A COMBINED REFRACTION-DIFFRACTION-DISSIPATION MODEL OF WAVE PROPAGATION

A numerical model based on the mild-slope equation of water wave propagation over complicated bathymetry,taking into account the combined effects of refraction,diffraction and dissipation due to wavebreaking is presented.Wave breaking is simulated by modifying the wave height probability density func-tion and the wave energy dissipation mechanism is parameterized according to that of the hydraulic jumpformulation.Solutions of the wave height,phase function,and the wave direction at every grid point areobtained by finite difference approximation of the governing equations,using Gauss-Seidel Iterative Method(GSIM)row by row.Its computational convenience allows it to be applied to large coast regions tostudy the wave transformation problem.Several case studies have been made and the results compare verywell with the experiment data and other model solutions.The capability and utility of the model forreal coast areas are illustrated by application to a shallow bay of northeast Australia.     

Envisat and SARAL/AltiKa Observations of the Antarctic Ice Sheet: A Comparison Between the Ku-band and Ka-band

The AltiKa altimeter onboard SARAL is a joint CNES/ISRO mission launched in February 2013 that has the same 35 days repeat orbit of the previous European altimeters, Envisat, and ERS-1/2. SARAL/AltiKa is thus a unique opportunity to extend the repeat observations of this orbit that have been surveyed since 1991. However, the altimeter operates in Ka-band, which is higher than the previous frequencies, and offers new paths of investigation. The penetration depth is theoretically reduced from around 10 m in Ku-band to less than 1 m in Ka-band, such that the volume echo originates from the near subsurface. Second, the sharper antenna aperture leads to a narrower leading edge that reduces the impact of the ratio between surface and volume echoes of the height retrieval. Indeed, the spatial and temporal observations of AltiKa at cross-over points and along-track indicate that the impact of backscatter changes on the height decreasesfrom 0.3 m/dB for the Ku-band to only 0.05 m/dB for the Ka-band. Therefore, the height measurement is stable over time. Moreover, the volume echo in the Ka-band results from the near subsurface layer and is mostly controlled by ice grain size, unlike the Ku-band.     

Allochthonous and autochthonous organic matter in surface waters in Karelia

A relationship between indirect chemical indices of organic matter content of surface waters and light absorption in the visible and ultraviolet ranges is discussed. The allochthonous and autochthonous types of organic matter are found to essentially differ in the rate of light absorption. Techniques are proposed for the calculation of the concentrations of allochthonous and autochthonous organic matter by the integral rate of light consumption in the visible region and the bichromate oxidability of water, as well as by three indirect indices: chemical oxygen demand, permanganate oxidability, and water color index. The mean concentrations of allochthonous and autochthonous organic matter in large lakes (Ladoga, Onega, and Baikal) and in rivers and smaller water bodies in Karelia (>300 water objects) are analyzed. Allochthonous organic matter was found to predominate in most surface waters of Karelia (>80%), while allochthonous organic matter predominates only in lakes with a small specific catchment area (supposedly, <5) and in highly eutrophic lakes.     

Dust-acoustic soliton in a plasma with multi-species ions and kappa-distributed electrons

In this work, we consider the formation of electrostatic, dust-acoustic solitary structure in a unmagnetized plasma with Lorentzian electrons (kappa-distributed) and more than one species of thermal ions (Maxwellian). The work is inspired by results of different space-based observations of electrostatic solitary waves (ESW) in the near-earth and magnetospheric plasmas and recent experimental realization of existence of superthermal electron component in various space plasmas. We have, in this work, shown that existence of compressive potential structure is possible only with more than one species of thermal ions. Besides, formation of compressive double layers is also possible which depends on the amount of deviation of the electron thermal velocities from a Maxwellian distribution. We show that both dust-temperature and super-thermal electrons lead to a decrease in the soliton amplitude.     

