a top-to-the-south to southwest sense of shear. The second one shows an Early Cretaceous (~ 126 Ma) NW–SE ductile extensional shearing. At that time, sedimentary basins widened and Jurassic plutons started to be deformed under post solidus conditions. In fact, the NW–SE trend of the maximum stretching direction is a general feature of East Asian continent during Late Mesozoic.