Effects of line blanketing on the solar windows

The increasingly high flux predicted to the violet of 4500 Å by many model solar atmospheres stands in contradiction to the observations. Since one possible cause of the disagreement is that the solar windows by which the observed continuum is established might be obscured by line wings, we have made detailed calculations of these narrow spectral regions. With the exception of a few windows affected by the wings of Balmer lines, those redward of the Balmer discontinuity appear free of line blanketing. Even the assumption that the ultraviolet continuum is depressed 5% by unseen lines not included in our calculations leaves substantial disagreements between the models and observations. The discrepancies could perhaps be explained by a veil of weak lines across the ultraviolet spectrum.Our calculations indicate that the windows become narrower at shorter wavelengths. Many of the ambiguities to the violet of 3600 Å would be resolved if spectrophotometric tracings with a band pass of 10 mÅ were available.     

Uranium-lead zircon and titanite ages from the northern portion of the Western Gneiss Region, south-central Norway

The geochronologic history of the northern portion of the Western Gneiss Region, south-central Norway has been investigated by UPb analyses of zircon and titanite from various basement units and one supracrustal gneiss. A six-point (four zircon and two titanite) discordia line from a migmatite melt-pod and its host-gneiss (Åstfjord migmatite gneiss) defines upper- and lower-intercept ages of 1659.1 ± 1.8 Ma and 393.6 ± 3.6 Ma, respectively. The upper-intercept age is interpreted as a time of tonalite emplacement and migmatite formation in the region.A seven-point (three zircon and four titanite) discordia line from the Ingdal granite gneiss has similar upper- and lower-intercept ages (1652.9 ± 1.7 Ma and 396.1 ± 4.9 Ma, respectively) and the upper-intercept age is interpreted as the time of granite crystallization. The lower-intercept age from both theÅstfjord migmatite gneiss and the Ingdal granite gneiss is interpreted as the time of regional metamorphic resetting and is evidence for Caledonian influence in the region.Titanite from these two gneiss units, as well as from other tonalite, granite, and supracrustal gneisses throughout the Western Gneiss Region displays a remarkably uniform pattern of discordance. Titanite discordance is variable from 6% to 100% and, in general, the degree of discordance is proportional to the Caledonian metamorphic grade of nearby supracrustal schists. Episodic, diffusional lead loss from titanite during Caledonian metamorphism probably caused the discordance pattern, but a combined mechanism of mixing and diffusional lead loss cannot be ruled out. In any case, the seventeen-point titanite and zircon discordia line clearly indicates that: (1) the bulk of the granitoid terrane in this portion of the Western Gneiss Region was emplaced, migmatized, and cooled in a short time interval about 1657 Ma ago; (2) a second, short-lived thermal event that exceeded the blocking temperature of titanite occurred about 395 Ma ago; and (3) titanite and zircon in the region were not isotopically disturbed by comparable geologic events in the period from 1657 to 395 Ma, or at any time after 395 Ma.     

On the use of the nephelometer in estuarine waters

A study of the problems encountered in nephelometric determinations of suspended sediment loads in the Chesapeake Bay estuary has led to development of a technique which uses nephelometer readings as a guide for sampling at vertical profiles in an estuary. This permits optimum sampling for concentration profiles and allows one to use nephelometer/load ratios to characterize particles.     

From Headwaters to Coast: Influence of Human Activities on Water Quality of the Potomac River Estuary

The natural aging process of Chesapeake Bay and its tributary estuaries has been accelerated by human activities around the shoreline and within the watershed, increasing sediment and nutrient loads delivered to the bay. Riverine nutrients cause algal growth in the bay leading to reductions in light penetration with consequent declines in sea grass growth, smothering of bottom-dwelling organisms, and decreases in bottom-water dissolved oxygen as algal blooms decay. Historically, bay waters were filtered by oysters, but declines in oyster populations from overfishing and disease have led to higher concentrations of fine-sediment particles and phytoplankton in the water column. Assessments of water and biological resource quality in Chesapeake Bay and tributaries, such as the Potomac River, show a continual degraded state. In this paper, we pay tribute to Owen Bricker’s comprehensive, holistic scientific perspective using an approach that examines the connection between watershed and estuary. We evaluated nitrogen inputs from Potomac River headwaters, nutrient-related conditions within the estuary, and considered the use of shellfish aquaculture as an in-the-water nutrient management measure. Data from headwaters, nontidal, and estuarine portions of the Potomac River watershed and estuary were analyzed to examine the contribution from different parts of the watershed to total nitrogen loads to the estuary. An eutrophication model was applied to these data to evaluate eutrophication status and changes since the early 1990s and for comparison to regional and national conditions. A farm-scale aquaculture model was applied and results scaled to the estuary to determine the potential for shellfish (oyster) aquaculture to mediate eutrophication impacts. Results showed that (1) the contribution to nitrogen loads from headwater streams is small (about 2 %) of total inputs to the Potomac River Estuary; (2) eutrophic conditions in the Potomac River Estuary have improved in the upper estuary since the early 1990s, but have worsened in the lower estuary. The overall system-wide eutrophication impact is high, despite a decrease in nitrogen loads from the upper basin and declining surface water nitrate nitrogen concentrations over that period; (3) eutrophic conditions in the Potomac River Estuary are representative of Chesapeake Bay region and other US estuaries; moderate to high levels of nutrient-related degradation occur in about 65 % of US estuaries, particularly river-dominated low-flow systems such as the Potomac River Estuary; and (4) shellfish (oyster) aquaculture could remove eutrophication impacts directly from the estuary through harvest but should be considered a complement—not a substitute—for land-based measures. The total nitrogen load could be removed if 40 % of the Potomac River Estuary bottom was in shellfish cultivation; a combination of aquaculture and restoration of oyster reefs may provide larger benefits.     

