INTERPRETATION OF THE GRAVITY ANOMALY OVER A CAUSATIVE BODY WITH CIRCULAR SYMMETRY*

The interpretation of the gravity anomaly on a horizontal plane over a causative body having circular symmetry about a vertical axis is considered from a rather unconventional approach. As the analytical expression for the gravity effect of a circular body assumes a closed form only on the axis of symmetry, the interpretation in this approach is carried out with the anomaly profile along the axis—which leads to simpler and faster computation. A numerical method is developed for computation of the anomaly profile along the vertical axis from the horizontal radial profile of the symmetric anomaly by upward continuation. Provision is also made for an end correction when the radial profile has only a limited extension. Some simple geometrical shapes are assumed for the causative body. Its parameters are then determined from least squares fitting of its gravity effects to the observed (upward continued) vertical profile (i) by the steepest descent method and (ii) by the Newton-Raphson method. Some applications of these methods are demonstrated.     

A Comparison of Growth Biomarkers for Assessing Sublethal Effects of Cadmium on a Marine Gastropod, Nassarius festivus

The effect of cadmium on the growth of an intertidal marine gastropod, Nassarius festivus, was investigated using a number of biomarkers namely conventional measurements in terms of increase in shell length or body weight, scope for growth (SfG) and RNA/DNA ratio. After eight days of cadmium exposure, the no observable effect concentration (NOEC) and lowest observable effect concentration (LOEC) for the rate of increase in wet weight were 1.00 and 1.38 mg/l, respectively, while those for shell length did not show any significant difference from the control until day 16. After 16 days of cadmium exposure, the LOEC for both shell length and wet weight measurements was 0.22 mg/l. The 8-day SfG test was sensitive to cadmium stress, showing a significant decrease at 0.16 mg/l cadmium when compared to the control. The NOEC and LOEC of RNA/DNA ratio determination were 0.52 and 0.93 mg/l, respectively. An assessment based on sensitivity and technical complexity suggests that Scope for Growth is the most sensitive growth biomarker, followed by the RNA/DNA ratio, and then the conventional growth measurement based on shell size and body weight.     

The Significance of Multiple Saturation Points in the Context of Polybaric Near-fractional Melting

Experimental petrologists have successfully located basalticliquid compositions parental to mid-ocean ridge basalt thatare, within experimental resolution, multiply saturated withthree-phase harzburgite or four-phase lherzolite assemblageson their liquidus at some elevated pressure. Such an experimentalresult is a necessary consequence of any paradigm in which eruptedbasalts derive from single-batch primary liquids that equilibratewith a mantle residue and undergo no subsequent magma mixingbefore differentiation and eruption. Here we investigate whether,conversely, such evidence of multiple saturation is sufficientto exclude dynamic melting models wherein increments of meltare mixed after segregation from residues, during melt transportor in magma chambers. Using two independent models of crystal–liquidequilibria to simulate polybaric near-fractional peridotitemelting, we find that aggregate liquids from such melting processescan display near-intersections of liquidus surfaces too closeto distinguish experimentally from exact multiple saturationpoints. Given uncertainties in glass compositions, fractionationcorrections, experimental temperature and pressure conditions,and achievement of equilibrium, these results suggest that polybaricmixtures can in fact masquerade as mantle-equilibrated single-batchprimary liquids. Multiple saturation points on the liquidussurfaces of primitive basalts do, however, preserve informationabout the average pressure of extraction of their constituentincrements of liquid. KEY WORDS: mantle melting; basaltic volcanism; experimental igneous petrology; thermodynamic modelling; inverse method     

CYBERSPACE AND VIRTUAL PLACES

ABSTRACT. Computer networks are often described in terms that imply a virtual space or place: electronic frontier, cyberspace, and information superhighway have been used to indicate computer networks as a whole; cafés, dungeons, and virtual offices are some of the “places” people refer to as being in or on networks. The use of this language, which I collectively call “virtual-place metaphors,” indicates three broad metaphorical themes: virtual architecture, electronic frontier, and cyberspace. The metaphors encourage control, surveillance, and capitalist expansion through computer technologies—and also evasion and resistance through computer technologies.     

Flow speed and calving rate of Kongsbreen glacier, Svalbard, using SPOT images

Kongsbreen, a tide-water glacier located in Kongsfjorden, is the most active calving glacier in Svalbard. Three SPOT images are used to determine its flow speed and calving rate. The position of fourteen reference points was determined on the coast or mountain sides, and the changes in position of 144 characteristic features on the glacier surface were calculated. The obtained speed profiles arc consistent with the findings from previous works from 1962-64 and 1983-86. When comparing the obtained longitudinal profile to the data from 1962–64. it is found that the flow velocity at a given distance from the front has been nearly constant.
The results from the SPOT images analysis are completed by using existing topographic works. The present study shows that SPOT images (panchromatic as well as multichannel), recorded with a periodicity of one year, can be used to determine precisely the annual flow speed and calving rate of active glaciers such as Kongsbreen. Images recorded with a periodicity of two, three or four weeks can allow identical determination on tide-water glaciers during a surging active phase.     

The hierarchical tessellation model and its use in spatial analysis

The hierarchid tessellation model belongs to a class of spatial data models based on the recursive decomposition of space. The quadtree is one such tessellation and is characterized by square cells and a 1:4 decomposition ratio. To relax these constraints in the tessellation, a generalized hierarchical tessellation data model, called Adaptive Recursive Tessellations (ART), has been proposed. ART increases flexibility in the tessellation by the use of rectangular cells and variable decomposition ratios. In ART, users can specify cell sizes which are intuitively meaningful to their applications, or which can reflect the scales of data. ART is implemented in a data structure called Adaptive Recursive Run-Encoding (ARRE), which is a variant of two-dimensional run-encoding whose running path can vary with the different tessellation structures incorporated in an ART model. Given the recognition of the benefits of implementing statistical spatial analysis in GIS, the use of hierarchical tessellation models such as ART in spatial analysis is discussed. Three examples are introduced to show how ART can: (1) be applied to solve the quadrat size problem in quadrat analysis of point patterns; (2) act as the data model in the variable resolution block kriging technique for geostatistical data to reduce variation in kriging error; and (3) facilitate the evaluation of spatial autocorrelation for area data at multiple map resolutions via the construction of a connectivity matrix for calculating spatial autocorrelation indices based on ARRE.     

Preparing For Hyperseed MAC: An Observing Campaign To Monitor The Entry Of The Genesis Sample Return Capsule

The imminent return of the Genesis Sample Return Capsule (SRC) from the Earth’s L1 point on September 8, 2004, represents the first opportunity since the Apollo era to study the atmospheric entry of a meter-sized body at or above the Earth’s escape speed. Until now, reentry heating models are based on only one successful reentry with an instrumented vehicle at higher than escape speed, the 22 May 1965 NASA “FIRE 2” experiment. In preparation of an instrumented airborne and ground-based observing campaign, we examined the expected bolide radiation for the reentry of the Genesis SRC. We find that the expected emission spectrum consists mostly of blackbody emission from the SRC surface (T∼ ∼2630 K@peak heating), slightly skewed in shape because of a range of surface temperatures. At high enough spectral resolution, shock emission from nitrogen and oxygen atoms, as well as the first positive and first negative bands of N₂⁺, will stand out above this continuum. Carbon atom lines and the 389-nm CN band emission may also be detected, as well as the mid-IR 4.6-μm CO band. The ablation rate can be studied from the signature of trace sodium in the heat shield material, calibrated by the total amount of matter lost from the recovered shield. A pristine collection of the heat shield would also permit the sampling of products of ablation.