The cosmic ray energy spectrum between 10 and 10 eV

The energy spectrum of cosmic rays with primary energies between 10¹⁴ eV and 10¹⁶ eV has been studied with the CASA-MIA air shower array. The measured differential energy spectrum is a power law (dj/dE ∝ E^−y) with spectral indices γ of 2.66±0.02 below approximately 10¹⁵ eV and 3.00±0.05 above. A new method is used for measuring primary energy derived from ground-based data in a compositionally insensitive way. In contrast with some previous reports, the “knee” of the energy spectrum does not appear sharp, but rather a smooth transition over energies from 10¹⁵ eV to 3.0 × 10¹⁵ eV.     

Seeing Conditions at Sutherland. Results of the 1992/93 seeing campaign

In order to decide whether the seeing conditions at SAAO/Sutherland justify the erection of a 3.5 m telescope and also to compare Sutherland with the Gamsberg/Namibia site, a seeing campaign covering 15 months has been carried out. For direct comparison with the results of the seeing campaign at Gamsberg twenty years before the same QUESTAR telescope was employed. The seeing is determined by the scattering of the star-trail exposed on a film in the focal plane of the telescope. The campaign commenced in February 1992. Up to May 1993, data for 204 nights, that is 47.3% of the total number of nights, were collected. Due to wind speeds above 30 km h^-1, 25 out of the 204 nights were not considered in the final reduction. The useful 179 nights are evenly distributed over the campaign period. The median seeing value for the whole period is = 0.52. There are differences during the year: the best season gives = 0.42, the worst = 0.67. Each night was divided into three intervals, although data for each of the three intervals were not always available. Generally, there is an improvement in the seeing during the course of a night. The results are compared to the seeing values of Gamsberg/Namibia and ESO/La Silla.     

New age constraints on the western Betic intramontane basins: A late Tortonian closure of the Guadalhorce Corridor?

Several gateways connected the Mediterranean with the Atlantic during the late Miocene but the timing of closure and therefore their role prior to and during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.97–5.33 Ma) is still under debate. The timing of closure of the Guadalhorce Corridor is especially disputed as the common lack of marine microfossils hampers precise age determination. Here we present new biostratigraphic age constraints on the sediments of the Ronda, Antequera and Arcos regions, which formed the northern part of the Guadalhorce Corridor. The general presence of Globorotalia menardii 4 in the youngest deep‐marine sediments of all three regions indicates a late Tortonian age, older than 7.51 Ma. We conclude that the Guadalhorce Corridor closed during the late Tortonian, well before the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis and that the late Tortonian tectonic uplift of the eastern Betics extended into the western Betics.     

The Late Cretaceous Klepa basalts in Macedonia (FYROM)—Constraints on the final stage of Tethys closure in the Balkans

The waning stage(s) of the Tethyan ocean(s) in the Balkans are not well understood. Controversy centres on the origin and life‐span of the Cretaceous Sava Zone, which is allegedly a remnant of the last oceanic domain in the Balkan Peninsula, defining the youngest suture between Eurasia‐ and Adria‐derived plates. In order to investigate to what extent Late‐Cretaceous volcanism within the Sava Zone is consistent with this model we present new age data together with trace‐element and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data for the Klepa basaltic lavas from the central Balkan Peninsula. Our new geochemical data show marked differences between the Cretaceous Klepa basalts (Sava Zone) and the rocks of other volcanic sequences from the Jurassic ophiolites of the Balkans. The Klepa basalts mostly have Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic and trace‐element signatures that resemble enriched within‐plate basalts substantially different from Jurassic ophiolite basalts with MORB, BAB and IAV affinities. Trace‐element modelling of the Klepa rocks indicates 2%–20% polybaric melting of a relatively homogeneously metasomatised mantle source that ranges in composition from garnet lherzolite to ilmenite+apatite bearing spinel–amphibole lherzolite. Thus, the residual mineralogy is characteristic of a continental rather than oceanic lithospheric mantle source, suggesting an intracontinental within‐plate origin for the Klepa basalts. Two alternative geodynamic models are internally consistent with our new findings: (1) if the Sava Zone represents remnants of the youngest Neotethyan Ocean, magmatism along this zone would be situated within the forearc region and triggered by ridge subduction; (2) if the Sava Zone delimits a diffuse tectonic boundary between Adria and Europe which had already collided in the Late Jurassic, the Klepa basalts together with a number of other magmatic centres represent volcanism related to transtensional tectonics.     