New U–Pb isotopic data for detrital zircons from metasedimentary sequences of northwestern Taimyr

This work presents the U–Pb (LA–ICP–MS) data of detrital zircons from metasedimentary sequences of northwestern Taimyr. An analysis of the youngest populations of detrital zircons testifies to the wide distribution of Cambrian sequences in the study area, but not Precambrian sequences as was considered earlier, and the need for a substantial revision of the stratigraphic scheme of this area. The detrital zircon age distribution shows that the Timan margin of the Baltic paleocontinent was a major provenance area of the Cambrian sediments in northern and northwestern Taimyr, as well as the coeval sediments of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago.     

Petrogenesis of Peraluminous Granites, Monashee Mountains, Southeastern Canadian Cordillera

Two-mica granites that locally contain garnet and sillimaniteoccur as dikes, sills, and sheets up to 50 m thick within thesillimanite zonc of the Monashee Mountains in the southeasternCanadian Cordillera of British Columbia. Syn-kinematic and post-kinematicgranites are recognized. U-Pb dating of zircon demonstrates that the syn-kinematic granitesare 100.4?0.3 Ma old, based on duplicate concordant single abradedzircon analyses. Other zircons have slightly older Pb/Pb dates,indicating small amounts of inherited zircons. Monazites are99?10 Ma old. Post-kinematic granites have 62.5?0.2 Ma zirconages and 634+0.1 Ma monazite ages. High initial 87 ratios (0.71492–0.74181)and evidence of Precambrian Pb inheritance indicates that bothsyn- and post-kinematic granites were derived from a crustalsource. Geobarometric estimates suggest that both generationsof granites equilibrated at 6–8 kb (22–30 km). Zirconand monazite saturation temperatures range from 660–824?Cand indicate that these minerals were liquidus phases earlyin the crystallization history of the granites. Because monazitesaturation temperatures generally exceed those of zircon, itis possible that some monazites may be inherited. Apatite saturationtemperatures in excess of 900?C suggest that both generationsof granites contain source inherited apatite. Syn- and post-kinematic granites have essentially identicalmajor and trace element chemistries. Syn-kinematic graniteshave steep light rare earth element (LREE) enriched patternswith pronounced negative Eu anomalies. The REE patterns of post-kinematicgranites range from steep LREE enriched patterns with negativeNd and Eu anomalies to flat patterns with low LREE contents,negative Nd anomalies, and both positive and negative Eu anomalies.Modelling of REE, Rb, Sr, and Ba contents demonstrates thatsyn-kinematic gramtes could have been generated by a low degreeof partial melting (with 10–25% feldspar fractionationof the melt) of Late Proterozoic Horsethief Creek Group metapelitesleaving a monazite-bearing upper amphibolite facies residue.Post-kinematic granites were produced by partial melting ofa geochemically and isotopically similar metapelitic source.The suite of post-kinematic granites can be related by a smallamount (up to 0.1%) of monazite crystal fractionation.     

Temperature dependence of the cation distribution in nickel aluminate (NiAl2O4) spinel: a powder XRD study

NiAl₂O₄ is a largely inverse spinel, which in detail shows increasing randomisation with temperature of Ni and Al between the octahedral and tetrahedral cation sites of the spinel structure. We have used powder XRD to determine this cation distribution in various samples of NiAl₂O₄ quenched after annealing between 700 and 1400° C. The inversion parameter (x) can be measured with a precision of ± 0.004 (one standard deviation), and a comparison of different methods of synthesis, X-ray diffraction and refinement techniques, suggests a probable accuracy of better than 0.01. The results are supported by some preliminary single crystal refinements on flux-grown samples.Below 800° C the rate of cation ordering becomes very slow, and, despite reaching an apparently steady state, it is doubtful if our samples attained complete internal equilibrium. Above 1250° C the cation redistribution becomes so fast that the quenching method becomes unreliable. Between 800 and 1250° C inclusive, the degree of inversion changes smoothly from 0.87 at 800° C to 0.79 at 1250° C, and is accompanied by linear changes in u, the oxygen parameter, from 0.2555 to 0.2563 (±0.0002), and a₀, the lattice parameter, from 8.0462 to 8.0522 Å (±0.0002 Å).