Influence of Potsdam sandstone on the trace element signatures of some 19th‐century American and Canadian glass: Redwood,Redford, Mallorytown,and Como–Hudson

Potsdam sandstone from quarries and outcrops near 19th‐century glassworks sites in Redwood, NY, and Saranac, NY, Mallorytown, ON, and Como and Hudson, QC, commonly contains _97% silica, so in terms of its purity can compete with other historical producers of silica sand (e.g., Cheshire quartzite, MA; southern New Jersey sand). Exploratory analysis of trace element data using multidimensional scaling (MDS) shows that geographically distinct sources of Potsdam sandstone can be distinguished from one another and from competing sources of silica sand, particularly in terms of high field strength elements (e.g., Nb, Y, Ti, Zr), the rare earth elements, and radioactive elements (U, Th), and this geochemical signature is carried through to the glass it was used to manufacture. Other trace elements (e.g., Ba, Sr, Rb) are concentrated in various batch ingredients (e.g., limestone, alkali fluxes). The Hf/Nb, La/Ce, Nb/Th, and La/Zr ratios for each type of glass and nearby Potsdam sandstone sources cluster together in distinct fields on MDS plots. These data confirm the use of Potsdam sandstone in these important historical glassworks, and show that except for material sampled from neighboring communities (Mallorytown and Redwood), trace elements can be used to identify specific sources of silica historically used by the glassmaking industry. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Prograde metamorphism and decompression of the Gföhl gneiss, Czech Republic

Quartzofeldspathic rocks of the Gföhl gneiss from the Moldanubian of the Czech Republic span amphibolite-to granulite-facies, and are associated with eclogite. Protomylonitic fabrics related to terminal tectonic emplacement and reworking of the gneiss are common. Some non-mylonitic rocks, however, preserve early, prograde features (e.g., Opx-rimmed Hbl in metabasites), whereas others have characteristics generally associated with near-isothermal decompression (e.g., Pl-Opx moats separating Grt and Qtz in metabasites; Crd ± Spl coronas on Grt and aluminosilicates in metapelites); the unequivocal distinction between prograde and decompressional features in these rocks, however, may not be possible or even justified. For example, some metapelites contain growth-zoned (i.e., rimward increase in X_Mg) garnets that also record evidence (i.e., rimward decrease in X_Ca, compensated by the presence of reversely-zoned plagioclase in the same rock) of decompression. In rare instances, eclogitic rocks (P > 11 kbar) interpreted as tectonic enclaves within the gneiss also record mineralogic evidence of decompression (e.g., Crd-Opx-Spr coronas on pyrope). In metapelites, plagioclase-cored coronal garnets with high Prp/Grs ratios (˜ 2.5) record near-isobaric cooling from near the thermal maximum at a relatively shallow but undetermined crustal level.

Unlike Gföhl gneisses elsewhere (e.g., in Austria), the rocks described here do not preserve evidence of extreme metamorphic conditions. Texturally stable Grt-Bt pairs in non-mylonitic samples give T_max < 750 °C. P_max is not known, but prograde metamorphism apparently progressed from the kyanite to sillimanite fields, implying P ˜ 8 kbar at the maximum Grt-Bt temperature. At these conditions, dehydration of mafic gneiss occurred in the presence of a CO₂-rich (X_CO2 ˜ 0.85) pore fluid     

Geochemistry of lamprophyres from the Western Alps,Italy: implications for the origin of an enriched isotopic component in the Italian mantle

Cenozoic lamprophyres (minettes, spessartites, kersantite) from the Western Alps, northern Italy, represent small volume, mafic melts with high Mg#s and high Ni and Cr contents. All the lamprophyres show light REE enrichment, high incompatible element contents, and Ta, Ti and Nb troughs on chondrite-normalized diagrams. Age-corrected ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotopic ratios (assuming t = 30 Ma) are highly variable and range from 0.70590 to 0.71884; ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios range from 0.51203 to 0.51242. Pb isotopic ratios are: ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.669–18.895, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.605–15.689 and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 38.224–39.134. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios show a negative correlation with ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, and a positive correlation with K, Ba, and Rb as well as with Ti, Th, Ta, Nb and Zr abundances. The primitive nature of the lamprophyres, coupled with their enriched incompatible trace element and isotopic signatures, suggest derivation from a metasomatized upper mantle source. Linear arrays in isotope space and elemental data plots suggest mixing between two distinct end-members in the Italian mantle; an enriched end-member that is isotopically similar to pelagic sediments, and a significantly less enriched end-member that approaches Bulk Earth values. New isotopic data indicate that the mantle source(s) of the lamprophyres from the Western Alps contain a very high proportion of the enriched end-member. The geochemical signature of the enriched end-member is attributed to fluids or melts derived from pelagic sediments subducted during the closure of the Tethyan Ocean in the late Cretaceous to early Tertiary.     

New carboniferous Polyzoa from Derbyshire

The highly fossiliferous fore-reef limestones of B₂ age from near Castleton, Derbyshire are rich in Polyzoa. Ten species are described, six of them new.     

Carboniferous Bryozoa from County Tyrone

Six species of Bryozoa, three new, of Upper Visean age are described from Tullaghoge, County Tyrone, Ireland. The assemblage suggests shallow water conditions subject to wave action. The new species are Dyscritella tyronei, Stenophragmidium incrustans, and Sulcoretepora? ramosa.