Visualization experiments of iron precipitates: Application for in-situ arsenic remediation

Laboratory experiments were carried out to acquire more insight and understanding of the phenomena associated with the in-situ arsenic remediation. Visualization techniques are the most informative for the detection of Fe(II) while flowing in soils. Green Rust (GR) was considered as representative of in-situ iron precipitates. In a visualization flat cell, the change in color of GR to orange, due to oxidation, was monitored by a digital camera and the images were analyzed giving the spatial and temporal distribution of Fe(II). Moreover, both oxygen and pH changes in time were recorded in two sections along the flow direction in the cell. The measured and calculated concentration profiles were compared and the actual reaction rates were predicted. The reaction rate constants measured in this study, under flowing conditions, are in a good agreement with the values obtained from batch experiments reported in the literature.     

Developments in the characterisation of waste materials for environmental impact assessment purposes

The characterisation of waste is entering a new phase with the latest developments of characterisation leaching tests and associated modelling capabilities. The currently applied too simple testing approaches lead to poor choices in waste management. With the increased insight in release controlling processes chemical speciation aspects can be addressed even in the most complex and heterogeneous waste materials. From a composition perspective materials may be highly variable, but often materials are far more consistent in their leaching behaviour. This aspect should be exploited more extensively as it holds the key to treat waste materials in such a way that long term solutions are achieved rather than reaching temporary gains.     

Experimental and numerical studies of the O exchange between CO2 and water in the atmosphere-soil invasion flux

The ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratio of CO₂ is a potentially powerful tracer of carbon dioxide fluxes from the soil to the atmosphere, which is influenced by complex interactions involving both biotic and abiotic soil processes. We use a simplified experimental approach and numerical simulations to examine in isolation the ¹⁸O exchange between CO₂ and soil water associated with the abiotic invasion of atmospheric CO₂ into soil. This allowed us to verify, in particular, whether the ¹⁸O of the retro-diffusion flux of CO₂ from the soil reflects ¹⁸O equilibration with water at the soil surface, or at some depth. Sterile soil samples with known water isotopic composition were placed in a closed box attached to a specially designed flow chamber and the changes in δ¹⁸O of CO₂ between the chamber inlet and outlet, due only to invasion effects, were determined. Numerical simulations constrained by the laboratory gas exchange measurements indicated that between the two commonly used diffusion models [Penman, H.L. (1940). Gas and vapor movements in soil, 1: the diffusion of vapors through porous solids. Int. J. Agric. Sci.30, 437-462; Moldrup, P., Olesen, T., Yamaguchi, T., Schjonning, P., Rolston, D.E. (1999). Modeling diffusion and reaction in soils, IX, the Backingham-Burdine-Campbell equation for gas diffusivity in undisturbed soil. Soil Sci.164, 542-551], only the former provided good agreement with the measurements over a wide range of soil water contents. Based on the model calculations constrained by experimental data, and on comparison of characteristic diffusion/reaction times, we conclude that the depth required for full CO₂-water ¹⁸O equilibration ranges between 2 and 8.5 cm. The depth depends, in order of importance, on (1) soil moisture content; (2) temperature, which dominates the rate of hydration isotopic exchange; (3) CO₂ residence time, which is determined by the time of replacement of the column air above the soil; and (4) soil structure, including porosity, tortuosity and grain size, with the later probably influencing the water surface area exposed to CO₂ exchange. Using field data from a semi-arid forest site in Israel, numerical simulations indicated that the ¹⁸O full equilibrium depth varied at this site between 4 cm (January) and 8 cm (November), being sensitive mostly to temperature and soil water content. Deepening of the equilibration depth as the soil dries should limit the effects of ¹⁸O evaporative enrichment at the surface on the isotopic composition of the soil-atmosphere CO₂ flux.     

Large scale, stationary, frontal features in the Benguela Current system

Large scale, stationary features of the Benguela Current system have been observed on satellite infrared images. This paper attempts to establish the most likely dynamical framework required to explain the features. Although the observed features are clearly baroclinic, the wavelength of the 2.2 day period barotropic shelf wave (Buchwald and Adams, 1968, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, A305, 235–250) fits the observed longshore spatial structure of the features well. The barotropic shelf wave model fails to explain the baroclinic nature and the stationary aspect of the observed features. More observational and theoretical work is necessary to understand the dynamics of these features.     

The first and the second e of the extreme value distribution,EV1

In the peak over threshold model resulting in the Extreme-value distribution, type I, (EV1) the firste of the distribution function is based on the Poisson number of exceedances, and the seconde arises from the Exponentially distributed magnitudes.This paper, on the one hand, generalises the Poisson model to the (positive and negative) Binomial distribution, and, on the other hand, the Exponential distribution is generalised to the Generalised Pareto distribution. Lack of fit with respect to the Poisson and Exponential distribution is measured by statistics derived from those which would be locally most powerful if the estimates of the location and scale parameter were equal to the true parameter values. Ways of combining both statistics are discussed.     

A study of objective methods for water mass analysis,applied to the Iceland Basin

Ocean Dynamics - Cluster analysis and principal component analysis have been applied to multi-parameter hydrographic data from the Iceland Basin. The results indicate that both objective methods...